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Office Conversations: 10 ways to have a productive meeting

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In this fast-paced world, where technology helps individuals connect with bosses or co-workers, do employees need to sit together face to face across the table or is a cross-centre video conference enough? Yes, they do need to meet — for better teamwork, avoiding misunderstandings, creating trust, instilling a sense of purpose, resolving differences, generating new ideas… The list is endless. Meetings serve as pipelines for a two-way flow of information from bosses to employees and vice-versa; obstructions can lead to a mess. Here’s how you can turn your meetings into sharp and productive interactions.

1. Decide the shape of meetings

  • Should they be in the office or outside?
  • Should there be crosscentre conferences?
  • Should they last more than a day? Will an offsite be better?

2. Have a defined agenda

  • Plan everything you need to cover
  • State the purpose clearly — discussing strategy/problems, stating workarounds, or asking for suggestions/solutions

3. Have a time limit for each item

  • Check if time is adequate to cover all subjects
  • Prioritise subjects and allot time accordingly
  • Assign a time limit for the meeting — the shorter the better

4. Whom to invite, and whom to put in charge

  • Pick up a suitable person to kickstart the meeting and act as anchor
  • If announcing a strategy change, invite the people who are affected
  • If solving problems, rope in those who will be good sources of information for a solution
  • People not relevant to the meeting subject can negatively affect others

5. Don’t have the whole office in one meeting

  • If bosses want to inform everyone, a memo will do
  • It is better to have teams when participants/majority of participants are from same level; juniors may not be willing to speak up in the presence of seniors
  • Outside involvement/people of other teams should come in only as advisers

6. Make sure the people called can participate

  • Participation leads to confidence-building
  • Helps generate new ideas
  • Lets seniors spot talent

7. Don’t let one person or issue hijack the meeting

  • Avoid people who talk more, those who eat into others’ time or are repetitive
  • Assign time limits upfront

8. Jotting down takeaways

  • Ask a person/persons to note down key points/decisions

9. Use visuals and presentations, but keep them short

  • Use flowcharts, SWOT analyses

10. Meeting etiquette

  • Avoid use of personal gadgets
  • Don’t be late

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