Want to keep a meeting short and productive? Make it a "standing up" meeting!
One of the biggest drains to small sign business is inefficiency. One of the easiest ways for a business to slip into inefficiency is with unnecessary and unproductive meetings. Time is precious, and interrupting the work flow of your small business can cause those valuable seconds to slip away rapidly. Meetings are a necessary part of business; the benefits can outweigh the costs. To make the most out of your meetings put these 7 tips into practice:
- Banish Monday meetings. Meeting just because it's Monday isn't a good enough reason to get together, especially since most employees likely have to follow up on email and phone messages left over the weekend. Without a good reason, avoid Monday meetings.
- Watch out for "Posting Meetings" These types of meetings are usually just to update the staff and end in without any action steps. If all you need to do is provide staff members with information, do it in a voice-mail or an email.
- Make your meeting a standing one. Quite literally, actually. When people are on their feet they are more likely to get to the point quicker than when reclining in a chair. Make all meetings, especially impromptu ones standing.
- Start with a purpose. At the start of every meeting answer the question, "Why are we here, and what are we supposed to accomplish?" Laying out the objective and setting the tone are vital to a productive meeting.
- End with a review of actions. At the end of the meeting, go around the room and have each person review what calls to action they captured. This quick review reiterates what needs to be done, and also adds to the sense of responsibility of each team member.
- Leave yourself some down time. Don't push meetings back to back, and give yourself a little bit of time to breathe and regroup.
- If you have to meet, meet on Tuesday at 3 pm. Lifehacker reported a study which shows that Tuesdays at 3 pm is the most available time for meetings. While that might not be true for your business, more than likely there is a day of the week and time that does work best for your team. Keep that in mind when scheduling the meetings.
