Love them or hate them, meetings are a part of working life. From one-on-one catchups to larger team meetings, they’re an inevitable part of the working week. But some of the biggest complaints about meetings are that there are too many of them or that they’re unnecessary – leaving workers feeling as though their time is being wasted.
Is it possible to change our attitudes toward meetings? Can they be made worthwhile for workers? Check out the following tips for making meetings more interesting and find out.
Make sure the right people are in the room
There’s nothing worse than attending a meeting that’s irrelevant to you and your work. When organizing meetings, make sure the right people are in the room. One of the ways you can do this is to give plenty of notice to attendees – helping them decide if they need to be there or not.
Having the right people in the room can ensure a more meaningful discussion and make the meeting more productive. Guest lists are important, so don’t just invite people to make up the numbers!
Structure long meetings carefully
Long meetings are sometimes necessary, but the longer the meeting, the easier it will be to lose the attention of your attendees. Understanding how to structure a meeting, from setting a timed agenda to setting breaks, will help keep your attendees engaged, and stop the meeting from being a waste of time.
Do more with your presentations
Presentations are a key part of many meetings, but these days, people want to see much more than the average PowerPoint. Using interactive presentation and collaboration software, you can help breathe new life into presentations and help people feel more engaged with the content. This is especially important for remote meetings, or meetings where only some of the attendees are on a screen. Use different types of media, including videos and images, to make your presentations more exciting and to help people understand the points you’re trying to get across.
Keep things interactive
Some of the worst meetings are those where you feel like you’re being talked at for a long period. Where possible, provide opportunities for your attendees to engage in discussion and ask questions, helping everyone feel like they’ve contributed something to the meeting. Try to read the room during the meeting to ensure that you’re holding people’s attention, and make some changes if you can sense people losing their focus.
While it’s true that many meetings could be a phone call or an email, some meetings are necessary. Understanding the different types of meetings and how to run them effectively can help you become a more confident leader, ensuring you not only keep meetings interesting but make them worthwhile for attendees. From quick catchups to all-day board meetings, applying these strategies could transform your approach to meetings, turning them from a dreaded obligation to a valuable use of everyone’s time.