Preparation and Participation: Making Meetings More Productive

In the world of business one of the more important issues is holding a productive meetings. Whether with clients or other team members, meetings are highly important when addressing issues or making business decisions. In the current economy, time is money. Time and money will be wasted in your meeting is not productive. A successful meeting depends on preparation, and participation, without this your meeting will most likely not be productive.

Preparation

Preparation can be broken down into the following categories when making business meetings more productive: having a purpose, including the correct participants, holding the meeting at an appropriate time and facility, and having a productive agenda. The key when preparing a meeting is having a purpose. With a purpose of bringing people together to problem solve or to create a concept, your meeting will be a good use of every ones' time in the meeting. No individual likes sitting in a meeting when what is being discussed could have been addressed via e-mail. Another key issue of holding a productive meeting is to include the correct participants. The productivity will be less if you include individuals that do not directly relate to the meeting. An appropriate time and facility is another important aspect of holding a successful meeting. A time where all the meeting members are handling other projects will not be received well. However, if the meeting is held earlier in the morning, a more productive meeting will likely occur. Other issues when selecting a facility may depend on characteristics such as seating availability, lighting, and temperature of the location. Lastly having a proper agenda will insure that the meeting will be successful. When considering an agenda, one has to look at what to accomplish through the meeting, what issues will be discussed, and the participants' involvement in the issues being discussed.

Leading and Participating

Leading and participation will greatly impact the productivity of a business meeting through sublevel objectives such as: keeping the meeting on track, identifying rules of the meeting, participation of others, and having a proper closing. If you are the facilitator, keeping the meeting on track will enable participants to be fully engaged in the meeting. An off track meeting will most likely address other issues instead of the actual goals of the meeting. You, as facilitator, will be responsible for getting the meeting back on track. Another way to increase productivity of a meeting is to identify the rules of the meeting. Some examples would be if the meeting would be a question and answer session, a voting process incorporated within the meeting, the formality of the meeting and so forth. Another key issue of a meeting is participation. Without participation, the meeting will be a failure. This can range from too much participation from certain individuals, to individuals who are too timid to discuss an issue. If an individual is simply rambling on, thank them and ask a timid individual what they think about an issue. Lastly, a productive meeting has a successful close. This could include what has been agreed upon, summarization of key issues discussed, and a time span where any members of the meeting can clear confusion on certain issues.

Productivity is a key when holding meetings. A non-productive meeting is a waste of individuals' time and money. With the mentioned ideas to increase productivity, your meetings will help you to eliminate problems, create concepts, and recognize opportunities.

Source: Bovee L., Courtland and Thill V., John. Business Communication Today. Nineth Edition. Pearson-Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle Rive, New Jersey. Pgs. 46-48