There’s nothing more annoying than having to take an hour or two out of your workday in order to attend a pointless meeting. Unnecessary meetings are one of the biggest threats to productivity that most workers have to deal with. Not only do meetings take time out of workers’ days, but if they aren’t planned properly then even when they are justified, they can often fail in their purpose.
Below are some simple things that you can do to ensure that the next business meeting you plan is worthwhile and achieves its objectives.
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Define The Purpose
Good planning is at the heart of any efficient business. The more planning you do beforehand, the less likely you are to inadvertently end up wasting your attendees’ time. A big part of why so many business meetings end up feeling pointless is because they are. Often, the person running the meeting doesn’t know themselves why they are asking people to attend.
Make sure that you are clear with yourself about why you are calling a business meeting and exactly what it is that you are hoping your attendees will get out of it. This will enable you to focus your mind and ensure that you set an appropriate agenda.
Be Ruthless With Your Invites
Any business meeting, regardless of its purpose, should include as few people as possible. If people don’t need to be in the room while you are having your meeting, don’t invite them. Observing this simple principle will go a very long way to improving the quality and usefulness of your meeting.
Set The Agenda
Once you know the purpose of your meeting and who is going to be attending, it’s then time to set a suitable agenda. Your purpose tells you what the overarching goal of your meeting is, but it is by setting a suitable agenda that you will lay out exactly how you plan to go about successfully achieving your meeting’s purpose.
Choose The Right Location
It is easy to underestimate how much of a difference your choice of venue will make to the experience that attendees have at your meeting. Whether you are planning an internal meeting that will take place within the business you work for, or you are going to be meeting with other people somewhere off-site, choosing the right location is essential if you want your meeting to be a success.
If you already have the perfect location lined up then make sure that you secure it early. Wherever possible, you should book well in advance of the actual meeting to avoid any nasty surprises. If you aren’t sure where to begin your search for the ideal venue, there are companies out there dedicated to matching their customers with the ideal business meeting venues for their needs.
Business meetings that are arranged hastily and with little thought as to their purpose or whether they are necessary are destined to waste their attendees’ time. You should avoid hosting a business meeting just for the sake of it – make sure that there is a clear purpose and an agenda for achieving it.