The fundamental building block of a successful company is meetings that are led constructively and effectively. Unfortunately, in many companies meetings are too long, boring, and chaotic. Employees take almost nothing away from such meetings, because they spend the whole time thinking about completely different things. If you therefore do not want to look at the annoyed faces of the participants, learn to lead meetings in a slightly different way—one that both you and the attendees will enjoy.
Although it is often said that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, this saying does not apply here. For example, MBA studies, which are mainly of interest to businesspeople and managers most often in the age group of 30 to 50, teach students, among other things, how to lead meetings constructively. In the following lines, we will also reveal how to run meetings effectively.
When to hold a meeting?
The ideal day to hold a meeting is Tuesday. Why? Monday is too frustrating for many employees, as they are recovering from the weekend and working their way through dozens of emails that arrived during it. On Wednesday, employees feel that half of the workweek is already behind them and start thinking more about what they will do at the weekend. On Tuesday, however, they are fully focused on work and therefore pay more attention during meetings.
Plan meetings preferably for the morning. Just before lunch, employees tend to be irritable because their blood sugar levels drop. Once they have lunch, they experience a slump. In the afternoon, they usually have only one thing in mind—to go home, spend time with their children, and relax. If you have ever tried to hold a meeting on Friday at five in the afternoon, you have probably made quite a few enemies in the company.
What should a meeting be about?
Prepare the agenda carefully so that the meeting is not chaotic. You should send the agenda to the participants before the meeting takes place, so they know what will be discussed. Also listen to your employees and feel free to ask them, in the email with the agenda, whether they have any points or topics they believe should be discussed at the meeting.
Who should lead the meeting?
If you are not leading the meeting yourself, appoint a qualified person who will thoroughly familiarize themselves with all agenda items and prepare carefully. A very good idea is to rotate presenters regularly, as this strengthens team morale.
Face-to-face or online meeting?
In today’s digital world, online meetings are nothing unusual. Both options can be effective if the meeting is properly planned and organized. However, online meetings are more demanding, as it is harder to maintain participants’ attention, and therefore the moderator should be creative.
Taking meeting minutes
One of the most important aspects of every meeting is taking notes on what is discussed, what comments and suggestions the participants have, and similar points. The minutes are then sent by email to all employees who attended the meeting.
The minutes should state what was discussed and what tasks individual employees have (including deadlines).
What can you do to improve your ability to lead meetings?
First of all, you can study professional literature. There are many books dedicated to this topic. Well-known authors have written expert books focused on business practices and meeting management. In recent years, however, education focused on this area such as MBA studies has become much more sought after. For managers, such studies truly make sense, as they have the opportunity to discuss their experiences (not only in meeting management) with both lecturers and colleagues in similar positions, and thus draw inspiration from the best in their field.
Read more about what the MBA degree is and how online MBA studies work with us.
