Banish meeting boredom: 13 tips for better meetings

BANISH MEETING BOREDOM! If you added up all the time people waste in bad meetings every day worldwide, the cost would probably equate to the annual GDP of a small country. Long unproductive and poorly run meetings cost both time and money. Over 1/3 of meetings are considered unproductive! (36%) Average time spent in meetings every day: 3.3 hours The time we collectively waste on bad meetings every year We did the math* (see how at the bottom). Turns out we collectively waste just shy of 300,000 years per annum in useless meetings. 300,000 YEARS! 300,000 years ago, our stone age ancestors didn't have time to waste in meetings - they were too busy fending off sabre-toothed tigers. At least all we have to fight off no- wadays is boredom. (and not even that, if you follow the tips in this infographic;:) COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF A BAD MEETING 69.9% No clear goal has been set 56.1% The meeting goes off topic 55.1% There is a lack of structure 49.5% Attendees are inattentive 48.6% No decisions are made Industries with the highest proportion of unproductive meetings Departments with the highest proportion of unproductive meetings IT 50% Education Financial 42% Customer Engineering Service 48% IT 47% Consulting 50% Services 40% COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD MEETING 79.9% The goal of the meeting is clear 69.2% Clear actions are assigned 68.2% Action items are followed up on 56.5% Decisions get made 55.1% An agenda is distributed before ARE YOU READY ТО ВЕСОМЕ А MEETING SUPERSTAR? 13 TIPS FOR BETTER MEETINGS: 1 Try video meetings :) Meet quickly and discuss projects easily. Online meetings Set an objective and have a clear purpose for the meeting. Only invite necessary people 4 Circulate an agenda beforehand Ask participants to come prepared and ready to participate 6. Direct questions at specific individuals to increase engagement 7 Keep participants focused on the agenda items and prevent off-topic discussions Use drawing tools to highlight key parts of 9. Use webcams for a personal your screen touch 10 Use VolP to save on audio conferencing bills 11 Encourage users to join from a mobile device if they are on the move 12 13 Assign follow-up Press that record button and share afterwards (great for non-attendees!) actions to individuals promptly For more ideas, tips and ideas to help improve your world of work, visit gotomeeting.com.au/meeting/white-papers SOURCES: BETTER MEETINGS SURVEY, CITRIX, AUGUST 2013. THE VIRTUAL PRESENTER'S 102 TIPS FOR ONLINE MEETINGS 2014 CITRIX ONLINE, UK LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. CITRIX, GOTOASSIST, GOTOMEETING, GOTOMYPC, GOTOTRAINING, GOTOWEBINAR, OPEN- VOICE, PODIO AND SHAREFILE ARE TRADEMARKS OF CITRIX OR A SUBSIDIARY THEREOF, AND ARE OR MAY BE REGISTERED IN THE U.S. PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE AND OTHER COUNTRIES. ALL OTHER TRADEMARKS ARE THE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS. "HOW WE DID THE MATH: 220 WORKING DAYS PER ANNUM X 3.3 HOURS = 726 HOURS 726H X 10 MIO WORKERS = 7,260,000,000 HOURS OR 302,500,000 DAYS OR 828,767 YEARS CİTRIX GOToMeeting Online meetings made easy www.gotomeeting.com.au