Have you ever sat in on a meeting where everything was just right? The temperature in the room was comfortable, the lighting was perfect, the seats were cozy, the topic was inspiring, the speaker had you hanging on his every word, the donuts and coffee were fresh. Heck, even the orange juice was freshly squeezed. Have you ever been to a meeting like that? No? Well, neither have I. Something always seems to go wrong. The PC that’s used for displaying the information quits working. The temperature in the room is off—it’s either too hot and stuffy or it’s too cold. The lighting is never right, there are never enough seats for those attending, the donuts are from the day-old bakery (if there are any donuts at all), the coffee is cold and weak, and the orange juice is from something that needs to be spooned into a glass of water. The topic is normally a sleeper, requiring an individual to consume large quantities of No-Doze to stay coherent. The speaker has a terrible habit of saying “okay” or “um” after every other word. Of course, I am exaggerating a bit, but most people view meetings as a waste of time. Some view it as a time to catch a few winks, or to kill some time during the day. They don’t want to be there, but they’re required to be. If given the choice, most people would rather be doing something else, anything else, instead of attending a meeting.

Don’t get me wrong, meetings are important. A business could not survive without meetings. Vital information needs to be shared, reported, reviewed, enhanced, and analyzed. Meetings are needed to get the job done—they are a necessary evil. So how can employees get more out of meetings? How can we ensure that the meetings we run will provide the information employees need to do their work? This article will offer some ideas to help get the most out of meetings.

Time Is of the Essence

First, understand that one of the most valuable things an individual has is time. Respect that individual’s time by starting the meeting on time. If the meeting is scheduled to start at 11
a.m., start at 11:00, not at 11:06, or at 11:10, or when everyone shows up. Encourage everyone who is involved with the meeting to be there on time. Don’t hold up the meeting for the stragglers. Encourage the stragglers to review the meeting minutes to learn what was missed.

Second, end the meeting on time. Ending on time is just as important as starting on time. If you tell the employees that the meeting will be an hour long, then keep it to an hour or less. Don’t stretch it out longer than necessary or longer than it’s scheduled. I know of a company that does not use chairs in meetings. It has tables so people can put their notepads down, but it purposely does not have chairs. Why? The company feels that its meetings can be conducted within 15 minutes to a half-hour. It figures that it can get the information disseminated and people can get back to doing their job before they get comfortable. There is no need for an employee to sit and get comfortable in a meeting because the meeting will be over before they get comfortable.

Prepare an Agenda

Third, have a prepared agenda for the meeting. The agenda should be a formal document containing all of the items that need to be covered. Don’t have a meeting without an agenda, such as to hear what people have to say about all of the projects they are working on. People love to tell other people how important their project is. Don’t allow the meeting to run without direction. Use your agenda to maintain order, and cover the topics on your agenda. Don’t put generalized topics on your agenda; be specific. If your meeting will cover the status of various projects, do as much research as you can before the meeting, and then touch on the specific topics of those projects being worked on. This preparation will help keep the discussion centered on what should be discussed and will help prevent the meeting from straying off-topic. Preparing the agenda will take a little more of your time up front, but it definitely will make the meeting more productive.

Fourth, prioritize the items on your agenda in order of importance. Since you are trying to minimize the amount of time employees spend in meetings, all of the items on your agenda might not be covered in a meeting. List those items that absolutely need to be covered first as priority one. Keep listing those items of less importance with lower priorities until all of the items on your agenda are prioritized. When you are finished, you will have an agenda that will help you discuss the most important items, get the top priorities done, and minimize the amount of time employees spend in meetings.

Use Your Force

Fifth, prepare meeting attendees beforehand with emails or a draft copy of your agenda. The attendees may be able to help refine your agenda by giving you feedback. Allow your employees to help you run a more effective meeting. If the attendees know what the meeting will entail, they will come better prepared to participate and offer feedback that is pertinent to the topics covered.

Sixth, meeting scheduling is important. If you hold a meeting at 6 a.m., chances are people will attend, but they probably won’t have all of their facilities about them. If you hold a meeting right after lunch, people will need to fight off the urge to sleep. If you hold a meeting at 5 p.m., the attendees’ thoughts have turned to what they want to do after work. Schedule your meetings between 9 a.m. and noon. Employees are alert and ready to take on the day. I know of a company that actually holds meetings between 11:30 a.m. and 12 noon, so that people will be motivated to get the meeting over with quickly and get to lunch. Another time that you may want to try having a meeting is between 1:30 and 3 p.m. Most people have returned from lunch and are getting things ready for the rest of their workday. Of course, it’s not always easy or practical to have meetings during those times, but if you are able to choose the times when you would like to have a meeting, keep those times in mind.

Seventh, consider the meeting location. Is a particular room more conducive to the meetings that you like to run? Is there a room where everyone can sit around the table and add to the conversation? Is the lighting and room temperature right? If a room is stuffy or the lighting is low, you will begin to lose people. Heads will begin to softly rest on people’s chests while their minds slowly drift off to dreamland. You want to have a

meeting in a place where everyone is somewhat comfortable, but not so comfortable that they begin to fall asleep.

Eighth, think about food and drink. Everyone loves free food. It’s been said that if you want good attendance at a meeting, have food. Sometimes this is not correct. If you have donuts and coffee at every meeting, the employees will definitely come, but they will definitely gain weight, too. Most people I know are already fighting the “Battle of the Bulge,” so having donuts there to tempt them does not make things any easier for them. Also, they might get a sugar high at the beginning of the meeting, but 20 minutes into the meeting they will start fighting off the need for sleep. Consider what food and drink you bring to a meeting. There are times when it’s good to have treats, such as after a specific milestone or goal has been reached. Celebration is in order, but donuts at every meeting can actually backfire on you.