How Interesting are Your Meetings?

Few workers would deny that too many working days are taken up with boring or pointless meetings and according to surveys, meetings are the things that people most hate about their working week!
If you are responsible for running meetings at work, make them count:

• Find out whether your staff value meetings; do they find them useful if not, what suggestions would they make to improve them? This can be done using a survey staff will probably have strong opinions on the matter.
• Consider the optimal length, content, approach, structure, frequency and attendance for meetings, and publicise these as company guidelines.
• Make sure that you ALWAS start and finish on time
• Explain to attendees upfront the aim of the meeting by issuing an agenda in advance
• Progress through the agenda swiftly and purposefully
• Consider if everyone invited must be present at EVERY meeting
• Ask everyone to prepare in advance
• Encourage all staff to speak out – not just those who have the loudest voices
• Limit those who talk too much

Running a meeting well is a skill; make sure you are prepared and your meetings will become more productive and more likely to achieve their aim!