Tips for getting the most out of Meetings
How many times have we walked out of a long meeting with these feelings-
- It was so absurd! It went all over
- Too long- we could have done this in a shorter period
- The organizer was not prepared..and was talking extempore
- It was SO unnecessary – it could have been done without going through this pain!
In most cases, it is so true… and so easy to overcome it.
In the interest of simplicity – I am listing 3 things that I think we could follow to make meetings work!
1. Write down the participants and your key objectives
List out the people you are inviting, and list out the reasons and what you want to get from the meeting. Write down all the objectives and see whether the objectives are relevant from the participants point of view as well.
You take away the key challenge of –
- not having a clear objective and
- ensuring objectives match the people in the room/call – in one single shot.
Identify the top 3 objectives you want to achieve – and list them out in the meeting request!
2. Prepare & share meeting objective & any reading material – before the meeting
This is not about one-upmanship. The more you share, the more you get out of the meeting. Just don’t overdo it 
Just the enough material for reading/ homework (as less as possible) with very clear objectives & things to do, will set the tone for the meeting- and possibly make the participants happier at being able to get this completed quickly and move on to other things they do in their day to day lives!
3. Keep it short! Serious. 15 min is good!
Just because your calendering facility looks at meetings in lumps of 30 minutes or the norm is 1 hour, does not mean you need so much time for every meeting.
Try setting 15 min – 30 min and push the agenda in that time. Almost 80% of the meetings can be completed in that time if people are aware of the objectives, understand their roles, and things they need to provide- you will get more done in shorter time.
Try this out. You will save so much from your day – and use that time for other useful pursuits!
