Three tips on making team meetings more effective

For many people the term "team meeting" suggests boredom, inefficiency and a sense of futility. A good number of participants are there solely to make up the numbers as only a very small part of the agenda concerns them. Here are three tips on how a manager can make team meetings more effective and even have participants looking forward to them.

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Defined plan and outline of the meeting

According to Forbes, every meeting must have its outline clearly defined. It is necessary the organiser sets up the agenda, including a time schedule. The time then needs to be checked regularly during the meeting to avoid any overruns, which might again badly influence the work and schedule of individual employees who by then should be doing something else. Go through all the points you planned and if you do not have enough time, schedule another meeting.

Only truly relevant attendees present

It is rather bad practice to invite to meetings people who do not really need to be there. Attendees are often invited only so they can add something to the topic if necessary; otherwise the meeting does not concern them at all. In this case, however, it would be more logical to make a note of those points that need attention and ask the given person about them later, or invite them only to the relevant part of the meeting. Educate staff so they invite only the most essential attendees to meetings and also respect their colleagues' time.

Clear output of the meeting

Every meeting should yield a series of action steps for the individual attendees. It is quite frustrating if meetings have no specific outcome and merely waste employees' time without leaving them any the wiser. Write down a clear list of things to be done, agree on them with all the attendees (ideally you should agree on the points directly at the meeting, then subsequently send them the minutes), set deadlines and then determine how you will check whether tasks have been completed.

 

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Article source Forbes.com - prestigious American business magazine and website
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