In any organisations, team meetings are significantly important for many reasons. People conduct meetings to discuss things, solve problems, reach consensus as well as contributing to the success of a company. Not only that, meetings can also build a stronger relationship between team members since you can hear their opinions personally. You might be wasting your time if you conduct meetings for the sake of just having it every week, month or year. Therefore, it is definitely important to conduct effective meetings to ensure the quality of performance and smooth work path together.
Therefore, this article will
discuss FIVE do’s and don’ts of team meetings that everyone needs to practice
when they’re working in any organisations of all sizes.
Do’s
1.
Invite the right people to
the meeting–We
need to determine the list of members who are relevant to the meeting. When we
invite wrong people, they might not be able to contribute during the meeting
and it will be a waste of time!
2.
Have an agenda and circulate
it beforehand
– Agenda will tell them the topics that will be discussed during the meeting.
Therefore, participants can brainstorm ideas beforehand and share them with
other members in the meeting.
3.
Start and end your meetings
on time – As
a chairman, do not drag your meetings and follow the schedule. When you conduct
meetings for too long, people will be distracted, lose interests and focus!
Your meeting will not effective anymore.
4.
Keep it lively and warm - Meetings can be boring
sometimes. Instead of just discussing it in a serious manner, you can have
small talks in between to maintain the discussion. They will be more open for
discussions when we have small talks but don’t go overboard!
5.
Be attentive and show empathy
– As a
chairman, you need to be aware of the conditions of other participants. They
might be sick or not feeling well so you should be helpful and attentive to
them to avoid any unwanted things to happen.
Don’ts
1.
Don’t overachieve – Don’t try to cover as many
items as you can in a single meeting. When you drag your meeting and discuss too
many things, other participants may lose focus and interests. They might not be
open to discuss or share ideas anymore because they want it to finish soon.
2.
Don’t be a boss, be a LEADER – as a chairman, don’t
instruct or give commands to your staff. Instead, you can show how the work can
be done and lead them to complete it. Even though you are a chairman, don’t be
controlling. You should encourage your participants to share their ideas and
opinions in the meeting as much as you can.
3.
Don’t be negative –as part of the participants,
use constructive words to discuss and avoid being judgmental. By doing so, it
will encourage other members to actively share their ideas and show their
creativity. It’s okay when you don’t agree with someone, but express it
politely.
4.
Don’t check your smartphones
when it’s not necessary –
whenever you feel like the meeting gets dull, try not to check your phones too
many times. Other members might feel like you’re not interested to be part of
the meeting. It will also show that you’re not committed to do your work.
5. Don’t go back to previous items – when you discuss each item in the agenda, make sure you get make decisions and it’s agreed by everyone before you move on to the next one. Going back to the previous items can take up a lot of time and you might need to drag your meeting to cover everything.
Words by: Ms Nurul Najwa
Source: Adapted from expressvirtualmeeting.com
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