Want to Hold a Successful Meeting? Cultivate Meeting Management Skills

Tuesday at 3 PM represents the best overall time to hold a local meeting according to Inc. Magazine. Everyone has had time to recover from the weekend, the important backlog of work has been tackled on Monday, and the afternoon hour 3pm, encourages people to keep it short so they'll be able to go home on time.

The truth is that meetings can wreck havoc on productivity if not properly managed. The role of the meeting host is to keep everyone on the agenda and know when to end conversations and move to the next item. Even in brainstorming type sessions, time limits need to be observed. People may have allocated only a set time to attend because of other commitments and the host must make sure everyone is aware of the schedule.

Time management during a meeting is especially important when you book a conference room from your Business Centre. You want to ensure that you cover the agenda during the booked hours, and that your meeting is highly productive.

Here are some tips to make your meetings more successful and ensure your objectives are reached.

1. How many people should attend? Think about the  messages and decisions needed and who needs to contribute. Perhaps the whole group only needs to attend the announcements and discussion on the first few items? It's okay to segment the audience and have group size change during the meeting. Bloomberg suggests these categories for meeting size;
   Information Sharing: Unlimited attendees.
   Brainstorming: 20-35.
   Discussion: Fewer than 20.
   Agreement/Alignment: 6-14.
   Decision: 3-6.
   Action Planning: 25-40.
2. Optimum Meeting Length:  People seem to focus best in 45 minute increments. If your meeting needs to be longer than 45 minutes, break it up into segments with a 5 minute break in-between.
3. Time of Day: Generally people have more energy in the mornings and if you schedule your meeting at the beginning of the day you can take advantage of this. If clients are involved you may want to hold the meeting an hour before lunch so that you can finish the meeting and invite the client out. If your meeting is going to be long - the best stretch of time is the afternoon because people can get their routine or important tasks done in the morning and are more comfortable with giving up a block of time later in the day.
4. Meeting Location - If you don't have the meeting space you need, consider booking the meeting at a Business Centre. This can also be an advantage because it takes employees away from distractions at their desks and brings everyone together in a neutral environment.
5. Management - Meetings do not run themselves. Take on the role of the meeting manager or assign it to someone on your team. Make sure that decisions are properly recorded and that the agenda is covered. If it looks like more time is needed on an item, consider whether it is more important that other items on the agenda. Maybe something can be dropped to ensure you get the input needed or the decision made and understood by everyone. At the end of the meeting make sure the attendees are thanked for their contribution. Take a moment to sum up any decisions or action items. This will give you the opportunity to clarify anything that might have been lost in the buzz of conversation.

If you cultivate meeting management as a business skill, you'll find that attendees appreciate your leadership, are more positive about attending, and you don't lose out on productivity.

SuiteWorks is a world class business centre serving all of central Ontario. Call us today to set up a complimentary Tour and learn how your business can benefit from a flexible office solution including co-working space and virtual offices - Toll Free 1.866.967.5711 or visit our website to find out more about SuiteWorks solutions for your business.