Team meetings are a great way to connect with your team and stay on top of deadlines. But how do you ensure that your meetings are being run effectively and efficiently?
Now more than ever meetings are being held online which means it can be difficult to ‘read the room’, leading to confusion among team members on how a project is moving along. It is important to bring your team together, but it is also vital that any project communication is clear and concise to ensure success.
In this article, we highlight some of the best ways to improve your meetings so you can maximize your team’s success and keep them engaged in a project.
Be Consistent
Staying on top of a project requires regular team meetings. That’s why it is important to develop a consistent meeting schedule. Whether in person or online, take the time to schedule meetings to make sure they are on your team’s calendar. This will guarantee that team members keep their calendars clear and show up on time.
Don’t Have Too Many Meetings
Consistency is key, but so is not overburdening your staff with meetings. Use them as an opportunity to check in. Discuss with your team an appropriate amount of times to have a meeting. Perhaps this is weekly as the project moves along and then daily as you get closer to the deadline.
Start On Time/End On Time
If your meeting is scheduled for 10 am on Monday, then stick to it. Encourage participants to show up a few minutes early to avoid stragglers. Have any technology such as slide presentations ready to go to avoid delays. Set an end time to allow team members to continue with their other daily tasks.
Have A Meeting Outline
Once you have agreed to a meeting schedule, make sure you have some main topics to discuss already outlined in your meeting invite. This will ensure people come to the meeting prepared with the right documents and feedback. Send the outline to your team ahead of time.
Appoint A Meeting Leader or Facilitator
Someone guiding your meeting can ensure that you stay on topic. The facilitator can be someone from within your company or an outside professional depending on the type of meeting you are hosting. This person should be focused on ensuring that all of the agenda items are addressed and that the meeting is completed on time. This person will also help make sure that no one member of the team dominates the conversation.
Designate A Note Taker
If the meeting is going to run long or cover several topics, it may be useful to have a note-taker. This person can focus on collecting important information, following up with possible information requests, and getting information to people who were unable to attend the meeting. Digital notes are always the best method of record-keeping so that there is no confusion later over handwriting.
Encourage Participation
Most meetings will have key presenters on various topics related to your project. This does not mean that other people in the room should stay silent. Encourage feedback from around the room to generate new ideas and solutions. This is the perfect opportunity to identify any problems and possibly delegate work to other team members to keep a project on task.
Do Not Allow The Meeting To Spiral
It is easy to get off-topic or have arguments when discussing a passion project. Make sure that everyone in the meeting understands their roles and set clear guidelines for how the meeting will be conducted. This can be helped along with the facilitator. If the meeting moves off-topic, gently steer it back to the agenda and remind participants that they can share feedback or concerns during the designated times.
End With Action Items
Once your meeting is complete, create a list of action items so that each participant knows what they need to do next to ensure project success. Create these action items based on the department, roles, or stages of a project.
Helpful tools to monitor the progress of your project include:
- Gantt Charts
- Trello
- Monday
- Google Calendar
These and other digital project trackers can help keep your team on task and allow you to share information and progress in real-time.
Thank Your Team
A team meeting should be a time to share progress and successes. Make sure to acknowledge the hard work of your team.
Following these helpful hints will ensure your project stays on task and allow you and your team to identify any possible roadblocks to success. Make team meetings a regular part of how your organization connects so that your team stays on task.
Saudi Technologies offers the tools and facilitation resources you need to help keep your project moving forward. Contact us today to learn more.
