Waste Less Time in Meetings
19 February 2009
Read by 1615 persons
Ah, the sacred meetings! They are time-consuming, even though not much is decided or learned... but they are a kind of ingrained ritual. It's about optimizing them. Five golden rules to follow.
A meeting = a purpose. It is effective to question the validity of meetings. If they only serve to give information, perhaps some can be eliminated by transmitting the information via the company intranet. Exchange meetings can also be eliminated and replaced by an electronic forum.
A meeting = a prepared agenda. You must list the decisions to be made before the end of the meeting. Prepare your participation and your intervention. Study the topics. Gather the preparatory documents or follow-up on commitments made at the previous meeting. Also, come to the meeting with your agenda.
A meeting = a start and end time. Limiting the meeting time will force the facilitator to shorten unnecessary conversations. Be sure to contain strong personalities and talkative people. Set time limits for interventions.
A meeting = positive participants. Be a useful and efficient participant: adopt constructive speech (or abstain), respecting the items on the agenda, be clear, precise and... brief!
A meeting = decisions. Everyone should leave the meeting with a clear idea of the decisions that have been made. And the person in charge must have developed an action plan. A written report, distributed quickly, reminds everyone what needs to be done by whom and by when. Ensure that one of your colleagues takes on the role of secretary
Published May 10, 2006
Posted online February 18, 2009
lentreprise.com
A meeting = a purpose. It is effective to question the validity of meetings. If they only serve to give information, perhaps some can be eliminated by transmitting the information via the company intranet. Exchange meetings can also be eliminated and replaced by an electronic forum.
A meeting = a prepared agenda. You must list the decisions to be made before the end of the meeting. Prepare your participation and your intervention. Study the topics. Gather the preparatory documents or follow-up on commitments made at the previous meeting. Also, come to the meeting with your agenda.
A meeting = a start and end time. Limiting the meeting time will force the facilitator to shorten unnecessary conversations. Be sure to contain strong personalities and talkative people. Set time limits for interventions.
A meeting = positive participants. Be a useful and efficient participant: adopt constructive speech (or abstain), respecting the items on the agenda, be clear, precise and... brief!
A meeting = decisions. Everyone should leave the meeting with a clear idea of the decisions that have been made. And the person in charge must have developed an action plan. A written report, distributed quickly, reminds everyone what needs to be done by whom and by when. Ensure that one of your colleagues takes on the role of secretary
Published May 10, 2006
Posted online February 18, 2009
lentreprise.com
