Have you ever been to a meeting where you felt it was a waste of time? Unproductive meetings waste more than $37 billion per year and executives view ~67% of meetings to be failures. In addition, Cornerstone Dynamics found that only ~37% of the meetings have agendas and 73% of the people multitask during a meeting. So how do we as individuals turn these statistics around and make meetings more meaningful?
Follow this 3-step method, not only to make the meetings you lead more effective but also to help along with the ones in which you participate.
Step 1: Be PRESENT! Show up for the meeting on time. If you don’t show up, then you are going to hear of the decisions made either by the meeting minutes or by a third party.
Step 2: PAY ATTENTION! Refrain from multitasking. Instead use your eyes to see what the reactions are around the room or on the virtual call. Listen attentively to what is being said, especially for undertone messaging.
Step 3: PARTICIPATE! If you are present and are giving the meeting your full attention, there is a higher chance of you asking questions. Try to use powerful questions which are open-ended and go deeper into the topic at hand. When you ask powerful questions, you are also directing the meeting in the direction you want it to go. As a participant, it gives you the power to have the people in the meeting refocus on what is important to you and influence decisions. As the one conducting the meeting, you get to weed out any opposition or passive aggressive individuals.
Needless to say, if you follow these three simple steps, you will find that the meetings you lead or for which you are a participant become more meaningful and that you will obtain what you want from them more effectively.
Want to learn more? Click on our Leadership series or our Inspirational stories (Anna & Dude series).
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