As a Winnipeg recruitment firm, we know meetings can be hugely helpful in brainstorming ideas and making sure your team is on track toward achieving company goals. Or they can be big time wasters. As a manager, it’s your job to make sure that meetings fall into the former category, not the latter. To help you do so, here are 5 mistakes you should avoid making:
Mistake #1. Meeting just to meet.
When scheduling meetings, make sure you really have something to meet about. If all you need are status updates from a few key people, then ask for them via email and distribute them accordingly. Don’t just meet on Monday at 10 am because you always meet on Monday at 10 am.
Mistake #2. Not sending out an agenda.
You might think that agendas are boring and old-fashioned, but they’re also critical to the success of your meeting. They can ensure you stay on target with your topics and don’t forget to discuss any important issues. Also, by sending them out ahead of time to meeting attendees, you are giving them a chance to properly prepare for the meeting, helping to ensure it’s time well spent.
Mistake #3. Not setting an end time for the meeting.
You probably set a start time for meetings, but do you also set an end time? As a Winnipeg recruitment firm, we know that most people begin to lose focus after about an hour and half, so don’t make your meetings much longer than that. Also, by setting an end time, your team can properly plan the rest of their day, after the meeting.
Mistake #4. Requiring people attend who really don’t need to be there.
Don’t require people who can’t contribute or who won’t benefit from the meeting to attend it. If you do, those people will simply become bored and frustrated. Instead, keep your meetings as small as possible.
Mistake #5. Not keeping official meeting notes.
You might have had an incredibly productive meeting, but if no one is keeping an official set of meeting notes, that productivity will go down the drain. So make sure someone in the meeting is in charge of taking notes and emailing them out to meeting participants afterward.
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