Meetings for the sake of meetings are the bane of the American workforce’s existence. Instead of a simple email or phone call to make a decision, the conversation spreads to a two-hour meeting where your staff walks away thinking this could’ve been solved in five minutes. While meetings serve a purpose, they can also be a costly waste of time for companies.
In 2016, Forbes posted an article about how to have more productive meetings and included these startling statistics about those that are unproductive: people spend more than 30 hours in unnecessary meetings, which in America costs $37 billion in salaries.
Not only are your meetings wasting your time, they’re also wasting your money. Here are four tips to increase your meeting productivity.
1. Know Your Agenda
Simply knowing what you want to accomplish can save you an average of 17 minutes per meeting. Vague agendas can prolong meetings and cause conversations to go off topic. Entrepreneur believes sending out an agenda at least a day in advance prepares your team for the meeting so they show up ready with the information needed to contribute.
2. Start On Time
Every office has its slowpokes, but waiting for them can drain the productivity of those waiting to begin. One missed start time can set an entire day off, disrupting the schedules of everyone else in the room. If it’s time for the meeting to start and everyone is engaged in conversation, politely grab their attention and begin the meeting. Every minute you wait to begin is another minute longer your meeting will last.
3. Keep It on Schedule
It’s very common in meetings for a relevant topic to lead into many different side conversations that are important but do not directly pertain to the current meeting. Keeping your meeting on schedule can keep the attention better of those in attendance, so it’s imperative to see the warning signs and keep your team on the right path. When a new conversation is forming, immediately move to the topic into what is called a ‘parking lot,’ where the topic can be revisited at a more appropriate time.
4. Don’t Schedule Meetings Back-to-Back
It’s easy to make a schedule where meetings run back-to-back, but the buffer between can be crucial to keep brains fresh and ready. Instead of forcing people to rush from one place to the next or sit in the same room for endless hours, provide a break to stretch, grab a coffee or catch up on some emails.
Find the Right Solutions
As a leading provider of workforce solutions in Southeast Michigan, LaJoy Group is here to help with your workforce management. We can keep your team productive by providing employees when you need them and saving you time in finding the right candidates to bring to your company. Learn more about how we can help you today.