I Love Meetings! Said No One Ever! 3 Ways to Make Them Painless

You’re sitting at your desk plugging away getting your work or homework done, feeling like you need every minute available to be productive then DUN DUN DUN you receive the feared meeting request invite. The temptation of clicking that decline or maybe button is staring you in the face, but reluctantly you accept. Let’s face it no one likes meetings yet they apply to all of us. It’s the beginning of the year, and your company wants to schedule numerous meetings for strategizing in 2016 or it’s the start of the spring semester meaning group calls and live sessions

How can meetings be quick and painless? These three easy to follow tips will ease your pain, create effective meetings, and are extremely easy to start implementing today!

• Be clear about the goal of your meeting- Are you having a discussion or making a decision? Start your meeting setting that expectation “we are here to have a discussion about x,y,z” or “this meeting is to make a decision about x,y,z.” Many times we receive requests that lack explanation/action or are extremely general such as “sales meeting” or “follow-up.”
• Ask for input before the meeting- List some key questions or topics for attendees to think about before the meeting. This way attendees know exactly what is being discussed and can brainstorm their thoughts prior
• Collect all materials in advance- If you are reviewing a deck, copy or whatever it may be, have attendees send in their contributions to the meetings so all parties can review and this will save more of the time for discussion.

Between work and school, there will be meetings you will be participating in this week, and what better time to start implementing these action items. Try these few tips, and before you know it your meeting time will be reduced, and meetings will become more productive. Before you know it that accept meeting button won’t seem like life or death!

https://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/RunningMeetings.htm