How to make a working meeting really productive

Meaningless exhausting meetings are the curse of most employees, writes The Huffington artical. How to make a working meeting really productive.

When you look at your watch and pray that this "productive" work meeting is over.

Here are 6 tips on how to make a meeting really useful.

Realize that not everyone likes meetings

Realize that even if you love meetings, they may not be loved by everyone you invite.

According to the scientist, meeting leaders usually have a more positive experience of the meeting compared to other participants.

Why? Because they talk the most at these meetings.

If you talk a lot, you are more likely to think that the meeting was good.

To break out of this prejudice, you need to look beyond your assumptions and ask people directly what they think about the structure of meetings.

Conduct a three-minute survey with regular meeting participants to describe what is and is not, and what can be improved.

And note: if you are the only person in the room who completely dominates the others, you do not have a good meeting.

Doubt if you really need a meeting

Hardly anyone enjoys an hour-long meeting that can be held via email, for example.

Such meetings waste time, and time is an important resource.

Research shows that weekly meetings of middle managers cost the company in million a year.

To prevent this, carefully consider why you are making an appointment.

If the meeting is mainly just to convey information, it is better to use other communication tools.

A meeting is good when you are looking for information, asking questions and you need a reaction.

Do not set a 60-minute appointment by default

Reducing meeting time can improve productivity.

Because the less time, the more intensively you have to work.

We work better under a certain pressure, according to the psychological principle .

If you know that a meeting usually takes an hour, try to reduce its time and see if it works.

This will save valuable employee time.

 Make sure employees do not feel anonymous

Thanks to technology, you can organize business meetings on different continents.

Therefore, the expert recommends that employees be present at least on video, if possible, and not just by voice.

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People need to realize that they have a voice and they are not anonymous.

When people feel as if they are just background noise, the phenomenon of "social laziness" can occur - when a person reduces effort and motivation by working in a team.

Therefore, meeting leaders need to ask people to name themselves before speaking.

The meeting leader should be its dispatcher.

Minimize the number of participants

Restrict the list of participants to only those who really need to be there.

Google recommends no more than 10 people in a room.

Amazon has a "two pizza rule" - there should be enough people at the meeting to eat two pizzas.

"There is no magic number, because it depends on what you want to achieve.

When there are more than 8 people in a meeting, strong negotiation skills are required. And most people don't have them, "says the scientist.

Brainstorm separately or in silence

For the next meeting, try to use the silence to your advantage.

Let people sit in silence, writing down ideas before sharing them with those present.

Another meta-analysis showed that virtual brainstorming can increase creativity compared to face-to-face brainstorming.

When you write down your idea, you can speak more freely, where you do not have to wait for someone to agree, or fear that your unpopular idea is not as good as everyone else.

"When people brainstorm orally, many people can speak at the same time," explains the expert.

Know when the meeting should end

Do not think that the meeting should end only when there is a conclusion.

It is normal to end a completely unfavorable meeting.

It is normal for a leader to say, "You know why we should not stop here.

We were able to say this, this, and this. "

Accept your defeats to move on and plan your next meeting more effectively.