How to Have Productive Office Meetings

How to Have Productive Office Meetings Meetings are usually considered as boring and a waste of time. Employees often dread their weekly meeting because theyre monotonous and not worthwhile. There are so many ways in which managers can improve their meetings with the following tips below. If you follow this advice, your meetings will be a lot more productive which will result in increased productivity in all areas of work, more targets being hit and a stronger and more positive work environment for all. Avoid interruption Everyone has deadlines. As a manager, you need to understand the needs and schedules of employees. Meetings tend to take away time which could be spent meeting deadlines making employees less productive with their work. This is definitely not what you want. Plan meetings with everyones schedules and workload in mind to enhance productivity. Meetings held at the beginning of the week usually perform best as this gives employees plenty of time to concentrate on deadlines throughout the week. What is the meeting for? What is the purpose of your meeting? You need to make sure that at the beginning of the meeting, you state clearly what the meeting is for and what it entails. Its also important to be respectful of your employees’ time by ensuring that all meetings start and end on time. Its very easy to go over the allocated time, but this is a big no. If you are always on time, then there is no excuse for anyone to be late. Meetings also shouldnt be too long as people will lose concentration and drift off, therefore, may miss vital points. Keep meetings concise and short, 15 minutes works well. No Technology To get the most out of a meeting, employees should not take their laptops, but take a pen and paper to make notes. Hand-writing notes has been proven by psychologists to be more effective than making notes on a computer. Factual recall and conceptual recall is significantly higher which is great because you want everyone to leave the meeting knowing and understanding everything that was mentioned. Furthermore, technology like laptops and mobiles provide a distraction so its best to not have them in meetings at all. Focus on achievements, not tasks Achievements mean more to employees than completing daily tasks. Recognising each employees achievements and mentioning these in the meeting can do wonders for your business. Knowing that you have accomplished something great only strives for people to work harder and achieve even greater things. Praising employees regularly increases productivity and job satisfaction. Take breaks If a meeting needs to be more than 15 minutes, then its worth taking a break or two. Without any breaks, less attention is paid to what is being said in the meeting which isnt great when its important. Taking short breaks is the key to productivity. Encourage employees to take a short break halfway through the meeting. They can grab a coffee and get some fresh air so that they feel nice and refreshed when they come back ready to learn more. When you value and include employees in meetings, work productivity will rise. Increased productivity means amplified profits, enhanced trust in management, better brand equity and a stronger and more positive work environment. About the author: Lauren Buck is a Criminology and Psychology graduate, freelance writer, blogger and Etsy store owner. She writes about a variety of topics including student and career advice for Inspiring Interns, which specializes in placing graduates in the best London roles.