Meetings are one of the largest and most debilitating components of organizational clutter. Research shows that managers spend 15% of their time in meetings and many of these meetings actually have no clear purpose. Senior executives spend two full days a week in meetings. In 22% of these meetings, participants send three or more e-mails for every half an hour they spent sitting in a meeting room. This clearly contradicts the goals of a meeting to facilitate and disseminate productivity throughout the company from top down.
Here are some basic tips to consider when conducting a meeting in order to maximize productivity, inspire your staff, and get ahead:
First and foremost, designate the meeting to be held in an appropriate location. The location itself can affect the productivity of the participants. If the location is too bland or completely unengaging, participants may become bored and lethargic. On the other hand, if the location is too busy with too many distractions, the participants may lose focus.
Second, eliminate the use of technology for the duration of the meeting. While having laptops and cell phones may be useful, outside correspondence can usually wait. Also, studies show that we remember information better when we write it down by hand and doodling can lead to greater creative capacity among individuals.
Third, define the purpose of the meeting. By having a specified goal or objective for the meeting, it will be more difficult to be led astray by other factors. Set an agenda and stick to it. This helps to start and end meetings on time, which not only increases participant morale, but also increases the effort put in by participants to actually attend the meetings. Furthermore, by defining a meeting’s purpose you can better organize who should attend and develop engagement strategies to fit a specific audience.
Here at AdvantEdge, our meeting and conference rooms provide the perfect space for executing successful meetings. All our meeting spaces have state of the art technology that can facilitate your meeting without the need of any extra equipment, hassle, or distraction. Moreover, if you need anything throughout your meeting, our on-site staff is here for you. Click the button below to learn more about our workspaces and book an appointment at one of our three business centers in Washington, DC.
