Meetings can either be the engines of progress or the anchors that drag productivity down. It is important to assess how effective are meetings at your organization in terms of having a clear purpose, agenda, and resulting in well-defined actions?
Employees spend approximately over 390 hours per year in meetings. That amount of time is equivalent to almost 50 working days! While meetings are critical, spending an insane amount of time in meetings affects productivity.
When done right, meetings become catalysts for progress, fostering collaboration, alignment, and accountability. This article will allow you to master turning time-sinking meetings into productivity powerhouses by focusing on the following topics:
Best practices for organizing meetings
Effect of assessing workplace culture to company meetings
How to Organize an Effective and Efficient Meeting?
The way companies organize and run meetings is a reflection of their workplace culture. As meetings are an integral part of operations, it is important to make sure that the time spent in meetings is time well spent.
Meetings have different purposes. There is no one-size fits all kind of meeting structure. However, there are steps companies can take to streamline and maximize their meetings. To name some:
Setting Clear Objectives and Agendas
Selecting the Right Participants
Preparing and Distributing Pre-Meeting Materials
Establishing Ground Rules
Encouraging Active Participation
Summarizing and Documenting Outcomes
Taking these steps is a good starting point to improving your company’s meeting culture. Bring some actionable tips to elevate the effectiveness of your organization's meetings from the next sections.
6 Best Practices for Organizing Meetings: A Detailed Guide
Cultivating a culture of effective meetings saves time and creates an environment that allows efficient collaboration and swift decision making. Effective meetings become a microcosm of an ideal organizational culture—focused, respectful of time, and results-oriented.
In a high-performance culture, meetings serve as pivotal moments for alignment, problem-solving, and innovation. Given how critical meetings can be to companies' success, preparation for every meeting is a must!
Let’s dive deeper into the six best practices in organizing and running a successful meeting listed above.
Setting Clear Objectives and Agenda
Before scheduling a meeting, it is vital to define its purpose and objectives. It ensures that all participants are aligned and focused on the desired outcomes. Creating a detailed agenda helps keep the meeting on track and prevents deviations from the main topics.
Here’s how you can set clear objectives and agenda:
Define the Meeting's Purpose
Identify the Goal: Determine the main reason for the meeting (e.g., decision-making, brainstorming, updates, problem-solving).
Align with Business Goals: Ensure the meeting’s purpose supports broader business objectives.
Establish Specific Objectives
Set Clear Outcomes: Define what you want to achieve by the end of the meeting.
Focus on Essentials: Limit the meeting to the most critical issues.
Create a Detailed Agenda
List Topics: Break the meeting into specific discussion points.
Allocate Time: Assign a specific amount of time to each topic.
Prioritize: Arrange topics in order of importance.
Include Relevant Details
Provide Background Info: Include necessary context for each topic.
Specify Responsibilities: Identify who will lead each discussion or presentation.
Review and Adjust
Stay Flexible: Be open to adjustments based on feedback or changing priorities.
Confirm Final Agenda: Send out the final agenda before the meeting.
Selecting the Right Participants
Choosing the right people to attend a meeting can significantly impact its efficiency. By ensuring that only those who are directly involved or have valuable input are invited, reduces unnecessary discussions and keeps the meeting concise and to the point.
The right participants vary depending on the agenda of the meeting. Here are some common agenda items and the suggested relevant participants:
Meeting Topic | Suggested Participants |
Strategic Planning |
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Financial Review |
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Marketing Campaign Planning |
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Performance Review |
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Training and Development |
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Team Building and Culture |
|
There are more types of meeting topics that you can come across, some are even informal. The key is to invite only those who are directly involved in the agenda.
Preparing and Distributing Pre-Meeting Materials
Providing relevant documents, reports, and data to participants before the meeting allows them to come prepared. It reduces time spent on information sharing during the meeting and enables a more productive discussion.
Take a look at some scenarios where preparation and distribution of pre-meeting materials was missed and how it impacted the outcome of the meeting.
Scenario 1 | Scenario 2 | |
Situation | The marketing team is having a crucial meeting to finalize a new campaign strategy. The agenda and pre-meeting materials were not distributed. | The finance department is holding a quarterly budget review meeting. The CFO forgot to send out the financial reports beforehand. |
Impact | Confusion: Team members arrive without knowing what will be discussed, leading to a disorganized start. Unpreparedness: Attendees do not have the necessary background information, resulting in irrelevant feedback and suggestions. | Difficulty Understanding Data: Attendees see complex financial data for the first time during the meeting, making it hard to analyze and discuss effectively. Ineffective Discussion: Without prior review, team members are unable to provide informed input, leading to superficial discussions. |
Outcome | The meeting is unproductive, and key decisions are delayed until another meeting can be scheduled with proper preparation. | The meeting fails to achieve its objectives, requiring additional meetings to review the data and make informed decisions. |
Consider sending the relevant documents at least 24 hours before the scheduled meeting to allow participants to review them. This way, everyone will be focused on contributing to the discussion rather than getting overwhelmed by the information you are sharing.
