Doing a marketing job in Pakistan for over a decade, I have observed a bunch of things in a workplace that tops my favorite list and then the things which I am not so cool at. Meetings, as many assume are one of the most tedious and boring tasks of workplace. Most managers want to continue with their life long history during the meeting sessions and hours and hours spend in progress.
But still every company holds a tradition of office meeting such that according to an estimate, around 15 to 20 % of a company’s aggregate time is spent on office meetings and discussions. So in order to increase your productivity at work, you need to work out the ways through which you can make these meetings more productive and conclusive.
- Prepare the schedule beforehand: for a productive meeting it is important that a person responsible for the arrangements should create a schedule before it’s announced to the concerned department. Don’t forget to lock a close look on the clock. Understand the sensitivity and significance of the topic and the time which is required to cover the topic properly and distribute the memo among the employees for a tight and fixed schedule.
- Choose and Select the contributors: Majority managers like to conduct meeting with their entire team or department. However, better and more productive option is to invite the people who are in direct relevance to the project in question instead of getting a whole bunch of people on it. It doesn’t mean that only few people should be allowed to express their opinion but that opinion should trickle down through a proper channel.
- Clearly mention the type of meeting: all meetings are not the same. Some are arranged for work and training sessions, while some are for nourishment of project ideas like while my marketing career in Islamabad, we use to turn our heads together to create some fascinating marketing gigs for the company. So make it a point to establish the type of meeting for the employees.
- Keep an agenda: while calling your team for a meeting make sure they know the exact agenda of the meeting. In that manner, your team will be in better position to understand and contribute well in the process. And during the meeting, don’t go off topic and avoid irrelevant discussion.
- Stick to the point: a good meeting never lasts more than 30 minutes in a round. Therefore, avoid unnecessary formalities like useless introductions and huge promises. Ask the team directly about the agenda and discuss them point wise.