Running effective business meetings is impossible without proper management. Otherwise any useful tool can be ruined and turned into a mess.
During the meeting, stick to resolving the work tasks only. Any organizational issues should be considered in advance. This makes the meeting productive.
Why are meetings important?
One hour of face-to-face interaction with employees often replaces days and weeks of communicating via email.
Meetings help to solve work problems and to elaborate a business development strategy, taking into account the opinions of employees. In the future they will have to implement the adopted plans.
When using this tool correctly, you can both increase the performance indicators, and motivate employees to develop the company.
What are the types of meetings?
Meetings vary in location, type, number of attendees, and other characteristics. In general, they can be divided into two types: scheduled and unscheduled.
Scheduled meetings are held to discuss current tasks. These meetings are held according to a predetermined schedule. They can take five minutes a day, once a week, or once a month.
Unscheduled meetings are held immediately to discuss or resolve urgent issues. Such operational meetings are organized without preparation.
Which meeting format to choose
Organizations require meetings not only between directors, but also with the participation of rank-and-file employees. The choice of the appropriate format depends on the organizer’s objectives.
- Debates
In general, only employees responsible for a specific task take part in collective discussions. Very often the best solution can be found only in debates.
- Presentation
This format helps get people up to speed quickly. Presentations are needed at the beginning of the project to discuss the work plan and at the end to summarize the results briefly. The colleagues could ask a lot of additional questions, so the presenter is expected to be well-versed in the topic he’s talking about.
Try to present information in a concise manner. It would be useful to visualize the information: using presentation or сharts.
- Intercommunication
This format is used when opinions are divided on a project or issue. Meeting participants prepare arguments in support of their opinion and defend their position to their peers. This helps people see the situation from different perspectives and make an objective decision.
- Brainstorm
Brainstorming helps you to develop creative solutions to a problem, and is particularly useful when you need to break out of stale thinking patterns. At first sight, this format looks chaotic, but it often leads to unexpected results. It is important to create comfortable conditions so that participants are not distracted, and to record ideas in writing.
- Planning meeting
Short, regular meetings that help to monitor the work process and solve current difficulties. The organizer of such a meeting is the project manager or the director of the company. A proper role distribution is an essential for productive planning meetings.
How to prepare for a meeting
No matter what kind of meeting you’re attending, though, it’s important to be thoroughly prepared. Prepare an agenda for the meeting. The agenda is an important document for any meeting, as it notifies attendees of the objectives and purview of the gathering, as well as keeping the meeting itself focused, efficient, and on track.
The responsible employee, designated by the manager or director, will determine in advance for the meeting:
- The purpose of the meeting;
- Exact time and date;
- List of participants and speakers;
- Format of the meeting;
- Time frame (or timing);
- Plan and structure.
After the meeting, the same employee summarizes the results and provides a detailed report to the company president.
Four steps to an effective business meeting
The outcome of the meeting depends on how well the preparation goes. This applies to organizing business, offsite, industrial, and other types of meetings.
Determine in advance not only the agenda for the meeting, but also a number of other important conditions. Clear rules for the meeting will make preparation much easier.
Organizing conferences and meetings consists of four main steps.
1. Preparing an agenda
Formulate and write down the agenda to be discussed at the operational meeting.
Only important issues should be decided at the meeting. Anything that can be decided outside the meeting should not take up the time of the participants and project managers. It is better to raise fewer issues for discussion, but to address them more deliberately.
Research shows that employees are most attentive and receptive in the first few minutes of a meeting. Therefore, the first half of the meeting must address the most important issues.
The second half should be more informal. It should be devoted to organizational issues, discussion of company news, local tasks or events.
In some companies, the rules for preparing an agenda for discussion are set out in a separate document. Small teams can work out without it.
2. Selecting meeting participants
Once the agenda for the meeting is clear, identify the participants. The list should include people who are directly involved with the issues to be discussed.
Productivity depends on the number of people involved. It is better to hold important meetings in groups of 5-10 people. With that many people, everyone can participate in the discussion and express an opinion.
When organizing large meetings, the secretary should prepare and send out invitations a few days in advance with details such as:
- Agenda and discussion topics;
- Date, time and location of the meeting;
- Please confirm your attendance.
