Most managers and employees in the workplace schedule meetings to increase productivity and communication within the company. Unfortunately, holding frequent meetings can interrupt everyone’s schedule and lead to delays with workflow. If you want to revolutionize your work meetings to improve productivity, there are a few important steps to take.
Require Participation
It can be easy for some employees to sit back and become spectators of the meeting instead of actively engaging in the conversation. Make it a point to require participation from your team to ensure that you hear different perspectives and opinions. Your team can only become stronger if everyone collaborates and has input. Your employees will also be more engaged if you ask for their ideas, which can further improve the productivity of the meeting.
Leave Laptops Out of the Room
Although many people bring their laptops with them into meetings as a way to take notes, the technology can become a distraction. You’ll quickly find people responding to their emails or browsing their social media accounts instead of being focused on the meeting, which will be a waste of everyone’s time. You can ask employees to leave their laptops behind and to take notes on paper to ensure that they focus. Running a device free meeting might be tough to begin, but you’ll quickly find it’s worth it.
Find the Right Meeting Room
The location where you host your meeting influences how engaged everyone is and how successful you are with addressing issues or goals during that time. You need to know which meeting space is best for your particular meeting and then book the room in advance to avoid any possible confusion.
Stick to Start and End Times
It’s common for the meeting facilitator to arrive late or for the meetings to last too long, both of which can affect everyone’s schedule. Stick to a start time, and avoid arriving late to ensure that you start on time and get more done during the meeting. If needed, set a timer or ask someone to keep an eye on the clock for you to ensure that you know when to conclude.
Stand Up
If you’re leading the meeting, remember to stand up, which will get everyone’s attention and can allow you to make eye contact with each person in the room. You’ll also have more authority if you’re standing during the meeting. On a similar subject, if you are curious for ways to make your meetings go by faster and for them to be more proactive, you could try running a standing meeting. Where all of the participants stand for the entirety of the meeting. Many studies have found increased productivity and participation in meetings like this.
These are minor ways to revolutionize your meetings and to allow them to influence the direction and productivity of your team. With a few improvements, both the manager and team members can get more out of each meeting.