How to Effectively Lead Meetings
If you find yourself falling asleep or daydreaming during a meeting at work, you’re not alone. On average, employees attend 62 hours of meetings a month. They also consider half of the meetings they attend to be a waste of time. Running effective meetings will engage employees and increase productivity. Studies show that having shorter, more frequent meetings is an effective strategy because it encourages employees to be active listeners.
Why do Employees Dislike Meetings?
Meetings often have a bad reputation around the office because of lack of organization, repetitiveness, and the length of time you’re forced to spend away from your desk when you want to be getting work done. It can be challenging for employees to feel included in a meeting when dominant personalities and senior staff are controlling the conversation. Surprisingly, even manager and executive meetings can be disorganized and counterproductive. Meetings are known around the office to be ineffective; in fact, 47% of all meetings are seen as a waste of time. When people would rather be somewhere else, it’s hard to engage them and encourage them to participate. Simple changes in meeting strategy and organization can shift employee’s negative energy into positive contribution.
5 Tips for Successful Meetings
1. Create A Clear Agenda And Stay On Point The agenda should be sent out with enough notice to ensure that all meeting attendees are prepared to address the agenda items. Remain focused on the topics at hand and re-direct conversations that stray from the purpose of the meeting.
2. Request Feedback At The End Of The Meeting Before the meeting concludes, allow 5 minutes for attendees to share their thoughts or give recommendations. This time also allows for people who didn’t have a chance to speak-up earlier to voice their thoughts.
3. Reduce The Number Of Meetings. Many meetings are held without a clear purpose. Before scheduling a meeting, decide if this information can be shared in a different way, such as through email or an internal memo. Merge similar meetings or topics together to decrease the number of meetings your employees have to attend.
4. Use Technology Effectively Laptops and cellphones are distracting at meetings. Employees often do other work during meetings or scroll through social media. Use technology purposefully by asking participants to pull up supporting documents on their laptops only when necessary.
5. Hold Yourself And Others Accountable. Regularly review action items to ensure your employees have the time and resources needed to accomplish outstanding tasks.
Conference Room Essentials
Technology Solutions Ensure your boardroom is equipped with a projector, television and the necessary cables to connect laptops. Additionally, power modules are useful because they can be integrated directly into the table and provide outlets, as well as USB and HDMI ports.
Whiteboards For visual learners, it’s important to have a writing surface where you can draw or write down important items. There are a wide variety of options available, such as smart whiteboards, magnetic whiteboards, mobile whiteboards and whiteboard cabinets.
The Right Size Table Depending on the size of the company and the size of the conference room, you’ll need a customized table that meets your needs and has enough space for everyone.
Comfortable Chairs There’s nothing worse than going to a meeting and falling asleep because you’ve tilted your chair all the way back. Invest in quality boardroom chairs that are comfortable and encourage strong posture.
Design a Meaningful Meeting Space
Boardroom tables tie the room together. With different table styles and shapes, you can create something unique. Choose whether you want a racetrack or boat-shaped style table, V-legs or cube base and if you want to mix and match finishes. If you’re not sure which table to choose, our space planning and design team can help to recommend the best options. Additionally, get inspired by visiting our website and browse our collection gallery to view our products in action. You can also stop into one of our twelve locations across Canada to explore our large selection of office furniture products.
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