The secretary sends all materials necessary for discussion and negotiation separately.
3. Documents distribution
The effectiveness of the meeting depends on the quality of documentation.
- Prepare your documentation in the same style, choose a business font — for example, Times New Roman or Arial.
- Drawings, diagrams and tables make the material easier to understand.
- Divide the information in the document into paragraphs and use headings.
- Use an informational style and do not complicate the presentation of information.
- Highlight important information in italics or color so that participants can quickly navigate the material.
Google Slides would visualise the information and make it more understandable. It should be prepared in the same style as the documentation.
4. Assembling the room
The room must accommodate all invited participants. Air out the room before the meeting. If possible, turn on the split system.
Prepare your workspace and staff seats in advance. Make sure there are enough chairs for everyone. Everyone should have pens and paper to write down important information. Drinking water must be readily available.
If you have marker boards in your office, make sure you have markers of different colors and an eraser. Make sure that all markers are writable.
In addition to setting up all of the necessary equipment for the meeting ahead of time, you should also make sure the room is well-appointed for everyone’s comfort and attention.
Following these rules when organizing a meeting or conference will help create comfortable conditions for participants and increase their involvement in the work process.
A few more conditions for organizing and conducting a meeting
- Meetings typically take up 20-30% of all employees’ time. Consider not only the structure and plan, but also the reason for the meeting.
- Try to focus on a specific task during the meeting, some additional issues can be solved afterward..
- According to recent research out of Stanford University, the most productive meetings have «seven, plus or minus two.» In other words, between five and nine people. Any more attendees and the quality of contribution declines; any fewer and you run the risk of groupthink.
- Everyone should have the opportunity to express their opinion and offer their solution to the problem.
- Appoint a dedicated person who will be responsible for implementing the decisions made during the meeting
- In addition to a short notification of the upcoming meeting and an agenda, you should attach any minutes from previous meetings which are relevant to the topics planned.
How to conduct a meeting
In order for the meeting to produce the desired result, you must follow several rules.
1. Every point of view must be considered
Even if the meeting leads to heated discussions and arguments, it often leads to the right decision. It’s important to listen to everyone’s opinion and weigh the arguments objectively.
Have the department head or director speak at the end: this will help participants express their point of view openly and without regard to management’s opinion. Do not interrupt participants or comment prematurely on their words, whether you want to give a negative or positive evaluation.
Encourage employees to express their opinions, even if they differ from those of their peers. If disagreements between employees begin to affect the team atmosphere or work process, resolve them separately.
2. Any statement made during the meeting must be well-reasoned
The time frame for a workshop is strictly limited, so avoid pathos in favor of specific suggestions. Stick to the plan you have made beforehand.
After resolving one issue, move on immediately to the next. If you can’t find an answer for a long time, return to it later in a separate meeting with the project managers.
3. Any additional question should be answered
If employees have additional questions about company plans, projects, or tasks, the manager must answer each one.
Due to the time constraints of a meeting, it may be difficult to respond immediately. Take notes to discuss concerns after the meeting.
4. Consider taking minutes during the meeting
The secretary should keep a detailed record of the ideas and arguments expressed by the meeting participants. You will also need to record the results of the meeting, set deadlines for completing tasks, and assign responsibilities.
The form of the minutes is chosen in advance.
- A full report is needed to record all speeches in detail and to document the progress of the event.
- The short form is chosen when important points can be noted briefly.
The minutes are needed so that employees who missed the meeting can learn about its results. They also help you analyze the meeting and gather some information for the upcoming ones.
Keep a separate record of agreements made by meeting participants. Otherwise, your time will be wasted.
5. Use CRM systems and services for planning
Projecto is a good meeting planning tool. Here you can set up a flexible reminder system, delegate and distribute tasks, work with documents to organize and schedule meetings.
Try the free trial version for one month to see if it fits you. Choose one of two options: general or corporate (available on request).
The general demo version provides unlimited rights, but is not suitable for storing personal data or business information. The corporate version is a more personalized format, where you can even choose a third-level domain.
It’s hard to think of anything more useful than Projecto during the meeting preparation. Sign up for free now!
