We all know how much time meetings take up in our business lives. We sometimes run from meeting to meeting, wondering how on earth we are to get anything done if we spend all day in meetings. I’m sure you have caught yourself thinking there must be a better way.
Here are seven meeting etiquette tips written by Lyndsay Swinton over at Management for the Rest of Us . Lyndsay offers up these 7 business meeting etiquette tips to brush up your meeting skills and be more productive.
1. Dinner jacket or dinner on your jacket
First decide on how formal your meeting will be. Advance warn attendees about special requirements, for example dress code, to ensure people understand what’s expected and can prepare accordingly.
2. Too many cooks ... and not enough bottle washers
There is a skill in inviting the right people to a meeting. Only invite bosses, and the work will never be done, so make sure you invite the right mix of decision makers, experts, implementers and stakeholders to enable post meeting action.
3. …. but too many cooks spoil the broth
The flip side to inviting the right mix of people is that you may end up with an overflowing meeting room. As long as you get about 80% of who you need, you’re doing well.
4. The 37 minute meeting agenda
Prepare a meeting agenda in advance and circulate this to your attendees - remember that meetings can come in all different durations, so get people’s attention by having weird duration meetings. Meetings that start and finish on time (or even early!), and achieve all objectives outlined in the agenda will be appreciated by all, and will increase your chance of a better meeting next time.
5. Empty barrels make the most noise
Good facilitation skills are important when you have people fond of their own voice. Use meeting ground-rules to help avoid speaking for the sake of speaking. Or maybe don’t invite them in the first place! How about introducing stand-up meetings? Brilliant for daily catch-up or review meetings, as conversations shorten when legs tire.
6. Stop violent agreement
And here’s another reason why this is a great idea….. and another… and another. Do you really need to waste time violently agreeing with each other? It might be fun, but get consensus and move on.
7. AOB
Let’s be blunt - Any Other Business can also mean Any Old Bull unless you keep tight hold of the halter. Ask for AOB points at the start of the meeting and only give them airtime if there is time. Check if any points have already been covered, then get the group to prioritize each AOB point and put a time limit on them.
Try these seven tips out at the next meeting you plan. Set the standard for more productive meetings in your company and you may get out of the meeting in minutes rather than hours.
If you have any tips to add to this list please leave a comment and let us know what works best for you.
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