There is nothing fun about a business meeting. When you call your team into the boardroom, the inward collective groan is loud even though they don’t do it out loud. Meetings will always bore the socks off the attendees, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not necessary. You need to think about how you can make business meetings a much more comfortable and productive place to be, and you want to make sure that your team feels the same way.
With that in mind, we’ve put together five tips to ensure that you make your meetings as productive as possible. So, let’s stop wasting hours of your time and start thinking about how you can change the way you do things.
Make The Room Pop
It’s far easier to be stuck in a business meeting with ergonomic chairs and conference tables that are all at the right height. You need the room to have the right temperature control and enough light that you avoid headaches and eye strain. Tea, coffee, and water facilities should also be available. Comfort is key if you want to engage people in a meeting, and it’s the first place to start.
Have A Reason
You need people to want to come to this meeting, and it’s important that you have a reason for it to go ahead in the first place. An agenda is important so that people will know where they stand and what the meeting is about. It allows them to work out their own plan of things to say while they’re there, and it will ensure that people feel comfortable that the meeting is efficient.
Bring A Laptop
People do well when they are watching a presentation, as they can absorb the information in a way that’s different to just hearing you talk and talk. You should also encourage others to bring their own technology, too. It’ll help them to feel like they are involved and getting somewhere in the meeting.
Set The Next Meeting
At the end of this meeting, outline the points that will be covered in the next one. You need to remember that people hate meetings! If there is a clear guide as to what’s coming next, people are more likely to feel like there is a good reason for the meeting at all!
Send A Summary
Once you all go back to your desks, send out a summary of the meeting to everyone so that the main points are covered and bullet pointed, too. You can ensure that everyone has a clear idea of what it was all about.
Meetings are not fun, but you can make sure that they are quick, comfortable and efficient with the tips above. Your business meeting record is going to be so much better when you have people who care about what you have to say. Take the time to make sure that you work on your business meeting timetables and you can make everyone feel better about attending!