Are you going to organize a team meeting?
To succeed in a meeting, preparation of organization is much more needed than of necessity or need. The relevance of a meeting is sometimes questionable but that does not prevent it from being successful if it is well prepared.
If you have done your job well, then you must have some good, energetic and talented employees in your organization. So, you must give them a chance to show their skills and talent through a well-organized meeting.
So, what is a well-organized meeting? A well-organized meeting is a meeting that delivers effective and useful results for all employees.
So, how to organize an effective and working stuff meeting then?
Well, our management specialists have recommended following plans of action consisting of 5 steps to achieve the goal:
The steps necessary to conduct effective meetings
1. Preparation
You need to be prepared before you take a move. At first, you need to think why the meeting is necessary and what you are going to cover in this meeting.
The uses of the ” TOP ” method gives you the means to conduct meetings at the top!
- T: Clearly define the THEME of the meeting, i.e “What are we going to talk about? “
- O: Define the OBJECTIVE to be reached at the end of the meeting.
- P: Define precisely the PLAN, the agenda, the points to be addressed to reach the goal.
All this information must then be transcribed into an agenda presenting:
- The TOP,
- The list of participants (it is possible and even recommended to include the role of each, the reason for their presence etc.),
- The material aspects such as location, time of the meeting, duration, etc.
You can even provide elements of preparation that will be discussed during the meeting (syntheses, analysis, graphics, conclusions of previous meetings) to the participants.
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Finally comes the preparation of logistical elements (often neglected) such as the whiteboard, overhead projector (we recommend you to follow Bestolin to get a good projector), audiovisual equipment, felts, etc. We will also ensure the proper functioning of equipment because there is nothing more annoying than the 15 minutes to wait for the facilitator to find a marker that works …
2. Respect the timing!
Meetings that far exceed the time that was originally planned are far too frequent, and this is the first criticism that is made of them. Ideally, meetings should not exceed 1 hour; also 30 minutes to 60 minutes is a time that allows everyone to maintain a high level of concentration and involvement. If you have hired meeting rooms, you will need to be extra cautious about your timings so you don’t run over and incur additional charges.
If you have scheduled 30 minutes meeting, respect the deadline and if everything is said after a quarter of an hour, then put an end, there is no point in hanging out to arrive at 30 minutes. But in the case where you know that the meeting will take more than 1 hour, just plan a short break.
3. The meeting animation
Here are some useful recommendations for promoting successful meetings:
- Start at the scheduled time and make sure not to accept the latecomers. It is important as they will avoid being late next time.
- Show theme, purpose, plan, and duration throughout the meeting. Everyone will be able to identify themselves during the meeting.
- Specify the working methods, the aim of the meeting in the introduction.
- Facilitate interactions between people and encourage participation, balance speaking time,
- Refocus on the discussions in case of overflow but be the timekeeper. Some people use the principle of the paper ball. Like only the one who has the ball can speak. The one who wishes to intervene makes it known and claims the ball. It may seem a little academic but animating a meeting is sometimes a challenge as employees are undisciplined, do not listen to each other, cut themselves off.
- Reformulate and practice intermediate syntheses to reach the conclusion of the meeting more quickly.
4. Create a relaxed atmosphere … but studious!
We can work very seriously without taking ourselves too seriously. A meeting should not be a bad time, without falling into the atmosphere of the end-of-day drink. You have to find the balance between professionalism and relaxed atmosphere.
Why? because it gives everyone the opportunity to express themselves freely, and thus to move projects forward. This creates an atmosphere conducive to motivation. In fact, the challenge is to control the progress of the meeting without controlling speech, without limiting exchanges. Be careful not to give in discussions of the type of coffee trade; also, to you to reframe if necessary the remarks by recalling the agenda of the day.
5. The conclusion of the meeting
Principle # 1: A good meeting is a meeting that ends on time! Once the time has passed, it’s time to conclude:
- At the end of the meeting: By summarizing the key points and specifying the follow-up in terms of responsibility and action e.i who should do what and when, what we can add, how will we verify it.
- After the meeting: By broadcasting the minutes of the meeting: a reminder of the subject (s) and objective (s), participants, decisions taken, deadlines and issues to be addressed at the next meeting. This point implies that a secretary must be appointed for each meeting.
Two golden rules at the end of the meetings:
- For the facilitator: To question himself after each animated meeting, what are his strong points and the less controlled points on the meeting. It requires openness and a little time, but it’s the only way to improve future meetings.
- For the participants: Impose rigor on the respect of the commitments made by the participants. There is demotivating to observe that nothing has changed in meetings
A. Define the roles of each
The objectives of a meeting can only be achieved if all the participants join the meeting. But to get the best result, you need to divide the responsibility among the participants. Rather than that, group work helps to motivate, involve and empower the whole team.
In a meeting, hierarchical barriers must be erased, everyone must be able to freely express themselves and propose ideas. It is, however, necessary to define the responsibilities associated with the meeting:
The facilitator must be chosen according to his / her skills on the subject, listening skills, involvement, and leadership. In addition, the facilitator must be available, observant, objective, friendly and have negotiating and facilitating qualities. Participants must have sufficient skills in relation to the subject, be responsible for any decisions that make.
B. Frame the group in its reflection
Participants should be provided with the keys to contribute to the success of the meeting. For that it is necessary:
- Clarify the rules of the game, explain the issues.
- Provide and explain the methods and tools that need to use to solve problems (QQOQCCP, Cause-effect diagram, 5M approach, …),
- Formalize concrete action plans when a decision is made (who, what, when, how)
- Help the participants to develop each idea (brainstorming) by refraining from censoring certain ideas.
Take care not to forget to value the work of the group, its successes, its efforts, its difficulties and to celebrate the achievement of the objectives.
C. Identify the leader and “use” his aura
The leader is distinguished by his ability to easily obtain the respect and trust of others. He has influenced. This influence must be aligned with the facilitator and the objectives of the meeting. Otherwise, it is the blocking assured. Just as if many leaders come forward during the meeting, it is important to ensure that they do not come into conflict. In the event of a blockage, always give priority to constructive solutions.
The facilitator must remain the “Master Of The Ceremony”. The success of a meeting rests largely on its animation. It is, therefore, necessary to integrate this fact in the choice of candidates for the animation of the meetings.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the meeting can be a powerful tool for communication and involvement. But only a useful and effective meeting can bring out the best from the team of an organization. To get better output from all stuff, make sure to engage them all. Do arrange meetings on a regular schedule.
Different studies show that meetings have the unfortunate tendency to be less productive, time-consuming and not very effective. The lack of organization and guidelines are often criticized, especially since nothing concrete comes out in many situations. Result: everyone feels like they have wasted their time. Moreover, according to some publication, a manager spends 16 years in meetings and most are considered totally useless! With these 7 tips, we hope to give you the keys so that your next marketing meetings are (finally!) Productive, effective and useful.
