Not all meetings are created equal
Guest post from Cindy Bates blog, Vice President, Microsoft SMB US.
Ever been in a meeting that just didn’t feel productive? Perhaps there wasn’t enough structure, or attendees were distracted, or maybe it just went on too long, robbing employees of valuable time to address their action items. Whatever the issue might be, we all know that conducting an effective meeting is sometimes harder than it sounds, but it is also one of the keys to sustaining a motivated workforce.
Like many of you, I’ve been a part of lots of meetings over the years. Here are some of my takeaways on what makes a meeting effective and how technology can help:
Start on time, end on time. Barring any unforeseen, legitimate complications, vow to begin and end meetings punctually. Doing so will keep everyone accountable to be fully present, as well as appropriately pace their portion of the meeting if they are speaking or presenting.
Get smart on note-taking. We all take notes differently, but some habits should become universal. For instance, when recording action items, don’t just write down what you’re to do, but also what your colleagues are responsible for. That way, everyone’s accountable to each other; you’ll also know where to turn if later you have a question about something someone else is handling. I’m a big fan of digital note-taking, since it integrates so well with all the work I’m already doing on my computer or phone. Microsoft OneNote makes for a perfect digital notebook, especially because it’s much easier to keep track of than a spiral notepad!
Keep everyone involved. To hold everyone’s attention, find ways to keep all participants involved, especially if it’s a large meeting. Perhaps this means calling on people out of the blue for their thoughts and input. If you need to break up into smaller groups to discuss a given topic more thoroughly, do so. To better support remote attendees, try videoconferencing rather than the traditional audio conference, so that these participants are just as actively engaged as everyone else. Solutions like Microsoft Lync make it easy to meet “face-to-face” and also enable desktop-sharing, so that remote participants can follow along with presentations and meeting content.
Know when to hold a meeting and when not to. Yes, there’s tremendous value in meeting face-to-face, but I’ve found that sometimes we arrange meetings out of habit, only to discover that a simple phone conversation or informative e-mail would have sufficed. Creating an atmosphere of collaboration in your workplace will help do away with unnecessary meetings, and giving employees tools to quickly connect with one another and share information will help accomplish this goal. Many of the functions included in Office 365, for example, help workers communicate and collaborate, in and outside of meetings.
How about you? What are your best practices for conducting effective, even enjoyable, meetings? What are your big “no-no’s” when it comes to meetings