3 Tips to Lead Effective Meetings

3 Tips to Lead Effective Meetings Posted by Christina Krenek on Wed, May 30, 2012 We all have our fair share of meetings at work. Whether it’s weekly team meetings, brainstorming sessions or client proposals, you can’t avoid them. The important question is: do you have effective meetings? Unfortunately, the term “meeting” doesn’t carry as much poise as it should. Research presented by WebEx found that 9 out of 10 workers would prefer to interact in any other way than meetings – but the reality is we spend more time in meetings than any other interaction. Because meetings are such an important part of business, they must be managed effectively. The WebEx research also found that when meetings are ineffective, 56 percent of workers regularly stay late at the office and 54 percent bring work home when they aren’t able to get it done. Poorly managed meetings hurt employees and workplace productivity. On the topic of bad meetings, there is a website called Don’t Suck @ Meetings, which lets real people post their awful business meeting experiences. The purpose of the website is to create “the world's largest repository of worst practices, tips and ideas to help others not suck at meetings.” Some are humorous and some are simply outrageous, for example: “If you’re the boss and you have no intention of engaging the rest of us in your meeting, why not just send an email and save us all the time. #wasteoftime” “Please don’t repeat the same thing over and over. I got it the first time.” “I will never forgive myself for letting my Lady GaGa ringtone go off during my meeting last week.” “Ever have that déjà vu feeling? Yes, every Monday at my 9 a.m. team meeting.” “Maybe if I fake a hernia I can get out of this meeting… yeah it’s that bad!” Now these comments may be a bit extreme, but ineffective meetings aren’t strangers in the workplace. Bad meetings leave employees feeling as if they’re not getting anything accomplished and there’s no clear agenda. A feeling of wasted time also creates negative attitudes in the workplace and decreases productivity. To avoid this, make sure you manage your meetings effectively! Here are three ways to make sure your meetings DON’T suck: Be Prepared! Effective meetings are structured. Make sure you and your employees are fully prepared for the meeting. It’s helpful to create and send out a meeting outline and schedule. This allows your employees to know what will be covered, what will be shared and what the purpose and goals of the meeting are. When employees walk into a meeting prepared and ready to share ideas, they are more confident, engaged and less likely to post comments on the “Don’t Suck @ Meetings” website. Engage Everyone! When leading a meeting, make sure to involve and engage everyone in attendance. How do you do this? Make eye contact with everyone in the room and speak with passion and charisma. When appropriate, it might be effective to start the meeting off with some mind-starters or trivia questions to get everyone thinking on their feet. Encourage everyone to participate and share, especially in brainstorming sessions. Don’t let employees feel neglected! Keeping employees engaged not only makes meetings more productive, but also keeps the sleeping and daydreaming to a minimum. Keep It Fresh! Yes, it’s important to accomplish the goals and purpose of the meeting, but that doesn’t mean every meeting should feel like déjà vu. Keep meetings interesting and encouraging. Offer recognition and praise for accomplishments; provide additional resources; and don’t forget to enjoy it. Sometimes it might even be appropriate to have the meeting in a different location or offer refreshments for special occasions. We want to hear from you! What are some of your best or worst business meeting experiences? How to do you manage effective meetings? http://info.profilesinternational.com/profiles-employee-assessment-blog/bid/105461/3-tips-to-lead-effective-meetings?source=Blog_Email_[3%20Tips%20to%20Lead%20Effec]