Ten Tips for a Quick and Efficient Meeting
13 June 2014
Read by 3665 persons
Often seen as a waste of time, meetings have a bad reputation in companies. According to executives, few of them are constructive, whether they are strategic, quality, commercial, etc. Intended for some to inform, for others to report, they have lost their primary purpose: to advance a file or a project.
Here are some tips that will help you transform your meetings into an effective and productive tool.
Ask yourself if the meeting is necessary
Some meetings are useless because they are not organized for the right reason. Before organizing a meeting, always ask yourself first if this meeting presents, at this moment, added value for the project you are working on. There may be better alternatives than a meeting. If the objective is only to transmit information to your team, without time for exchange, email will be more effective.
Question the relevance of the choice of participants
Before inviting participants, ask yourself about the usefulness of the presence of each person at your meeting. Also, if someone invites you to a meeting and you don't know if you can contribute, ask them if it is really necessary for you to be present.
Be clear about the start and end times of the meeting
Requiring the meeting to start on time and refusing latecomers will prevent you from wasting time. It is also recommended to time each of the topics to be discussed and the speaking time of each person in order to avoid digressions and off-topic discussions. Also, forcing yourself to finish on time will prevent you from disrupting everyone's schedules.
Prepare the meeting in advance
To prevent the meeting from straying from the topic, send a sufficiently precise agenda so that everyone knows what is expected of them and can prepare the necessary documents and elements.
Ensure a clear structure
Meetings should be structured around a clear structure. The objectives and the expected result of the meeting must be clear from the start. The purpose of the meeting must be clear to all participants, so that everyone sticks to the subject. The person leading the meeting must therefore keep their objective in mind and try not to stray too far from it.
Make a PowerPoint presentation
If you need to address several topics and participants need basic information to follow, make a simple PowerPoint presentation with the essential points.
Keep minutes
Make sure someone writes minutes of the meeting. It is important for all participants to receive a written report after the meeting on what was discussed and decided. Everything is thus clear for everyone and there can then be no possible confusion about the result of the meeting.
Don't drag on
Stick to the scheduled time and don't let the meeting go on unnecessarily. If you reach a conclusion in the first 5 minutes, simply end the meeting. If the meeting lasts long enough, integrate breaks at regular intervals, everyone will come back more focused.
Allow time for questions
At the end of the meeting, allow time for questions. The decisions made must be clear to everyone and everyone must therefore have the opportunity to ask questions. Doing a quick round table can help ensure that everyone has expressed their wishes and agrees on the results of the meeting.
Distribute the minutes very quickly after the meeting
Don't waste time sending the minutes of the meeting. Ideally, do it immediately after the meeting with, possibly, an action plan for each participant and what is expected of them. Remember to follow up on the action plan as you go.
We hope that these tips will help you avoid future "meetingitis" and the lack of involvement and conviction of your employees, so... good luck in your next meetings!
Philippe Montant
CEO of ReKrute
Here are some tips that will help you transform your meetings into an effective and productive tool.
Ask yourself if the meeting is necessary
Some meetings are useless because they are not organized for the right reason. Before organizing a meeting, always ask yourself first if this meeting presents, at this moment, added value for the project you are working on. There may be better alternatives than a meeting. If the objective is only to transmit information to your team, without time for exchange, email will be more effective.
Question the relevance of the choice of participants
Before inviting participants, ask yourself about the usefulness of the presence of each person at your meeting. Also, if someone invites you to a meeting and you don't know if you can contribute, ask them if it is really necessary for you to be present.
Be clear about the start and end times of the meeting
Requiring the meeting to start on time and refusing latecomers will prevent you from wasting time. It is also recommended to time each of the topics to be discussed and the speaking time of each person in order to avoid digressions and off-topic discussions. Also, forcing yourself to finish on time will prevent you from disrupting everyone's schedules.
Prepare the meeting in advance
To prevent the meeting from straying from the topic, send a sufficiently precise agenda so that everyone knows what is expected of them and can prepare the necessary documents and elements.
Ensure a clear structure
Meetings should be structured around a clear structure. The objectives and the expected result of the meeting must be clear from the start. The purpose of the meeting must be clear to all participants, so that everyone sticks to the subject. The person leading the meeting must therefore keep their objective in mind and try not to stray too far from it.
Make a PowerPoint presentation
If you need to address several topics and participants need basic information to follow, make a simple PowerPoint presentation with the essential points.
Keep minutes
Make sure someone writes minutes of the meeting. It is important for all participants to receive a written report after the meeting on what was discussed and decided. Everything is thus clear for everyone and there can then be no possible confusion about the result of the meeting.
Don't drag on
Stick to the scheduled time and don't let the meeting go on unnecessarily. If you reach a conclusion in the first 5 minutes, simply end the meeting. If the meeting lasts long enough, integrate breaks at regular intervals, everyone will come back more focused.
Allow time for questions
At the end of the meeting, allow time for questions. The decisions made must be clear to everyone and everyone must therefore have the opportunity to ask questions. Doing a quick round table can help ensure that everyone has expressed their wishes and agrees on the results of the meeting.
Distribute the minutes very quickly after the meeting
Don't waste time sending the minutes of the meeting. Ideally, do it immediately after the meeting with, possibly, an action plan for each participant and what is expected of them. Remember to follow up on the action plan as you go.
We hope that these tips will help you avoid future "meetingitis" and the lack of involvement and conviction of your employees, so... good luck in your next meetings!
Philippe Montant
CEO of ReKrute
