Meetings are a necessary part of leadership, but how often do they feel like a waste of time? We’re all busy working on our to-do list and some meetings definitely feel like they could have been an email. LOL! Hence, Leaders need to ensure that meetings drive results rather than drain energy. Effective meetings are a sign of mindful leadership, where every moment is used with intention and focus. Keep reading as I share four key strategies to help you lead meetings that are productive, engaging, purposeful, and action-oriented.
Do Pre-Work & Eliminate Distractions
Let me let you in on a little productivity secret...Pre-Work Works! One of the #1 reason why meetings are unproductive is that the host failed to do a simple thing like providing an agenda. Sending the agenda in advance, even if it's marked "tentative", will make everyone aware of what items are to be discussed and what decision is needed. It also gives the host an opportunity to clarify the roles of each participant and how they fit into the decision analysis. Doing this defines what is expected of each participant and encourages them to be proactive and take ownership of their contributions to the meeting deliverables. It's also a best practice to send out materials prior to the meeting, when possible. Especially if you'll be reviewing complicated or technical data, it's best to send it out prior to the meeting so that the participants have enough time to review it. There's nothing worse than attending a meeting, reviewing information cold, and then not getting a decision that will help you move the project forward. Sending the agenda and materials in advance will move you closer to getting a decision made before the meeting ends.
Ever try to present data, schedules, and key outputs and everyone is busy looking at their phones or worse checking their emails? Eliminating distractions is another secret to a productive meeting. If people aren't paying attention, then they will not be able to make an informed decision and stand by it. Encourage meeting attendees to focus on the meeting discussion by holding an Electronics Ceremony. Ask everyone to place their cell phones on a table or in a box before the meeting begins. If laptops are being used for note-taking, remind everyone how important their contribution is to the meeting and ask them to refrain from responding to emails during the discussion. I know, I know...Leaders are busy and meetings are sometimes the only moment they have during the day to catch up on emails. However, if you're responding to emails during the meeting, are you really listening to the presenters, digesting the data, and able to make an informed decision? If you're being honest, then the answer is no. Eliminating distractions allows everyone to actively listen, be present, and focus on the meeting objectives.
Set Realistic Expectations
Every Leader has moments where they’re frustrated by unrealistic expectations and a seemingly endless list of things to do. Well your teams feel this same frustration when they’re in meetings that drag on and on without a clear objective or actionable path forward. Setting realistic expectations for your meetings can help prevent disengagement and inaction. By clearly stating the goal and inputs needed at the beginning of the meeting, everyone can begin on the same page and understand the value they bring to the discussion. This will also help everyone actively listen better if they know they are expected to come to a decision at the end. Encourage everyone to participate and welcome different perspectives in order for the meeting to be inclusive and lead to creative solutions. Prevent groupthink by discouraging grandstanding and long-winded rants. Some people like to talk just to hear themselves and they seldom offer much value beyond making the meeting last longer than needed and derailing the discussion. Side-Note: We’ve all been in a meeting with this guy, so don’t become this person with the endless tangents. That behavior contributes to the meeting becoming unproductive. 😉
Keep the meeting focused on sharing information that leads to a decision and set the expectation on what can be solved within the allotted time. Attention spans are shorter than we think. Being overly-ambitious with your meeting expectations can cause your meeting to run-over, introduce scope creep, and waste time. If you need a follow-up meeting, schedule one in lieu of running over time. As discussions get going it’s easy to veer away from the meeting agenda and expected goal. During these moments, it’s perfectly fine to table certain discussions for a subsidiary meeting or take a 1:1 clarification offline.
Actively Capture Notes
“If I write it, I will remember it.” I’m not sure who first uttered this statement, but they were telling my life story with 8 words. If you want your meetings to be productive, you have to take notes. Everyone should take notes, not just the meeting host. There’s no way around this one. According to the Learning Pyramid, we only remember 10% of what we read and 20% of what we hear. Our memory goes up to 70% for what we write and 90% for what we do. Writing allows us to document what we heard, saw, and want to remember. It hedges against memory loss and signals that you’re invested in the discussion. It also provides context on decisions that you can revisit after the meeting.
The meeting host should document attendees, key points, action items, and deliverables and prepare a meeting summary for distribution. This should be done in real time since even with the best intentions, meeting summaries that need extensive compiling after the meeting, seldom get sent. There’s a number of tools that can make this in-the-moment responsibility easier such as Google Docs, which allows real time collaboration; OneNote, which integrates with Outlook for tasks and reminders; or Evernote which syncs to your meeting schedule on Google Calendar. All of these tools offer syncing across multiple devices and adding screenshots and other media. Actively capturing notes increases collaboration, team effectiveness, and provides clarity of the ideas and data discussed. It improves productivity and strategic decision-making.
Follow-up with Actions & Track Results
Getting crucial buy-in, feedback, and timely support are all in the follow-up. By far it's the most important thing to do to keep your meetings productive and more importantly, keep your projects progressing. Before the meeting is over, recap the actions captured, who’s responsible, and the deadline for deliverables by creating a RAIL (Rolling Action Item List). If follow-up meetings are needed, schedule it prior to closing the meeting and document it in the meeting summary. Using the RAIL and other tracking tools, measure KPIs related to the objectives and deliverables to keep everyone on target. To promote accountability amongst the actionees, request an update on their action items prior to the next meeting for inclusion in the materials that you will send out during your pre-work for the next meeting.
Be open to questions, points of clarification, and show gratitude for everyone’s engagement and collaboration. Remember, if the goal of the meeting is to inform, discuss, and make a decision, then the purpose of the follow-up must be to close action items, track results, and drive the team to advance the project forward.
Improving the way you lead meetings can have a significant impact on your team’s performance and morale. By doing pre-work, setting clear expectations, capturing notes, and following up with action items, you’ll transform your meetings from routine to results-driven. Leadership is not just about running the meeting—it's about making sure it counts.
💻 Ready to take your meetings to the next level? Book a free discovery call with Dr. Cristi today, and let her guide you and your team in mastering these strategies for more productive and efficient meetings.
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