Tips for Holding More Effective Office Meetings
Effective communication is essential to successful management and leadership. The office meeting is a good way to communicate information to a group of people, and get feedback at the same time. Poorly done, however, meetings can be the biggest waste of time in an organization. Whether in the public or private sector, workers find themselves involved in a large number of meetings, and at all levels, employees often have to be responsible for organizing or running meetings.
Ensuring that meetings don’t waste time, and achieve communications goals, is a matter of proper prior planning. Following are some helpful tips to make office meetings more effective.
1. Establish a clear agenda for the meeting and communicate it in advance to all participants. This will enable participants to arrive prepared and eliminate the need to take up time explaining the meeting’s purpose.
2. Set and enforce ground rules. Make clear the start and end times, the amount of time allowed for individual presentations, etc., and make sure everyone abides by the rules. Office meetings should always start and end on time, and except in very rare cases, should not last longer than one hour.
3. Assign responsibility for chairing the meeting. Even in flat organizations without clear lines of authority, unstructured meetings without someone in charge are unproductive and waste valuable time.
4. Have all necessary equipment and materials in place before the meeting starts. Make sure that AV equipment is in working order, and there is someone available who knows how to operate it.
5. Select an appropriate location for the meeting. It goes without saying that the meeting room should be large enough to accommodate all participants. But, it should also have adequate lighting and ventilation, and furnishings (chairs, writing surfaces, etc.) that are comfortable and facilitate taking notes. The meeting venue should also be as centrally located as possible.
6. Consider alternatives to face-to-face meetings. Some communications are more effective when done face-to-face, but for routine communication, it can be expensive in money and time to move large groups of people to a central location. Digital Video Conference-capable satellite facilities located near work areas allow effective communication between and among groups of people without taking them away from work for extended periods. This is especially useful if your organization has elements that are widely separated in the same building or located in different cities.
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