How would you rate the effectiveness of your meetings on a scale of 1-10 (10 being GREAT)? No matter the type of meeting, on average, business leaders rate the effectiveness of their meetings as a 4 out of 10!
We’ve all had the experience of “death by meeting.” There are distractions, people walk in late, someone dominates the conversation and others are checked out. When meetings go overtime, a domino effect can completely undermine your productivity that day. The list goes on. No wonder people consider cover 50% of meetings wasted time.
Does that sound like your meetings? What if you could maximize your meeting time so not a single minute is wasted, bring the score up to a 10 with a few suggestions?
- Prep work is paramount to having a successful meeting. Create an agenda and send it to attendees in advance.
- Start the meeting on time and end the meeting on time.
- Begin the meeting with a check-in that shifts the energy in the room – something like “Good News” helps the meeting start on a positive note and sets the tone for a productive session.
- Set some ground rules. Check laptops, phones and tablets at the door.
- Have meeting attendees rate how they did as a team on a scale of 1-10.
When we rate our meetings, people prepare better and engage at higher level. It’s just human nature. What gets measured gets better!
If a meeting is rated less than a 9 or 10, ask for some feedback. The easiest way to avoid more bad meetings is to learn what’s not working and use that as fuel to manage a better meeting next time.
- Did the meeting start late?
- Was there a lack of structure?
- Was the room uncomfortable?
- Was everyone an active participant?
- Was there a clear facilitator or leader of the meeting?
- Did the team get through the agenda with a feeling of accomplishment?
- Did the team create action steps with who’s accountable and by when?
Want to see the meeting agenda that companies running on the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) are using?
These meetings are earning “10” ratings regularly. If you’re not familiar with EOS, check out the following resources. You might be able to incorporate a couple of these tactics to improve your meetings and enhance your reputation as a leader:
