5 ways to change how you do meetings
How many times have you come out of a meeting feeling deflated? Meetings are often called to be proactive and to bring teams together to inform of changes, discuss new plans, and drive the business forward. Yet, they usually feel like a waste of precious time, and leave staff feeling more drowsy than invigorated.
Take a look at some of the ways you can change how you do meetings.
- Send an email
Meetings should only be scheduled if they are 100% necessary. While it can be tempting to get everyone together whenever you need to make an announcement, consider whether you need to share that information face-to-face or whether an email would be sufficient. If you are sharing news then emails are much quicker, and you can always invite people to respond with any feedback or to confirm that they received it.
- Send an email
- Meet virtually
As more companies hire freelancers or support staff working from home, it can be even harder to get everyone in the same room for a meeting, but the alternative doesn’t necessarily have to involve crackly conference calls. Try hosting a video meeting via Skype or other technologies, to get the same effect of a meeting without all of the logistics hassles.
- Meet virtually
- Take a walk
If you dread having to host one-to-one meetings to catch up with team members, why not make them more energising by switching to walking meetings? Not only will you get a break from your desk and end the meeting feeling refreshed, walking can also help to prompt more fruitful discussions away from the pressures of the office.
- Take a walk
- Time it
If you really have no choice but to schedule a meeting, then try to keep it to the time allotted to ensure it remains productive. You could even set time limits for each part or each agenda item, as knowing that the clock is ticking can help attendees to avoid getting stuck on one topic and encourage them to come to decisions more quickly.
- Time it
Next time you are struggling to keep everyone’s attention during lengthy team meetings, try introducing games or activities to liven up the proceedings. You could even look at booking a team building event to make your next team meeting more interesting than usual.
