A Comprehensive Guide for Meetings, for You and Your Team

Meetings undeniably play a role in fostering brainstorming, collaborative work and making team decisions. However, it’s a lamentation in workplaces that we often find ourselves obligated to attend a number of meetings.

Based on a survey conducted by Harvard Business Review; An astonishing 71% of respondents considered meetings to be unproductive and inefficient. A substantial 62% believed that meetings missed opportunities to strengthen team bonds. Do these statistics resonate with you? It’s highly likely that most of us have experienced meetings where we felt there was room for improvement – preparation, smoother execution and less dominance from individuals. So how can we transform our meetings into positive experiences for ourselves and our teams?

We are excited to share these strategies with you so that you can start implementing them with your team.

Assigning roles is crucial in ensuring everyone understands their responsibilities allowing your team collectively to oversee that meetings adhere, to the schedule. When assigning roles it’s important to consider the following;

• Leader; This role can be fulfilled by anyone, within your team. Their responsibility is to guide discussions based on the agreed upon agenda points and encourage dialogue among team members.
• Facilitator; The facilitator supports the leader in managing the conversation. They ensure that every team member has an opportunity to contribute and provide assistance to those who may be quieter or less inclined to participate.
• Time Keeper; This role ensures that agenda items are kept within their designated time limits and alerts the leader if any adjustments need to be made due to time constraints.
• Note Taker; The note taker records meeting minutes and summarizes action items at the end of the meeting ensuring that all key points are captured accurately.
• Tech Support; In meetings having someone in a tech support role can be beneficial in helping attendees access the meeting and troubleshoot any issues that may arise.

Additionally it’s important to incorporate check ins at the beginning of meetings to foster camaraderie and ensure everyone feels acknowledged. Starting with a icebreaker can help create a positive atmosphere, for everyone involved. Lastly in an era of work we shouldn’t underestimate the importance of eye contact. Although it can be challenging in settings making an effort to cultivate this habit is highly valuable.

When someone makes a point it’s essential to show your attentiveness by looking into the camera. Collaboratively establish meeting norms, with your team from the start. These norms should reflect everyones agreement and involvement. For instance you could set an expectation that meeting agendas are created and shared prior to meetings or in meetings participants should mute their microphones when someone else is speaking.

Every meeting should have a purpose and agenda. This clarity helps participants understand where their questions or comments fit into the context of the meeting preventing, off topic discussions or multiple people talking at once.

Enhancing Meeting Skills; Strategies for Productive Meetings;

Understand the purposes behind holding meetings. Ensure that meeting objectives are achieved. Maintain focus and direction during meetings. Familiarise yourself with the roles of participants. Grasp the significance of meeting agendas. Handle decisions and action items in a processed manner. Properly conclude meetings. Effective meetings involve discussions, informed decision making and actionable outcomes.

If you feel that your meetings fall short of these ideals it could be worthwhile to invest half a day in developing the skills required to facilitate meetings with one of our training sessions. In the training you can gain expertise in engaging participants maintaining focus managing challenging behaviours and achieving successful outcomes.

Meetings that are ineffective can waste time, financial resources and human resources. On the hand productive meetings promote collaboration, trust, deliverables, commitment and actionable outcomes ultimately providing an advantage. Join us to learn tools and techniques that achieve a balance, between people, processes and tasks in order to have profitable meetings. Develop skills to lead and participate in effective meetings where resources are used efficiently. This will result in high quality business decisions and action plans.

In essence this following part of the article focuses on the art of leading groups towards making decisions. It’s not about rushing through decisions or taking votes; true leadership in meetings involves guiding the group towards well thought out decisions that everyone can support. Achieving these goals requires time and a considerate approach. Lets explore the factors for decision leadership.

At the beginning of any meeting it’s crucial to establish an environment, for discussion and decision making. This includes two aspects; clarifying the purpose of the meeting and explaining the decision making process. Firstly make sure that everyone understands why the meeting is being held especially if it is intended for making decisions.

It is important to be transparent, about the purpose of the meeting as it helps participants focus on topics and align their expectations regarding the outcomes and direction. Additionally it is essential to clarify the decision making process upfront. Will decisions be made through unanimity or consensus? Will voting be involved? Addressing these details beforehand saves the group from getting caught up in debates.

Once a decision making process is established it is advisable to follow an approach for meetings. This typically involves stages such as sharing information generating ideas evaluating options and ultimately making decisions. It’s worth noting that idea generation and evaluation should be steps to avoid individuals feeling criticised or becoming defensive. While tangential discussions may arise, sticking to this process generally fosters a environment.

A crucial aspect of facilitating discussions during group decision making lies, in leadership. The key here is ensuring that every participant feels heard and emotionally validated. While extroverted individuals may readily share their thoughts introverted participants might require time to articulate their ideas. Therefore practicing patience becomes crucial as moments of silence can often lead to insights. Throughout the conversation make sure to check in with participants, for reasons; confirming agreement seeking clarity identifying differing views and summarising important points. These checks ensure that the group stays engaged and on the page.

Think of your role during the meeting as being like a shepherd guiding a flock of ideas. Make sure everyone has the chance to share their thoughts whether by calling on participants or by picking up on cues from those who are less assertive. Incorporate perspectives because disagreements can actually be beneficial. Don’t be afraid to play devils advocate if it contributes to a rounded discussion.

Summarize the conversation at moments to maintain clarity. This allows participants to reflect on the aspects of the discussion and any differences in opinions that may exist.

In conclusion effective decision making in group settings requires understanding of purpose and process from the start following a decision making approach and skilful facilitation of discussions. A successful decision is one that gains support and is based on thinking. While challenges may arise along the way these strategies help pave the way, for sound and well thought out decisions.