Nobody wants to spend longer in a meeting than strictly necessary. Firstly, meetings are often time consuming, and secondly, they have a habit of going off on a tangent and taking even longer. Think of the jobs you could be completing at your office desk!
Despite that, meetings need to be held for certain subjects. In order to cut down on unnecessary time, and to ensure that everything that needs to be discussed is, it all comes down to preparation.
Check out this infographic for some useful meeting-related information
Source: www.learningdesigns.com/five-stages-to-plan-and-execute-effective-meetings
As you can see, it comes down to planning, preparing, creating a succinct agenda, conducting and concluding.
The conference table design is vitally important in ensuring that a meeting runs smoothly. You need everyone to be able to see the front if there is a presentation, and everyone needs to be heard when they have something to say. This also incorporates the layout of the room and where you place your meeting room tables.
Ensuring that you have a simple and accurate agenda before the meeting is vital, and this should be circulated in good time, along with any handouts. If you are going to have someone taking minutes, they should be experienced in this regard, and there should be spare handouts and agendas available, just in case.
The person chairing the meeting is in control of the timings, and there should be a clock visible in the room. This person can then ensure that the meeting doesn’t overrun, and can steer the conversation back on topic if it strays. Of course, it goes without saying that boardroom chairs should be comfortable, so those attending the meeting can concentrate and discuss what they need to discuss!
Do you have any other meeting tips?