Q. Hi, I have recently been promoted as Sales Manager in my company. My predecessor was really big on meetings – daily, weekly, and monthly huddles. While meetings can be an effective tool to direct and motivate a team, they can also end up being a colossal waste of time. What is your guide to conducting productive and effective meetings? – Lobo M., Sales Manager
A. Hi Lobo, good question! Meetings are indeed a vital part of every organization’s work culture, but they are also despised by many professionals. Meetings are seen to be a waste of time,
disruptive to productivity, and ineffective as a medium for decision making. When not moderated and carried out properly, meetings do more harm than good.
While having a daily, weekly and monthly team meeting does seem a tad too much, the good news is that it is your choice to make the daily huddle anything between 10 and 45 minutes.
Here, the HR experts at Bayt.com present the do’s and don’ts for carrying out effective and productive meeting sessions:
Do prepare for the meeting
Time is a precious resource, and no one wants their time wasted. To make sure your meetings get off to a flying start, plan and prepare for them well beforehand. Good preparation includes making sure the conference room is booked, email invites have been sent at least two days in advance, and that you have detailed the meeting agenda to your team members by email. To start on time, it is best if you are early and the first to arrive.
Don’t monopolize the meeting
Do your meetings end up having a few people do most of the talking? Often meetings are ineffective because they involve a few opinionated members who are the only ones participating. As the manager and moderator of the group meeting, you need to be firm and prevent a talkative group member from monopolizing the meeting, while encouraging the more reticent group members to voice their opinions. One way to encourage shy members to participate would be to ask them to prepare a particular area to discuss, so that they can present on it during the meeting. This will help ease them out of their comfort zone.
Don’t stray off track
As the moderator leading the meeting, you are responsible for making sure that all members stay on the agenda. To accomplish this, set your meeting agenda with realistic time limits. You can sequence the agenda in a way where the points concerning the whole group are discussed first, followed by points which may be one-on-on. This will make it easy for group members to slip out of the meeting once their part is dealt with. If a group member has been talking for longer than their allocated time and their concerns do not affect the group as a whole, then cut them off politely, asking them to carry out the discussion later with you in a one-on-one discussion.
Do document your meeting
Often points discussed and promises made during meetings do not see the light of the day. That’s why recording meeting minutes is important. It helps capture the essential information, i.e. the decisions made and the assigned actions. Documenting the meeting makes it easier to resolve any ambiguity that may occur afterwards and helps keep the plan of action on track. Though quick meetings, such as daily huddles, need not be documented, it’s a good idea to document strategic-level meetings, such as monthly and quarterly meetings.
Don’t leave without a clear plan of action
If the meeting is about how to achieve specific goals then it’s important to have a clearly drawn out plan of action outlining what needs to be done. For every action plan nominate one member as the point person who will ensure that the plan is on track. This person can also handle the related task of updating the progress report.
Do plan the next meeting
At the end of the meeting draw out the discussion points for the next meeting. Ask your team for their input while building the agenda for the next meeting. This will encourage their participation in the next meeting.
Hopefully these quick pointers will help elevate your meetings from being a ‘black hole’ of time and productivity to helpful drivers of success.
