4 Keys to Running Effective Meetings
Spend less time in meetings and STILL walk away with more clarity? These four tips will have you running great meetings in no time.
It is famously said that “time is money,” and that couldn’t be more true for business leaders. Yet, time is frequently wasted in businesses, with one of the main culprits being meetings. Why? They are not being managed optimally. We have all experienced a meeting where the hour drags, talk meanders, and no one is sure what has been achieved by the end. Here at Cydcor, we believe our employees’ time is valuable and should be respected, especially with the popularity of remote working and online calls.
Time management is everything when it comes to successfully running a business, and if it’s one of your weak spots, consider addressing it before it snowballs. To start, let’s focus on running effective meetings. Read on to discover four key points that will ensure your meetings are efficient to get the most out of your precious time!
What’s Your Agenda?
Plan ahead to save time!
The most basic but crucial ingredient for any successful meeting is an agenda. This simple list is a tool for the meeting leader to refer to if digressions threaten and is a framework for attendees to understand the scope and purpose of the session. Keeping the focus tight helps speed up the meeting because everyone knows what needs to be discussed in the timeframe.
Circulating the agenda a day in advance is a method you’ll use once and never look back. When everyone attending the meeting is prepared and knows what to expect, the more likely your discussions will be on target. Of course, there can be flexibility; the list does not have to be exhaustive or adhered to religiously! However, having guidelines for topics and outcome goals is an excellent way to get everyone on the same page and hone the efficiency of your meetings.
Open Communication Channels
Open communication leads to more efficient processes!
One of our core values at Cydcor is open communication. People tend to perform their best work if they feel heard and encouraged and severely lack when the opposite is given. According to Michigan State University, open communication can lead to increased collaboration and innovation, enhanced trust, creates a more informed workplace, and other benefits.
An effective meeting leader should make it clear that ideas and feedback are welcomed on the topics under discussion. This doesn’t mean it’s a free-for-all, especially with the agenda from above as a guidance tool!
It is an ethos that cultivates an atmosphere where attendees feel comfortable contributing and feeling part of something bigger than themselves. This emotional investment encourages more commitment to the job at hand. By welcoming employees’ thoughts, leaders can be exposed to new ideas and ways of doing things and creativity can flow in environments that promote communication and value individuals within a team.
Collaboration
Collaboration is key for any successful business!
Open communication naturally fosters another key value at Cydcor: collaboration. Running effective meetings does not involve one person dictating to the group. Allowing people to work together and spark discussion of best practices or specialist updates lets employees truly collaborate. As they say, two heads are better than one, especially when it comes to running a business. A team is the backbone of any company and as a business leader, you should take advantage of the wealth of insight and knowledge each individual carries.
It was found that 39% of employees worldwide feel people in their organization don’t collaborate enough, even though today’s workplace is overloaded with collaboration. This is where mediation comes in, along with actually taking into account the ideas shared by team members.
Valuing the different skillsets and expertise around the table, along with providing space for open communication means that people can feel part of a team – and it all starts with the leaders. Teamwork is a vital component of a successful company and meetings that recognize this quality will achieve more meaningful results. Again, this doesn’t mean everyone shouts at once, and multiple meetings a week need to be squeezed in! Building in workshop time or breakout sessions controls the meeting and still encourages collaboration.
Execution – What Next?
A meeting without results is time wasted!
At Cydcor, we measure success based on results with a metric that everyone agrees on. This is just as applicable when running meetings. We have discussed the importance of a clearly defined purpose at the beginning of an effective meeting, but the end is just as vital to manage well.
These simple steps can make all the difference:
- Outcomes or goals from each topic are clearly stated.
- Action points are assigned to the relevant team members with agreed-upon deadlines.
- Notes from the meeting are circulated to everyone afterward with action points in color/bold.
- A slot is provided on the next agenda for people to update the status of their action points.
Having clear goals within each project as well as a timeline will increase the efficiency of your meetings and make your business unstoppable!
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We are Cydcor, a recognized leader in outsourced sales and marketing services located in Agoura Hills, California. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company to garnering a reputation for consistently exceeding client expectations and driving outstanding revenue growth, Cydcor has been helping Fortune 500 and emerging companies achieve their customer acquisition, retention, and business goals since 1994. Cydcor takes pride in the unique combination of in-person sales, call center, and digital marketing services we offer to provide our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.