Time and Money: When Meetings Don’t Meet Expectations

TIME & MONEY When Meetings Don't Meet Expectations In a Salary.com survey on wasted time at work: 47% of respondents said the biggest waste of time is having to attend too many meetings. In a survey of 150 senior executives at the nation's 1,000 largest companies: Respondents believe roughly 4 of all meetings There are 11 million business meetings every day. are unnecessary. 9 out of 10 meeting participants say they daydream during meetings; 4 in 10 admit to dozing off. 37% of employee time is spent in meetings. 1 hour: The average amount of time spent preparing for a meeting characterized as “highly productive." $37 billion The cost of unnecessary meetings (in terms of wasted salary hours) according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Get More Done During Your Next Meeting Define the type of meeting you'll be having Decision-making meeting The goal is to come to a final decision. Information-sharing meeting The goal is to share new facts and figures. Brainstorming meeting The goal is to generate ideas by way of a working session. Invite only who you need to Too many voices in one meeting can prevent you from getting anything done. Consider having small meetings with different groups to hash out ideas. Establish ground rules Only one person can speak at a time. Decide whether laptops and phones are permitted or not. Agree which topics are off limits. Avoid meeting on Monday mornings (X) Let people deal with Monday morning distractions first. Research shows Monday morning meetings are highly disliked. Make sure people show up on time Start meetings on time, even if some people are late. Make it clear to employees that showing up late is inconsiderate and will not be tolerated. Send an email reminder a few minutes before the meeting. Have an agenda Include an estimated time allocated for each item to help the meeting stay on task. Share the agenda with all participants prior to the meeting. Encourage participation Follow up At the end of a meeting ask these questions: - What's the next action? - Who is responsible? E When is the deadline? Some people won't speak up unless prompted. Jot down any decisions made Take quick notes about decisions and reasoning to save second guessing later on. Wrap it up on time Analyze results Give meeting participants the respect they deserve by ending meetings on time. If a meeting didn't achieve what you were looking for, try to figure out what went wrong-then use this info to improve the next meeting. Meetings can be productive and collaborative, and help companies achieve goals. Avoid wasting time by setting ground rules, sticking to the agenda, and wrapping up on time. smallbusiness.chron.com productivity501.com fastcompany.com academicimpressions.com forbes.com emeetings.verizonbusiness.com officeteam.rhi.mediaroom.com business.salary.com meetingbooster.com Brought to you by: Quill.com A small part of your job is 100% of ours. 01 9401 019001