Anyone who’s ever worked in an office knows just how terrible meetings can be. They can interrupt work flow, disrupting your whole day, and sometimes they feel like a mere platform for the most extroverted, outspoken colleague to talk at you for an hour. Perhaps even worse, sometimes they feel like no more than a long-winded rehashing of information you’re already familiar with.
It doesn’t have to be like this. Meetings are essential to a smooth-running company; unfortunately, many leaders don’t know how to use them effectively.
They say that time is money, so it wouldn’t be wise to waste the time of your employees, right?
Yet this is exactly what’s happening every day when companies drag their staff into inefficient meetings.
How much money is being wasted? If you take the hourly rate of the people attending and multiply it by the length of the meeting, you’ll start to get a good idea. For executives, it would be in the thousands of euros; for lower level employees, each person would cost around 50 euro in lost revenue. Overall, on a yearly basis, meetings cost an average company around 25,000 euro.
So what can be done to reduce this money drain?
One of the simplest solutions is to make sure the meeting starts on time, which means getting people to arrive before the scheduled start time.
Imagine if an Olympic runner decided to show up to the race just as the gun went off. They’d never catch up to those who were in position and ready to go.
The same holds true for those who show up right when a meeting begins. These people are actually late, since they keep things from moving forward and make the meeting less effective. So make sure everyone knows that being on time actually means getting there five minutes early. You can tell employees that being timely is a sign of respect, and being tardy clearly signals disrespect, both of the company and of their coworkers.
Another solution is to allow for opt-outs. People often get called to a meeting even though they have no real business being there. So why not share the agenda a few days in advance and allow people to opt out of attending if there’s no business relevant to them being discussed. I know some people, they only accept an invite if there is an agenda included. No agenda, means automatically a decline!
And even better, you could also provide a timetable for attendance along with the agenda, which would allow people to schedule their arrival and departure in accordance with relevant portions of the meeting. This way, no one needs to waste an hour of their day to discuss five-minutes worth of business.
Please don’t get me wrong…
While there certainly are bad meetings, it’s important not to overlook the positive effects meetings can have, such as boosting employee morale.
The toughest times of the day are the mid-shift dips, at 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., when energy levels are often at their lowest. This makes them the perfect time to hold team meetings designed to raise morale and make sure employees know that their work is appreciated. Also a good thing to start with is: Walking Meetings, Walk&Talk (of course the subject you’re discussing should not be confidential) but going outside for some fresh air, open your mind and get some new inspiration, can be the trick of being more productive and good for your health too! And don’t forget the virtual meetings, I believe people are underestimating the fact how effective workers can be when they remotely work from anywhere.
You can also boost morale by having daily, high-energy huddles that bring together the entire company.
These huddles needn’t take more than seven minutes or so – just enough time to share positive company news and any forecast data that shows how departments are working together to reach short-term goals. You can also take a moment to address any questions or concerns, and then finish with a group cheer. This can be easily done from the office but also from home.
Ending with a cheer might sound corny, but it’s effective for building team camaraderie – after all, it works for sports teams, right? It can even be as simple as, “Let’s go!” Or, “Time to shine!”
Or just go ahead with “The Wolf of Wallstreet” movement… and don’t forget the melody… (LOL)
There’s no avoiding the fact that things change and that goes for meetings as well.
Due to the outsourcing of certain jobs and an increase in remote working, virtual or online meetings are becoming a popular way for coworkers to stay connected. And as long as you’re aware of the possibilities and limitations of this technology, there’s no reason a virtual meeting can’t be a step up from the traditional meeting.
For a virtual meeting to be effective, one of the first things to realize is that you may need to speak differently than usual, especially if your meeting is audio only. For example, if people can’t see you, it’s important to pause between sentences every once in awhile, so that people can chime in with a response. It’s also wise to provide vocal gestures to let others know that you are engaged in the discussion. A simple “mm-hm” will reassure the speaker that their message is getting across.
One of the benefits of online meetings are the various ways to share documents and give presentations.
Gone are the days when email was the only way to share notes, attachments and suggestions for changes. Google and Microsoft offers an array of ways for team members to simultaneously work on and share spreadsheets, documents and presentation slide shows. You can also keep track of all the changes being made and leave virtual sticky notes for people.
Even daily huddles can be performed remotely, so there’s really no excuse not to stay in touch with your team. So even if you’re away from the office, you can use the power of technology, along with the power of a good meeting, to keep your team connected and motivated
The Inspirational speech from Al Pacino really does it.. I love this one so much!
