Most employees view their time as precious – and rightly so. But due to their very nature, meetings will unavoidably take up time, reducing their productivity time. This is why it’s so important to ensure every meeting is effective and counts as a step towards positive change.
However positively you start meetings, bad habits can creep back in and meeting structure can quickly become stagnant. Pinpoint wants to prevent this by explaining how to avoid the most common meeting mistakes. If not addressed, these will severely affect the delivery and success.
Check your Meeting Outcomes
The saying goes, ‘If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it’ but what if your meetings have been failing for so long that you think it’s the norm? What if you think not reaching a solution is an acceptable outcome? If you’ve become accustomed to this, something needs to change – fast.
If your team all know the tired routine of your meetings and the outcome (or lack of), they will be less likely to participate and attend.
Change it up! Take time to plan each meeting. Be sure to include new engagement exercises, trial different methods, and perhaps experiment with different seating arrangements to see what stimulates your team the most.
Break Away from Technology
We rely on technology a lot and it’s great at making our jobs easier. What on earth would we do without our iPhone reminders and Google calendars? But there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.
Office based employees spend the majority of your time at their desks, staring at computer screens. So, overloading with PowerPoint slides during a meeting is a definite no go.
A break away from screen time will stimulate your team’s brains and help them look at things differently.
Allow Brains to Rest
No matter how good you and your staff are at concentrating, it’s always best to break up the working day into segments with short breaks. Meetings are no different.
Having breaks will allow your mind to rest before re-focusing better on the task in front of you.
Never Apply Pressure
There is a big difference between encouraging quieter employees to contribute and forcing them to. If they aren’t confident, applying pressure on them to speak out can have detrimental effects on the success of your meeting. It can in fact worsen their confidence, and create an uneasy atmosphere.
This is where Pinpoint can really help. People are able to contribute in their preferred way, which doesn’t require them to speak out in front of an audience.
Ultimately, you need to change, trial and review your meeting process on a regular basis to see what’s working and what isn’t. Perhaps a couple of times a month request feedback from staff and be open to suggestions.
Using the Pinpoint technique will optimise the success of your meetings. It will ensure everyone has contributed in a way that they’re comfortable with, so all ideas have been heard.
