Rules for a Productive Meeting

Time is precious. A properly managed meeting can lead to a significant saving of time. But the latest studies show that most of the meetings are a huge drain to the company time. On average, 31 hours of unproductive time is wasted on meetings every month.

We, at Golden Square, host several meetings per month for our clients. From our experience, here are some tips, which you might as well consider rules, for a productive meeting.

1.  Schedule the meeting at an OFF PEAK hour: Most of the meetings take place on Wednesdays and Thursdays. These days are prone to heavy work and deadlines, and a minute spent on a meeting is a minute you do not spend on execution.

Some suggested time slots are Monday and Tuesday afternoons around 3PM.

2.  Abolish Monday Meetings: A meeting at the beginning of a Monday is all too common in most companies. Calling a meeting just because “it is a Monday” generally leads to, what is now popularly known as, “posting meeting”. These meetings are basically to share updates and to bring everyone on a common page. Actions Steps are elusive.

These updates can be shared using emails or a common update platform.

3. Agenda. Beginning Time. End Time. : Never call a meeting without a select set of agenda. This will keep the meeting focused, as well as can serve as a checklist. Beginning time is crucial, but more important is the End Time.

An End Time will keep the discussions short, and force the members to be more focused. It also helps in dividing the time for your other daily actions.

The agenda, beginning time and end time must be shared with all the expected members of a meeting, well before the meeting begins.

4. Every meeting must lead to Action Steps: At the end of every meeting, every member must leave with a set of Action Steps. This will ensure that the just finished meeting is productive. If a member does not have an action step, he/she has every right to question the call for the meeting.

These are just a few of the tips for a productive meeting. We would like to hear if there are certain steps which you are taking to make your meetings more productive and how effective are those.

Use Golden Square for Productive Meetings: http://snapoffice.goldensquare.in