Every industry relies on business meetings to get things done. Most employees dread them – but why? Traditional business meetings are a slippery slope to endless hours sitting around a glass table, staring blankly at the same-old PowerPoint presentation.
Love them or hate them, these business meetings are here to stay. Accepting that meetings will continue to be a part of working life for the foreseeable future is an important step – but you don’t have to spend every meeting wondering whether anyone would notice if you went to the bathroom and didn’t come back.
Here are some ideas on how to make sure you’re conducting a good business meeting, every time.
Keep the guest list short
The question is: who really needs to be at your business meeting? What actually needs to be discussed, and by whom?
A meeting room packed full with every person in the department, many of whom may not be directly involved in the project or task concerned, is neither necessary nor productive. A good rule of thumb to follow is: if they don’t speak, they’re not needed.
Of course, people must know what’s going on across the company, what others are working on, and what’s coming up – but this can be accomplished outside the boardroom. Think emails, newsletters, bulletins, and even recorded meetings.
Time is precious and paid-for time even more so. A good meeting necessitates a lack of distraction – don’t take people from their work unnecessarily.
And the schedule
Meetings are only helpful if everyone is awake, engaged, and processing the information being provided. Not only must you arrive at a business meeting ‘ready-to-go’ yourself, but you must make sure your employees are also prepared to do so.
According to a University of California Irvine study, when you get distracted “it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds to get back to the task.” If the topic requires a longer meeting, break it down into sections with five-minute breaks in-between. Letting minds wander for a small time is far better than losing focus for the entire meeting. Execu-Suites allows you to rent meeting space or coworking space in Orlando
Set the tone
Not all business meetings are the same. A high-stakes evaluation of a critical issue is not the same as idea-sharing for a new product or service.
Sometimes drinks and snacks are appropriate and get people in the right frame of mind for a good meeting – other times, they’re a distraction drawing attention away from important issues.
Think about what ‘mode’ you want people to be in for this discussion and act accordingly.
Change the scenery
Meetings can be repetitive and boring, which can hamper productivity. When your team gets comfortable with its surroundings, they may ‘disengage’ and ‘check out. This is why it’s important when choosing your office space to consider a variety of meeting rooms.
Take, the serviced offices in the city of London from BE Offices for example. With such a central location, it may be hard to discover unfamiliar surroundings to host your meetings. With Be Offices, bespoke lounge rooms offer opportunities to escape the boredom of the boardroom. Changing the environment can break up cliques and disrupt the routine, which encourages creativity.
Change your setting to increase engagement and encourage productivity – making sure you’ll have a good business meeting.
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