One of the least fun parts about corporate jobs might be getting up early to sit in meetings all day. Most people dread the thought. And this is within reason.
Typically business meetings are long, drawn-out and filled with enough information to clutter your brain for days. This can be overwhelming for some people.
However, there are ways to run meetings efficiently without people feeling anxious or burnt-out afterward. Keep reading to check out these tips on how to make your work meetings more engaging and productive for everyone.
Print an Agenda
People often get anxious when they don’t know how long they’re going to be in a particular place or what’s going on. You may have some type A personalities in attendance and being unorganized just won’t fly with them. This is why it would be a good idea to make up an agenda and print it to hand out to everyone.
Get the whole team on the same page by including them in the overall flow of how the meeting will go. You can also add in timeframes for each section or topic, so conversations don’t get too longwinded. Keeping things straight to the point will add to the overall productivity of your work meetings.
Collect Questions/Topics Beforehand
Here’s another way to make sure work meetings don’t drag on too long. A lot of times, people will have questions once you’ve informed them of the meeting and what it’s actually about. This is your chance to collect any questions or important topic points before the meeting begins so that you can work in enough time to answer them. You could also just include the answers to the questions in the presentation of the meeting.
Of course, you could run into additional questions during the actual meeting. But it will definitely shave off some time if you address most of them upfront or generate an FAQ list to include.
Establish Rules & Protocol
Certainly, everyone has been to at least one business meeting where things got a bit heated. These types of disturbances could interrupt the flow and overall tone of your work meetings. And overall, you want all attendees to give and receive respect.
You can avoid people getting out of hand by establishing rules and protocol for professional behavioral expectations right away. Although everyone is an adult, there are times where emotions get the best of people. Make sure you have plans put in place for how to appropriately deescalate any confrontation that may arise.
Do a Follow-Up
During the work meetings, it’s important that you take notes on topics that you may want to circle back around to at a later date. This is a good chance to do follow-ups within a few weeks of the meetings.
Make sure you have everyone’s contact information, and you’re ready to give out your info to any guests that may have attended. Check out some last-minute business card maker programs so that you’re prepared to exchange your contact. Send out emails, schedule phone conferences, or have another meeting to do a follow-up.
Need More Info on Running Effective Work Meetings & Leadership?
One of the most important things to remember when you’re in charge of hosting work meetings is that you have to be a good leader. You are the one who sets the tone and pace for the meeting. And you can do this while remaining respectful and considerate of everyone there.
Check out our articles in our start-up blog section for more information on business-related topics.
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