While office meetings are necessary for teams to coordinate, discuss issues and make decisions or regroup, it could also become a huge waste of time. Meetings can drag for hours, thus affecting the day's productivity. Keep things running smoothly and by the clock, even when you're holding meetings, with these suggestions below:
1.) Prepare in advance.
Preparation cuts the time it takes to start the meeting. If there are computers and projectors to be used for presentations, it should be set up in advance. Distribute materials to the staff a day before the meeting, so that they already have background ideas on what's about to be discussed.
2.) Outline agendas and goals on the board.
Visualization helps keep the flow of the meeting going, so use the board for this. Divide the agenda into specific and general issues and then tackle the most important ones first and then take notes.
"A wall of visual notes lets multiple ideas present themselves to you at the same time," said Dan Porter of Scriberia, according to Mashable. "If they're inhabiting the same visual space, it seems more likely that interesting connections will be made and existing ideas will come together to form new ones," he added.
3.) Keep personal gadgets out.
Smartphones, tablets and laptops must not be brought into the boardroom and must be left on everyone's desks or purses. In a survey, most top executives apparently prefer that gadgets shouldn't be part of the meeting, according to Inc. Go old school by taking notes using pen and paper instead.
4.) Don't serve snacks inside the board room.
If your goal is to keep the pace, having snacks inside the room will only invite interruptions. Serve this in a separate room instead and only when the meeting is over.
5.) Achieve to keep it short.
Devote at least an hour or less to meetings and keep it this way. Remember, classes at universities are at least an hour long, so meetings should be the same. If you've done all of the above all of the other suggestions above, then this is very doable.
Need more ideas on productivity? Check out: Work Breaks, Productivity: How To Make The Most Of Your Breaks At Work, As Backed By Science and Work Productivity: 5 Brain Tricks To Become More Productive At Work As Proven By Science.
