9 Effective Meeting Tips for Busy Professionals

One of today’s most valuable resources is time. Which is why one of the enemies of today’s busy professionals is meetings; especially those that tend to run longer than they should. If you think about it, meetings consume the better part of your day, and even week, and unfortunately, more often than not the purpose of the meeting is unknown or unclear, and there isn’t any formal follow-up, which leads to professionals feeling like the meeting was a “waste of time”.

Fortunately, there are some things that busy professionals can do to make meetings more effective and productive.

1. Do you really need to have a meeting for this?

   Sometimes we schedule meetings because that’s that we think we need to do. But there are topics and issues that can easily be addressed by phone, by email, or even by a quick in-person drop in (this shouldn’t take longer than 10-15 minutes). So before sending out the invites and locking the meeting on your calendar, ask yourself whether the meeting is really necessary.

2. Carefully select who will participate

   Large meetings tend to be the least productive. Instead of inviting every person involved in the project or issue, choose your audience wisely and keep the meeting small. This will help in keeping the meeting short and on topic.

3. Create a MoM (Minute of Meeting)

   Shortly after you send the meeting invitation, you need to create a minute and agenda of the meeting and share it with those that will participate. This will help everyone prepare for the meeting and help the meeting run smoothly.

4. Allocate specific time to specific items

   Based on the topics you include in the MoM, allocate a specific amount of time for each item. Some issues might need to be discussed for 20 minutes, others for 10, and some for 30. The important thing is to put some limits so that the conversation doesn’t get on track. Oh, and stick to the time slots!

5. Send any relevant information prior to the meeting

   Don’t wait until the meeting has started to share important documents and information. Instead, send them a couple of days ahead so that attendees can carefully review the information and gather their thoughts on it.

6. Start on time

   If people realize you are willing to start the meeting late until everyone shows up, then everyone will end up showing up late. It’s ok to give 5-7 minutes for everyone to settle in before starting, but if you don’t start on time, it’s minutes that you “wasted” waiting for someone else.

7. Keep the meeting engaging, but don’t let it get off track

   If you choose your attendees carefully, then you can encourage individuals to share their thoughts and opinions on the matter during the meeting. This will keep everyone engaged and paying attention. However, you have to be careful to not let the meeting get off track and small talk (irrelevant to the business matter) needs to be discouraged.

8. Listen

   If someone else is speaking, you need to pay attention and listen and wait until they are done to share your thoughts and opinions. Interrupting someone halfway through what they are saying will lead them to lose their train of thought and will encourage others to step in and talk as well; making it nearly impossible for the topic to be fully addressed and solved.

9. Take notes and follow-up

   Make sure someone is taking meeting notes and writing down who is responsible for what action. Once the meeting is over, you should follow-up with everyone, sharing the information that was discussed, the actions that need to be taken, and who is in charge of each task.

About Cecilia Amador

Cecilia Amador is a writer and content strategist based in Guatemala City. She's been writing about coworking, virtual offices, and business centers since 2015 and she is currently getting a Masters Degree in Innovation from The Pontifical Catholic University of Chile.