The BPO Network reposted this
Helping Women Leaders Jump Into Senior Management in 12 Months 💠 ICF PCC Certified | Follow for daily tips about the leadership skills you need to rise
Meetings are rated as the "#1 office productivity killer” Did you know $37,000,000,000+ is wasted annually on unproductive meetings in the U.S. alone? And most employees admit to multitasking unintentionally while attending them. Here are 4 ways to design meetings that move the needle and others look forward to: 1️⃣ Get feedback from your team The goal is to make everyone feel part of the solution. It’s also a great way to figure out hidden issues, how much is getting done, what’s working, and what’s not. 2️⃣ Give your team flexibility The more you allow people to design a meeting that works for them, the more they’ll buy into the process! Personally benefiting from the implemented changes also keeps the team excited to show up in future meetings. 3️⃣ Set milestones and monitor progress Improving the process is a journey, not a destination. So carry out quarterly reviews and a full audit every year to see if everyone's still feeling good about things. 4️⃣ Debrief as a group regularly As you tweak how you do meetings, you'll find even better ways to save time and cash. That's why keeping the communication lines open by asking questions and getting feedback is vital. Great meetings don't just happen, they're designed. 💛 So it's about time we declutter our calendars. And make meetings the highlight of the day, not the hurdle! 🔁 Repost to encourage others to meet smart and achieve more.
📌 Try cutting the time you give to your meeting in half and challenge yourself to get everything done in that time, not by rushing but by only covering what needs to be done by the group when you are together
📌 Before you gather a group for a meeting, stop to calculate how much money you are spending with each person's time. It can shift your perspective on how much value you feel you need to deliver to the company with this meeting.
📌 Have a 'parking lot' for those topics that aren't on the agenda but you want to get back to. It will let people's minds rest knowing it's covered.
📌 Give people time to prep in the first 10 minutes of the meeting if you find people are coming unprepared. They may have back to back meetings and literally don't have time.
"If you could have any superpower for today's meeting, what would it be and why?" I like to start off with a question that makes everyone present. Here are some more of my favorites to use: - What's one word you would use to describe your current mindset or mood as we start this meeting? - What's one thing you hope to learn or achieve during our time together today? - What one word describes how you feel about today’s topic? - What's one thing you're passionate about that you'd love to bring into our discussion today? - What's one question you have about our topic today that you've been curious to explore?
Great, great topic Jill. My memories of wasted time in meetings still haunts me :). One thing I found useful was an agenda that got distributed prior to the meeting. It gave participants an idea of what was coming up and it also forced the person chairing the meeting to get their act together and not “wing it”. One of the most important points your bring up, be inclusive. People need to feel like their voices are being heard.
Great insights! Jill Well-designed meetings can indeed drive progress. I love the focus on milestones and progress monitoring. I’ve also found that alternatives like asynchronous updates or quick check-ins often save time while keeping teams aligned. That said, when teams don’t meet regularly, silos can form, and misalignment grows. It’s all about finding the balance between purposeful meetings and flexible collaboration in a team.
/flashback horror Meetings shouldn’t feel like a hostage situation. Design them better. If no one’s looking forward to your meetings, that’s your first clue something’s off. Preach, Jill.
When you have meetings that could have been an email, this is what people takeaway:
Helping Women Leaders Jump Into Senior Management in 12 Months 💠 ICF PCC Certified | Follow for daily tips about the leadership skills you need to rise
1mo📌 Agendas for every meeting can make a huge difference. Start with making your agenda items questions.