10 tips to make work meetings more productive

Meetings are necessary in the daily life of any company or organization. When making decisions, they are the best option for bosses and subordinates to coordinate actions and reach practical conclusions that guarantee the expected results.

But, over time, the meeting can become counterproductive, as it moves away from the central focus of discussion and starts to revolve around random topics, which have nothing to add to the resolution of the problems. For this not to happen, some attitudes are necessary. Check out ten tips to make your work meetings more effective.

1 – Make appointments (and try to respect them)

When calling a meeting, establish a start time and an end time. This allows those involved to schedule themselves correctly and prevents the meeting from taking longer than necessary. To set the times, take into account the topic to be discussed and the number of people invited. Finally, respect these times.

2 – Avoid unnecessary meetings

If the matter does not involve more than one person besides you, it is not necessary to set up a meeting to resolve it. Sit down with the other person involved and quickly discuss the factors involved. Schedule the meeting only when it is essential to align ideas or develop solutions for a particular issue.

3 – Send the agenda to the participants in advance

Prepare a list of topics that will be covered during the meeting and send it to participants in advance. This allows them to prepare and reduces the time for debate, as each one will bring their previously thought ideas. Try not to deviate from the agenda so as not to extend the time.

4 – Act like a true leader

In order for things not to get out of control, you need to have a steady hand. You don’t have to be authoritative, but don’t let people get distracted or get away from the main issue. Other than that, let ideas run free so that everyone can get the most out of the discussion.

5 – Stay in control

Depending on the subject being addressed, people may feel euphoric or discouraged. Even so, you need to remain calm to calm tempers or control possible tensions. Try to understand others’ points of view to maintain harmony.

6 – Manage your time

So that everyone has the opportunity to have their say, avoid allowing just one person to monopolize time. Set a boundary for everyone to voice their opinion, and then gently let them know that it’s time to let other people talk about it.

7 – Get ready

You also need to be prepared for the meeting. Before that, review the agenda in question and write down your main ideas about it. Go to the meeting with ideas or solutions previously evaluated and ready to defend them.

8 – Know how to listen

Even if you’ve walked into the meeting room fully convinced that your ideas are the best fit for solving problems or achieving results, give what other participants have to say a chance. When a meeting is called, it is so that everyone’s opinions are heard and, with that, a common denominator can be reached: if you want to decide alone, it is not necessary to meet with other people.

9 – Use visual aids

State your ideas clearly, using slides and other visual aids so that other participants can visualize it in the best way, especially when dealing with data or numbers. Only speech can become tiring and distract those involved.

10 – Review what was discussed

At the end of the debates, review with others what was discussed and what decisions were made. Then, email this information to them. This will allow you to better see the results of the meeting.