How to hold efficient meetings

How to hold efficient meetings

During our work, we will have various meetings, large and small, some of which are requested by others, some of which are organized by us, and the project owner or key personnel of the project, sometimes one day's meeting time can take up to 1/2 of the work time. What are the bottom line standards of the Conference? Generally, no one is willing to attend a very long meeting.

So why do we have to spend so much time in meetings? The meeting can bring everyone together. Both the team and the special team, both the Department members and the negotiators are sitting around the table. Meetings mean solving problems, making decisions, and building mutual trust.

Since we must have a meeting, let us do our best to make the meeting more effective, valuable, and rewarding, and even make everyone more interested.

1. Why do we have a meeting?

Before the meeting, you must first understand what goals you want to achieve and what problems you want to solve at the meeting. Then, you need to find out who needs help. Once you determine what you want to achieve, what problems you want to solve, and who you want to help, the other questions (when and where to hold a meeting) it seems much easier.

For example, the team has the habit of opening weekly meetings. Some teams hold regular meetings on Monday morning to clarify what needs to be done this week, while some teams choose to hold regular meetings on Friday to review the Team's work progress and problems during this week. Some teams have daily site meetings to promptly expose and solve problems.

Generally, a meeting requires a good reason, for example, when you:

• When the team needs to put forward their ideas and suggestions on a certain issue.

• When a team is required to make decisions or solve problems.

• When a team is required to solve a problem that cannot be solved only through one-to-one communication.

• When you need to share information, share success or solve problems with the entire team, or want each team member to realize that this is a special time.

• When you need team members from different teams who have different opinions to brainstorm and solve a problem.

• It is necessary to clarify who is responsible for the problems, troubles, or fields involved.

• It is found that the team members think it is very necessary to have a meeting.

However, there is no need to hold a meeting in the following cases:

• It is a private issue that should be discussed. It is suitable for one-to-one solutions.

• You don't have enough time to prepare for the meeting.

• Other communication methods can achieve the same effect as the meeting, or better effect than the meeting, such as through email, popo group discussion, or by phone.

• The agenda of the meeting is not worth wasting the time of all participants.

• The team is in a mess and it takes some time to make adjustments. It is not possible to reach an agreement at a conference call and make a decision.

2. Who should I invite?

Who should attend the meeting? Invite those who really need to attend the meeting, that is, those who can help you achieve the meeting goals and provide various points of view for the topics of the meeting. They are:

• Persons who have key decision-making powers on the issues to be discussed.

• Persons who have relevant knowledge and information about the issues to be discussed.

• Those who are dedicated to solving the problem and those who are closely related to and have an important role in solving the problem.

• Those who need to know the information you want to convey and help them further develop their work.

• Those who need to make decisions.

3. How to prepare a meeting agenda

Because you have participated in the whole process of preparation for the meeting, you need to use the information you have obtained to prepare the agenda. Priority is given to the purpose of the meeting, followed by the participants.

What should the agenda table contain? It should include the following aspects:

• Clear purpose of the meeting.

• Goals or results of the meeting.

• Who will be assigned to a group meeting or attendees.

• The date, time, and place of the meeting.

• How long the meeting will last.

• Who organizes the meeting.

• What are the tasks undertaken by each participant in this meeting.

• Each topic to be discussed at the meeting (each topic must have a specific person in charge and set the time for discussion ).

• Background information required for the preparatory stage.

For some special meetings, you can adjust the content of the meeting agenda table based on the actual situation.

A good meeting agenda table can help attendees learn about the meeting at any time, such as why, what, who, when, and where.

Example:

4. How to host the meeting

At the beginning of the meeting, we should enter the Chair State, clearly stating the purpose of the meeting, all the issues discussed at the meeting, and the steps of the meeting.

Meeting on time. Even if several attendees have not yet attended the Conference, you have to have a meeting on time, just as they have already attended the meeting. When they found some important content at the venue, they knew they could not be late again. Do not return and start again. Otherwise, you are encouraged to be late.

Hosts the meeting in strict accordance with the agenda. Once the meeting starts, do not talk about topics unrelated to the agenda of the meeting, and try to host the meeting according to the agenda of the meeting. In the discussion agenda, you should pay close attention to the topics discussed and all the time, or designate a person specifically responsible for holding the time.

Make sure that everyone's opinions are listened. As the speaker of the meeting, you must be patient and listen to everyone's opinions. Otherwise, the attendees will tell you or others that they feel excluded. The following methods can help you get feedback:

• Ask a common question, for example, "Have we fallen into something"

• Give silence-keeping people a chance to speak, ask them to express their views, or directly give them a name to speak.

• If the number of participants exceeds 10, you need to divide the participants into two or three groups, and then let each group report their discussions.

• Give participants time to think carefully and do not rush to vote or make decisions.

5. How to end the meeting on time

Closing the meeting on time will help to ensure the efficiency of the Meeting and facilitate the participants to arrange the next work. Therefore, the participants will be happy. You can use the following techniques to ensure that the meeting is completed on time:

• Let a team member be a time engineer;

• Remind everyone about the remaining time at intervals, and there are still several topics not discussed;

• If the time is not enough, the discussion on some topics will be prioritized or postponed;

• If you need to extend the meeting time, you should first obtain your consent, or you can arrange a separate meeting to deal with the remaining unresolved issues.

6. How to close the meeting

The end of the meeting is to illustrate the true purpose of the meeting.

Summarize the meeting. The summary of the meeting means that the meeting is over. The summary can be composed of leaders or participants. Whatever the summary, we should reiterate:

• Key issues discussed;

• Decisions made;

• How to Implement the next plan;

• And who is responsible for each task.

This step helps you to clarify what they do not quite understand. At the same time, you can confirm the results of the meeting with us again.

Record the key content involved in the meeting. The Conference recorder must record all important content, such as key topics, main points of view discussed, and decisions made. What responsibilities should everyone take after the meeting, including Who will take these responsibilities and how long it will take for them to complete their respective tasks.

7. How to follow up after the meeting

The key to the success of the meeting is whether the follow-up work after the meeting is well done or not. High-quality post-meeting Follow-up is the most easily overlooked part. Therefore, to achieve true success at the meeting, the most important thing is to actively follow up after the meeting. After all, the key to the problem is not the meeting itself, but the action to be taken after discussion.

So how can we ensure the follow-up work after the meeting is successful? The key is to form a communication and action plan at the meeting, which should include three factors: What, WHO, and when to complete:

• What specific decisions were made at the meeting, what results were generated, and what tasks should be completed after the meeting?

• Who is responsible for these tasks?

• When will these tasks be completed? Let participants develop a reasonable work plan for their tasks.

Finally, the communication and action plan will be sent to all participants and relevant personnel in the form of meeting minutes, so that those who did not attend the meeting can understand what happened at the meeting.

Example: