5 Tips for More Effective Meetings

Meetings: people seem to love them or hate them. Some see meetings as a time waster, while others thrive on the collaborative energy that comes from regular check-ins or stand-ups. Whatever the emotions that seeing a meeting on the calendar causes, meetings are an essential tool for an effective, successful team. Crafting effective meetings takes a little time and planning, but it yields great results. Here are 5 tips for more effective meetings that will boost your team’s communication and success.

1. Craft a clear and inspiring agenda.

Before calling a meeting, establish the agenda. What are the meeting objectives? These days, more than ever, we should remember to include a more personal goal. On top of “taking care of business”, we need to ask people how they are doing, show that we care and offer our support when needed.

2. Make sure a team meeting is the best approach.

While meetings can resolve complex issues quickly, they also interrupt the workflow of the team. Before you schedule a meeting, ask yourself some basic questions.

Is the issue best addressed in a team setting or one on one?
Which people need to participate? We can inform the others after the meeting.
Could the issue effectively be addressed via email or chat or via another medium?

Don’t just have meetings out of habit. Meetings are time and energy consuming, and effective meetings should always add value to each person participating.

3. Inform the team of the meeting agenda ahead of time.

Send a quick note to the team inviting them to the meeting and giving them an idea of the issues to be addressed. This gives team members a chance to think of questions or gather any relevant information before the meeting begins.

4. Make sure everyone is adding value and actively participating.

It’s tempting to have a meeting to update people and share information, but that could be done in an email, right? In order to get the most out of a meeting, make sure it’s an opportunity for brainstorming and getting people’s ideas and input.

5. Send a follow-up reminder after the meeting.

After the meeting ends, but while it’s still fresh in everyone’s minds, send a quick note to the team thanking them for their input and listing the highlights of the meeting. This list should include any questions that were raised that require follow-up and any tasks that were assigned to team members. Communicating these points to the team helps keep everyone on track and ensures that tasks get completed. Thanking the team also reinforces the value each member brings and offers much-needed appreciation. We all need that extra boost from time to time!

Ingrid Kelada

Owner of KCC Positive Business Psychology & Happiness Expert

Join Us for a FREE Event March 23rd – How to Stay Connected While Working Apart

Join us for a KCC Coffee Chat! This coffee chat will be an interactive presentation in which three of our team experts share best practices on this current issue: how to stay connected while working apart.

Listen as 3 of our experts passionate about happiness and performance share their expertise and the recent trends on this subject:

Pat Rothenberger, Coach/Trainer

Jean-François Drouin, Coach/Trainer

Ingrid Kelada, President KCC Positive Business Psychology

Bring your coffee or tea and join us for this free event! We look forward to seeing you!