5 Simple Ways to Make Your Meetings More Productive

by Gabriele Kaier, 21.11.2016

Employees spend 35% to 50% of their workweeks in meetings. A lot of time which leaves little time to work on projects or think strategically. Research shows that 67% of surveyed workers say that fewer than half of the meetings they attend are worth the time. A collaboration overload and unproductive meetings cost a lot of money. Find here 5 ways to make your meetings more productive:

When you’re not smarter after the meeting

Employees spend 35% to 50% of their workweeks in meetings. A lot of time which leaves little time to work on projects or think strategically. Research shows that 67% of surveyed workers say that fewer than half of the meetings they attend are worth the time. A collaboration overload makes our work unhealthy and prolongs our work week to include evenings and weekends. In the end, meetings prove to be unproductive and cost a lot of money.

Find here 5 ways to make your meetings more productive

1. Plan Your Meetings Efficiently

Not only are some meetings ineffective, but we also waste a lot of time planning them. Avoid never-ending back-and-forth communication to set the date and place of the meeting, or even when inviting the participants.

2. Check the Necessity

A meeting should be about an exchange, a discussion in which everyone can contribute, make suggestions, and in the end a solution should be worked out together. Meetings are not used to secure decisions and distribute responsibility among several employees. Managers should encourage their employees to make everyday decisions themselves and also to accept mistakes. In addition, all participants should prepare for the meeting. If individual components are missing, meetings often become obsolete.

3. Define Goals for Your Meeting

Don’t call a meeting until you have a specific goal. And share this goal with the participants in advance. At the end of a meeting, there should be decisions and an implementation plan. The moderator or organizer should make sure of this, especially in large meetings.

4. Avoid Multitasking during Meetings

“The consequences of having many meetings is people are doing other work in meetings or are not prepared ahead of time”, says Renée Cullian, cofounder of Stop Meeting Like This “If you are concentrating on something else during the meeting, you won´t be engaged and the meeting is getting to be a waste of time”, says Maura Thomas of Regain Your Time.

5. Pay Attention to Cooperation

Employees at different levels of the hierarchy should be included in the discussion, and information should not just flow from the top down. As a manager, it should be made clear that solutions are at stake. The discussion should be factual and personal arguments should be prevented.