Many of us waste a lot of time in unproductive meetings. It never ceases to surprise me, even in very established and reputable business environments, how common it is to participate in poorly run meetings. Folkerson, in the article that follows, summarizes 9 key factors which contribute towards high productivity in meetings. Worth being reminded!
Nine Tips for the Shortest and Most Productive Meetings Possible
by David Folkerson
I have a friend who told me he regularly has to sit through two-hour long weekly team meetings. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry with him. Such a massive investment in time and money. Put your typical team of 10 into a boardroom for two hours, and that meeting has just cost the company about $1,000 in wages. Keep it up for a year, and the company is down about $50K. And that’s just one team. It is unlikely that this company generates sufficient return from these team pow-wows to merit such frivolousness with employee time. Conducting good meetings is an important skill. Here are some tips for keeping them as short and as productive as possible.
1. Circulate an agenda ahead of time
Circulate an agenda ahead of time and make sure that the presenters are ready to speak. The agenda doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t need fancy letterhead or special typography. A numbered list of topics in the body of the invitation message will do just fine. Bonus points if you assign a duration to each topic.