According to a survey conducted by Steven Rogelberg of the University of North Carolina, 71% of the managers find team meetings unproductive and time-wasting. These meetings not only disrupt workflow but often end up wasting time – usually that of many people. This is why no one likes meetings for the sake of meetings.
Team meetings with ideas can inspire a lot of creativity, collaboration and productivity provided they are quick, engaging and well-led. Note the following list of “tried and tested” meeting ideas:
1. Assign pre-work. This is a very effective team meeting idea that will encourage employees to prepare for the meetings in advance. This increases the level of curiosity among them. Pre-work can be simple: asking them to provide key solutions, suggestions, or examples before the meeting. This not only empowers employees but also make the meeting richer and more effective.
2. Stick to the agenda. Before the meeting, you can decide on some points that need to be discussed, finalized and analyzed. As soon as they have been ticked off the list, have a final word on it and end the meeting.
3. Adopt an ‘Everyone Plays’ mentality. This means the effective managers adopt ‘Everyone Plays’ mentality where they make a roomfor everyone to contribute in meetings to make them more actionable. Assign roles, topics or updates that every participant can share with the group. This will make them more attentive and feel empowered for their responsibility.
4. Invite fewer people. Make sure only those employees are invited to a meeting whose presence matters and those who are adding value to a problem, those who will be a good source of information for the solution.
If possible, keep your meetings between 4 – 7 people.
5. Open with a bang. You can do so by asking a thought-provoking question, state an interesting statistic, quote someone or tell a story. This will help you activate the thinking part of the brain of the listeners and will lead to effective engagement from their side. This will also push their creative sides to contributed to the meetings.
6. Start with the end in mind. Always make sure the objective for coming together is 100% clear to everyone present in the meeting room. Ask questions like “We have gathered to discuss solutions for …” or “At the end of this discussion we will decide …” Having a clear vision and the purpose behind the meeting help to generate better ideas and actionable steps.
7. Decide who will do what by when. Decide who will be handling what and within what time a task will be accomplished. Accountability and healthy work pressure can contribute to boosting workplace productivity, more focused and task oriented and aids effective time management.
8.Ban gadgets. Just ask team members to bring a pen and a notepad to jot down pointers or other important stuff. With zero distractions, they will be able to come up with the best ideas, suggestions or solutions for a problem.
9. Start and end on time. This makes them feel that their time and presence is respected and valued in a meeting. This will help employees look forward to give their contribution in them.
10. Incorporate fun with learning. When meetings involve both learning and fun they can generate a lotta action, collaboration, and camaraderie in an organization. This will contribute to boosting overalll productivity at the workplace. Inspire employees to think out of the box with these amazing brainstorming techniques.
