Many people who have worked for a large organization can relate to the tedious experience of attending lengthy meetings. Hours of the work week can be taken up by a group of employees wishing they were somewhere else. During this time, the monetary cost of the meeting is usually quite high when considering the hourly rate of each person in the meeting. It is no surprise that the UK is one of the least productive nations due to meetings like these. In the United States and other countries, it is likely that the same struggle of attending meetings is shared. The typical meeting involves a manager presenting information and then leading a discussion around the topic.
Good meetings should have an allotted time frame and agenda that is adhered to, with action points from previous meetings being reviewed. There should be a focus on the relevant topics, with minimal interruptions and distractions. Everyone should be focused and engaged, and the meeting should end before boredom and exhaustion set in. To make meetings more engaging, try introducing "Buzzword Bingo", where you mentally note the popular words or phrases and call "Bingo!" when they are used. Such phrases can vary from organization to organization, but common examples include: “the elephant in the room”, “safeguarding”, “blue sky thinking”, “when the rubber hits the road”, “bandwidth”, “ice-breaker”, “brainstorming”, “run it up the flagpole and see who salutes it”, “data protection”, “going forward”, “touching base”, “low-hanging fruit”, “data dump”, “reach out to”, “I’ll ping you”, “baking it into the process”, and “efficiencies”. Be sure to play the game in your head, as shouting out "Bingo!" may get you into trouble!
These are some great tips
for having a successful meeting! Here is a summary of the tips given:
1. Have clear objectives for the meeting and ask yourself if the meeting is really necessary.
2. Consider having the meeting online to save time and resources.
3. Have an agenda sent out in advance, with a reminder the day before.
4. Make the meeting no longer than one hour.
5. Quickly review the action points from the last meeting.
6. Assign a timekeeper and time every item in advance.
7. Have a minute-taker who is not running the meeting.
8. Allow a maximum of five minutes for any other business.
9. Agree on the date of the next meeting, if needed, and send out minutes afterward with action points highlighted.