Team meetings get your employees to work together in the same room — physically or virtually. This should boost productivity and help strengthen their bonds, but right now, it doesn’t seem to serve much of a purpose.
Thankfully, this is an easy fix. Use this advice to get the most from this daily, weekly, or monthly time together.
10 Tips for More Effective Team Meetings
Assign Roles
Being the boss doesn’t mean you have to run every aspect of the meeting. Create a sense of order by assigning tasks to certain employees — i.e., taking notes and clicking through the PowerPoint presentation — before the meeting starts.
Create an Agenda
Get everyone on the same page by making an agenda listing exactly what will be discussed during the meeting. Send this out the day before so that everyone can be prepared.
Have a Purpose
There’s no need to host a meeting just to say you did it. Think about why you want to get your team together, and if there’s no real reason, don’t have it.
Be Prepared
Putting people on the spot doesn’t typically lead to a productive session. If you want employees to contribute — i.e., brainstorm ideas for a new project, give updates, etc. — let them know in advance, so they can prepare in advance.
Mind the Invite List
Inviting people to a meeting they don’t need to attend is wasting their time. After creating your agenda, look at the guest list to ensure everyone invited actually needs to be there.
Start on Time
It’s almost inevitable that at least one person will be late to the meeting. Waiting a few minutes to start might seem like a good idea, so they don’t miss anything, but it’s actually a waste of everyone else’s time. Instead, it’s best to start promptly and catch stragglers up on what they missed after the meeting ends.
Ban Devices
There’s a time and place for laptops, tablets, and smartphones — and that isn’t a team meeting. Unless devices are actually needed, ask everyone to leave them at their desk, so you can have their undivided attention.
Focus on Collaboration
No one wants to go to a meeting filled with boring updates that could’ve been typed up and distributed electronically. Instead, use this time when everyone is together to share ideas and have productive discussions.
End With Action Items
Make meetings a time to move forward as a team by ensuring each person walks away with at least one new item on their to-do list. Sparking productivity is a sign that progress was made, making the meeting worth its time.
Request Feedback
You want everyone on your team to feel like the meeting was valuable, so ask them to speak up. If your team is large enough, you can even send an anonymous post-meeting survey asking people what they liked most about it and where there’s room for improvement.
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