Everyone’s favourite topic… meetings.
There must be a way to make them better so your team doesn’t get frustrated and you don’t waste money (have you tried HBR’s calculator to figure out the human resource cost of your meetings?)
We’ve put together some ideas for you to try.
Tips for running better meetings
Make sure there’s a reason to meet
If you need to share information that’s not overly complex, you don’t need to have a meeting. You can shoot a quick video and share it or send the info and highlight the critical points for your team.
If you need to announce a change or you’re looking for input, making decisions, or need to work out a plan, then bring people together, but follow the tips below.
Provide background info before the meeting
When you have people together in a room, it’s not the time for reading documents. Send background information in advance to help the attendees educate themselves on the topic you’re discussing. Let them know what the ask is — what do you want them to do?
Bonus: sharing the background info may help your team generate better ideas because they’ll have had some time to think about the topic.
Keep minutes with action items
Have one person in your group keep minutes from the meeting. Decide in advance who will take the minutes — you can rotate this responsibility.
Don’t recap the entire discussion in the minutes. They should provide any actions with responsibilities and timelines.
Use the agenda items to make a simple template and have someone fill in the actions below each item. You can use a computer or handwrite notes right on the agenda. Photograph and share handwritten minutes.
Have group norms
It’s in everyone’s best interest to make sure meetings run smoothly, so why not set meeting norms as a team? You can describe expectations for behaviour. Here are some ideas:
- keep a speaker list, so everyone gets a chance (remember, the loudest person doesn’t necessarily have the best ideas)
- use yes, and statements to build on ideas rather than shoot them down
- don’t use technology during meetings unless necessary for the discussion item
- decide on a strategy to get conversations back on track
Keep the group small
Jeff Bezos is said to have a rule — if two pizzas can’t feed the group, the meeting is too large. He won’t attend. Make sure to include only the people who need to be there. It’ll help your meeting run faster. You can always update others about any decisions that were made.
Change things up!
We’ve shared before about the benefits of taking walks during the workday . Walking meetings is one way to get more steps in. While it’s not easy to keep minutes at a walking meeting if you’re meeting with one other person and need to have a deep discussion, why not take it outside?
Don’t treat all meetings equally
We’ve shared before why you might want to take your important meetings offsite. Check out our meeting room options to find a space that’s right for you. Better meetings is part of what we do at [inn]space.