What makes a good meeting?

What’s the purpose of work meetings?

So, before we delve into what makes a good meeting, why do they need to happen in the first place? When planning out your meeting effectively, you’ll be able to work towards enhancing your workplace, ticking off objectives along the way. If, however, you find that you’re creating more snores than scores, it might be time to re-evaluate your meeting plan to get back on track. 

Relationship building

If your culture is centralised on building strong, healthy relationships with employees and clients alike, you’re automatically much more likely to succeed. Meetings should encourage open communication, allowing employees to bond over the common objective of strengthening a business, inspiring and motivating one another in the process. 

Inclusivity

People like to feel valued within a business, regardless of their authority or how long they’ve been working there. Meetings create the perfect chance to get anyone and everyone involved, embracing the chance to hear different opinions and experiences to collect a rich pool of knowledge. 

Quick solutions

Multiple heads are better than one, so if you’re looking for a quick solution to a problem, holding a meeting is the best way to go. Your answer could differ to that of others, so embracing multiple perspectives and using them collaboratively to derive a solution will prevent you from wasting time dwelling on your own. 

Feedback

A meeting could be held to discuss current business strategies and whether employees find these productive. By checking in regularly, you’ll be able to confirm that you’re getting the most out of your business, adapting methodologies accordingly to ensure employee satisfaction - you know what they say; happy employees make a brilliant business, so don’t skimp on this. 

What makes a good meeting? 

Define clear objectives

Before you even announce that you’re holding a meeting, question what your main objectives are. What is it that you want to get out of this discussion? By establishing this, you’ll be able to create a clear and orderly plan of key topics that might need to be mentioned, providing employees beforehand with the full knowledge of what the meeting’s agenda is. That way, they can come readily prepared with ideas, making for a faster solution. 

Stay on topic

Do you want some syrup with that? No one likes a waffler, but when put under pressure, it’s easier to fall off track. Prepare beforehand so you know exactly what to discuss with the team, retaining their attention by making your points short, snappy, and most importantly, relevant. If certain bits of information do transition into casual chats, try to direct the conversation back to the purpose of your meeting. Sure, it’s important that your meetings remain sociable, but you don’t want to end up wasting yours or anyone else's time.

Highlight main points

Recent research suggests that the average person can only retain four bits of information in their short term memory at any given time, which is a relevant bit of info for planning a good meeting. Attempting to cram copious amounts of detail into presentations can result in you deviating from the main topic, and listeners are more likely to switch off midway through. This is by no means productive, so make sure that you’re clearly highlighting the main points with each slide to avoid anyone desperately trying to scribble everything down. 

Don’t over run

Decide how much time is needed to hold your meeting, always remembering to allow for time at the end for questions or feedback. If you do end up running over, it’s almost certain that people will start to become distracted, or it could eat into other important tasks. Set a timer if needed, or run through your meeting presentation beforehand to make sure it stays within the allotted time. 

Deciding on a plan of action

Your final point in a meeting should finish with a bang, establishing how and what employees need to do to tick off the defined objective. Get them motivated to make the change by informing listeners of your plan of action, taking everyone’s feedback into consideration to determine what the next steps are for the business. 

Keeping people engaged

A European survey of 2,000 employees across the UK, France and Germany discovered that the average staff member spends a total of 187 hours in meetings, which equates to a scary 23 days in a year - yikes. To avoid boring people to death, discover innovative ways to keep everyone engaged. Perhaps start off with some exciting news, use an interactive presentation, or set collaborative activities in between lengthy talks.

Any questions?

Always make sure to ask listeners whether they have any questions at the end of your meeting, mentioning that your inbox is always open for those who may not want to speak up. Confusion is a productivity killer, and if feedback is revealing that many are still left unclear about what was discussed, refer back to these tips to see if there’s anything you could improve. 

A comfortable environment 

Although you might not think it, the environment your meeting is held in could end up having a massive effect on people’s attention spans. Keep people engaged through appropriate levels of office lighting, spacious meeting tables for larger teams, paired with office seating to ensure that everyone has a comfortable place to sit for longer periods. 

Keen to put these tips into practice? We have all the furniture you could need to kit out your meeting room, to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your business. Give us a call today to make your design dreams come true.