5 tips for having a productive meeting

For any business or enterprise, time can make the difference between success or failure. It is important to understand that time is one of the most valuable assets not just in business, but also in life. It is not uncommon for workers to stay at meetings for hours and hours, yet come out not knowing what the point of the meeting was. The time spent during these meeting thus becomes a waste. Here are some tips to have in place so as to have a productive meeting.

a) Have a clear agenda

When setting up a meeting, it is important to have clear objectives. This is to ensure that the meeting will not spiral into other vague agendas. It is also important to make sure the objectives have been shared early with those attending the meeting. In addition, the agenda for the meeting should be accompanied with relevant documents to make sure everybody clearly understands what the meeting will be about.

b) Time

It is important that when setting up meetings, you also estimate the time it will take. There are times when meeting seems to never end, which results in loss of concentration of those in attendance. It is usually advisable to have a short meeting that is straight to the point and avoid diverting into other agendas.

c) Venue

Most of the times, the boardroom seems as the most sensible place to hold a meeting. However, this can be monotonous and it may sometimes require to change meeting rooms. An advantage to this is that it can spark creativity. For example, you can hold a meeting in a modern 5-star hotel such as the Royal Lancaster London where staff can have a change a scenery.

d) Hold face to face meetings

With recent advances in internet, most companies now prefer conducting meetings online. While this may offer flexibility and convenience, it sometimes results in unproductive meetings. It is thus advisable to conduct face to face meetings when a serious matter is being discussed. Meeting face to face means you will be able to effectively connect minds and ideas together.

e) Choose the best leader

When you have a great leader, then the meeting will be productive. A great leader ensures that everybody is on board and that everything runs smoothly. A good leader will set the agenda and make sure those in attendance do not divert away from it.