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About Meetings


Meetings are important part of the business activity. Our basic need to communicate is topped by necessity to deliver meaningful results at workplace. As usual though reality is not as rosy as the ideal that many of us trying to achieve with meetings.

What is a good work-related pastime for one is at the same moment a time wasting and useless activity to another. This contradiction is coming from a few factors (among other things):

1.    Core difference in perception of meetings between different levels of workplace hierarchy or among committee/board members

2.    Meeting audiences and agendas

3.    Involvement and focus level of participants during the meetings

Therefore usually instead of being an effective business or private processing tool, meetings become the opposite.

There is an opportunity to adjust existing practices to meet new expectations of the work related activities to be more productive and fun. It is not hard to achieve as well by implementing useful techniques and tricks.

One. Create or utilise existing collaboration software platform that is accessible by everybody. An example of such a platform is Microsoft SharePoint. Integrating end-user technologies into the main platform is not a big problem today, and it will provide valuable outcomes. That helps by allowing visualise meeting information, track attendees, record statuses, showcase agendas, tag and attach collateral etc. The opportunity also arises to review meetings and rate them with comments from actual or potential participants. Good deed!

Two. Think about your business unit values and goals when creating a meeting invite. Does this particular meeting is aligned with it? What are you trying to achieve that corresponds with main goals and values?

Three. Depending on a type of meeting choose the set up wisely. If the meeting is to provide an update or a lecture on some topic it may be worthwhile setting up an online seminar (webinar).

Four.  Only invite people who are interested in the topic and can make decisions. Five-seven persons per meeting maximum.

Five. Always get the action items after every meeting and assign it to responsible people. Otherwise there is no point to meet at all.

Six. Set time for meetings as short as possible. Long meetings without need is evil.


Using the abovementioned ideas should be a great addition to the business meeting framework.  
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