Establishing Ground Rules
Setting clear meeting ground rules, such as time limits for each agenda item, the use of technology, and the process for making decisions, helps maintain order and efficiency. Communicating these rules beforehand ensures that all participants are aware of the expectations.
Ground rules have a serious tone to it. However, meeting ground rules can also be fun! Here are some fun ground rules you can set to make meetings more enjoyable while maintaining its effectiveness.
"Hot Potato Rule": If someone holds a toy potato (or any fun object) during their turn to speak, they have the floor. When they're done, they toss it gently to the next person who wants to speak, ensuring everyone gets a chance to contribute.
"Two-Minute Drill": Limit each agenda item to a strict two-minute discussion. Use a timer or a fun buzzer sound to signal when time's up. This keeps discussions focused and prevents tangents.
"Mute Button Challenge": Introduce a challenge where anyone who uses corporate jargon or buzzwords has to wear a silly hat or press a toy "mute" button. It encourages clear communication without the fluff.
"Emoji Reaction": Use emojis (either real ones on a whiteboard or virtual ones in a shared document) to gauge consensus or reactions instead of traditional thumbs-up or down. It adds a bit of visual fun to decision-making.
"Walk and Talk": For brainstorming sessions or less formal meetings, allow participants to walk around or doodle during the discussion. Sometimes movement can spark creativity and keep energy levels up.
Encouraging Active Participation
Fostering an environment where all participants feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas leads to more comprehensive discussions and better decision-making. Encouraging active participation and listening to all voices can uncover valuable insights.
Here’s how to spot who is actively participating during meetings.
Active Participant | Inactive Participant |
Actively asks clarifying questions and suggests alternative solutions. | Listens silently without contributing to the discussion. |
Shares personal experiences relevant to the topic and proposes new ideas. | Rarely offers opinions or insights during discussions. |
Provides constructive criticism and acknowledges others' contributions. | Nods occasionally but does not provide feedback or reactions. |
Advocates for specific strategies and supports team consensus. | Stays neutral and does not express preferences or concerns. |
Maintains eye contact, nods in agreement, and leans forward while listening. | Appears distracted, checks phone frequently, and slouches in chair. |
Takes notes, volunteers for action items, and follows up on assigned tasks. | Shows disinterest in action items and rarely volunteers for tasks. |
Uses gestures to emphasize points and keeps the discussion lively. | Appears disengaged, yawns, and shows lack of enthusiasm. |
Drives discussions forward, enhances creativity, and boosts team morale. | Meetings may stagnate with limited input and reduced morale. |
Summarizing and Documenting Outcomes
At the end of the meeting, summarizing the key points, decisions made, and action items ensures that everyone is on the same page. Documenting these outcomes and distributing them to participants helps maintain accountability and track progress.
A lot of companies have their own templates on how to document meeting outcomes. Sometimes, even employees have their personal templates. If you don’t have one, here is a simple template you can use.
Assessing Workplace Culture: First Step to More Effective Meetings
Meetings and workplace culture are intertwined: meetings reflect and shape the company culture. They serve as a mirror of organizational values and practices while also influencing how employees interact and collaborate.
Identifying ineffective meetings can be difficult, especially when they've become routine. Objective metrics not only allow companies to measure the effectiveness of their meetings but also let them define what an effective meeting should look like for them.
Here at SKOR, we help evaluate organizations based on three pillars: Cohesion, Clarity, and Courage. These key areas are crucial in meetings for fostering teamwork, clear communication, and open dialogue.
Identifying the problem is always the first step in making solutions. On top of measuring your company’s workplace culture, SKOR provides deep insights, benchmarks, and a clear business case for profit potential. Let SKOR help transform your meetings into powerful tools for growth.
The Final SKOR
It's true that many employees dislike meetings, often viewing them as time-wasters that hinder productivity. Unfortunately, some meetings can end up being meaningless and even create confusion.
Despite these challenges, meetings are essential in our work lives. Whether they're serious, like closed-door sessions, or more casual, such as conversations with managers, meetings play a crucial role beyond communication.
Effective meetings build trust among teams, encourage accountability, and enhance employee engagement.
Elevate your company's culture, operational model, and goals with our expertise.