Tips For More Effective Team Meetings

Having effective team meetings can have multiple benefits for your business.

Many meetings are unproductive and simply waste everyone’s time. If you have to have meetings, here’s how to make the most of them.

There are a few reasons teams meet. The first one is out of habit. We put together a schedule for meeting on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. And we meet even when there’s nothing to really meet about.

The second reason we meet is due to a false sense of accomplishment. We feel like if we’re meeting, we’re getting things done. This is far from true.

But meetings are important. But how do you make them productive and effective?

Have an agenda

Have a clear and concrete agenda distributed in advance that outlines the purpose of the meeting and what your projected outcomes are.

Ensure the agenda has a limited number of action and discussion items.

Set an end time and stick to it.

Limit the length of the meeting to less than one hour if you can. And always end the meeting on time, even if the agenda is not completed.

Have a meeting lead.

Without a meeting lead, chaos will happen every time. All meetings must have a main person, usually the person that called the meeting, to keep it on track. If you are the chair of the meeting, control discussion by not letting individuals dominate or repeat what has already been said.

Reduce the number of meetings held.

Many people call meetings without a true purpose.

Before calling a meeting, look into if the information can be shared in a different way.

Some communication channels include email and internal memos.

Cut down on the number of people attending

Limit the number of people involved in the meeting. Only have people at the meeting who need to be there.

When meetings have too many people, you can end up with endless discussions and unclear direction.

Create action items and accountability

Ensure there are actionable follow-up to decisions made at the meeting, including who is responsible and accountable.