How could you and your team run meetings more effectively?
In this blog our External Communications Officer Gina talks through some of the Flow Coaching Academy’s quality improvement tools to help you and your team effectively run meetings.
Meetings are no doubt a fantastic way to brainstorm ideas, work collaboratively and agree key decisions as a team. However, one of the most common complaints I hear day to day is the sheer number of meetings which people must attend.
According to a survey conducted by the Harvard Business Review:
- 71% of people said meetings are unproductive and inefficient
- 62% said meetings miss opportunites to bring the team closer together
Do these sounds familiar? – I think we all may have experienced a meeting which we felt could have been better prepared for, been more organised, had run more smoothly and been less dominated by individuals. So how can meetings be more productive and a positive experience for you and your staff?
At the Flow Coaching Academy, we use our ‘effective meeting skills’ every time we meet as a team to help make sure our meetings run to time and are productive. We wanted to share these with you so you can start to trial these out with you and your team.
1. Assign roles
It is important to assign roles in every meeting so people know what is expected of them, and everyone in your team can take shared ownership in making sure the meeting runs to schedule. When allocating roles there should be a:
Leader
This person could be anyone in your team, they will lead the discussion through agreed agenda points and encourage discussion with team members.
Facilitation
This person will support the leader in facilitating the conversation, they will make sure that team members who want to come in on the conversation have an opportunity to do so, they will also help bring in quieter members of the team.
Time keeper
This person will make sure agenda items are ran to time and will let the leader know if time is running out so they can reset agenda if needed
Note taker
This person will take notes from the meeting and recap any actions at the end of the meeting to make sure everything is captured
Tech support
If you are running your meeting virtually it may be worth assigning a tech support who will help attendees access the meeting and trouble shoot any problems
2. Check in
Recognising that many people think team meetings miss the opportunity to bring teams closer together check ins are really important when running a meeting, don’t just jump straight in! – As part of assigning your roles it is important to acknowledge all staff members. You may want to do this through a light-hearted ice breaker to bring everyone into the room.
3. Eye contact
As we all continue to work virtually don’t forget the value of eye contact. It is a difficult habit to get into but looking at somebody on a screen can often mean you are not providing reassurance through eye contact. If somebody makes a strong point, try to get into the habit of looking at the camera to let them know you are listening.
4. Meeting norms
Meeting norms should be co-created with the team at the outset so that they work and are owned by everyone. For example, you may want to set an expectation that meeting agendas are set and circulated ahead of a meeting, or if you are running a meeting virtually you may all agree to mute your microphones when somebody is talking.
5. Clarify aims
Every meeting should have a clear objective and agenda – this is important as it ensures everyone knows exactly where their question or comment belongs in the meeting and can help stop the meeting getting side-tracked or multiple people speaking at once.
If you have any questions about our effective meetings skills or how these can be applied when coaching a team, why not get in touch with the team on Twitter @FCA_Coaching or contact us through our website.
