Too Many Meetings, No Result? Here’s The Solution!
“A meeting is an event where minutes are taken and hours wasted.”
– James T. Kirk, Captain of the USS enterprise.
Let’s take a tour in the maze of cubicles and conference rooms in big companies, one thing that they all have in common is that almost everyone in the office is busy attending back-to-back meetings and conference calls. So, what’s the point? Are they getting things done on time? Well, that’s the problem.
While working on projects, project managers often spend most of their time scheduling one-on-one meetings with employees and discussing a plan of action rather than doing their actual job i.e. getting results. Now, we all agree to the fact that a company can only run when everyone in the team shares the same vision and works towards the same goal. But that doesn’t mean that you have to host a meeting for everything. Don’t you think that most of us are misinterpreting the concept of scheduling meetings in the workplace?
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If your organization or team is getting plagued by too many meetings and struggling to meet deadlines, here’s what you need to know:
What is the actual purpose of a meeting?
No need to draw this out. The actual purpose of a meeting is straightforward and it all comes down to communication and collaboration. A meeting is where a group of people working in the same direction come together to communicate, share ideas, discuss issues, and collaborate on matters that can help them get their jobs done quickly, efficiently. That sounds simple enough, right? But no one does it the right way.
In today’s modern workplace, more than half of the meetings are filled with nuances, politics, and conclusion-less discussions. Project managers and owners often fail to understand that meetings are not meant for casual catch-up. According to a recent survey of 500 senior business professionals in the US: 59% of employees feel less engaged and effective by the number of meetings in a day. The survey also highlights that more than 70% of the respondents feel more engaged when the multimedia presentation or kanban software is included in the process.
There’s no doubt that excess meetings kill productivity and employee engagement at work, but the above stats also prove that there’s still time to get things back on track. Now, if you’re looking for ways to turn your ineffective meetings into productive discussions, here are a few team meeting ideas that will definitely help you out.
Tips to make meetings shorter and more productive
Keep your meeting agenda clear
Do you often go to meetings and sit through discussions with no idea of what’s going on? If the answer is yes, then you’ve to remember, the most productive meetings are the ones with a clear objective and agenda. There is no point in hosting meetings with no end insight. Therefore, you need to make sure that you set a simple statement of what needs to be accomplished for each meeting. Create a basic agenda at the start of the meeting and share it along with the relevant documents to keep everyone on the right track.
Set a timer
If you wish to get the most out of your workflow, you need to get more rigid about your team meetings. Keep them short and straightforward. You can consider setting a timer at the start of the meeting and when it rings, meeting’s over. There are even tools and apps available in the market that can keep you accountable to set a specific length for meetings and run them more efficiently. Using a timer or tool will not only save you time but it will also help you keep your meetings focused on greater collaboration.
Keep the headcount low
Meetings tend to drag on when too many people are invited. That’s why it is necessary that you only invite people who are directly related to the objective or agenda of the meeting. You can get inspiration from top companies like Google, Apple, etc that practice a culture of the learner and efficient meetings.
Get everyone involved
This one might sound obvious, but it is a lot more important than you may realize. Before you assign tasks or make critical project decision, it is important to get everybody onboard and listen to their opinions. In simple words, effective team meetings are not about people nodding their head in support of every decision you make. Try to get everyone involved in the process. Ask them for their opinions and insights. Make sure that everyone arrives at the meeting with their own ideas, solutions, plans, and decisions.
Become tech savvy
Ever heard of workflow management software or a team collaboration tool? I bet you have. These are simple technological treasures that limit the number of meetings in the workplace and help teams work together to achieve the desired outcome in a project. Online discussions, group chats, video conferencing, file sharing, file proofing, kanban boards, time tracking, and more — the tools and software solutions available in the market are packed with features that intend to make workplace meetings obsolete. Just make sure that you pick a software that compliments your specific needs.
Key takeaway
Too many meetings are a sign of bad organization. If you want to deliver results, don’t waste your time scheduling meetings every now and then. Put the above tips into practice and allow your teams to forge ahead with their work. ProofHub is a cloud-based work management software that helps you manage your projects in a more structured, productive, and collaborative way. It brings projects, teams, and project communications in one single place, allowing teams to collaborate online and get work done instead of wasting their time hosting or attending meetings in the workplace.
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