We’ve all sat in a meeting where we wondered what the purpose was, why the meeting was held and what we were supposed to accomplish through it. And if we are honest, in some cases, we may have led a meeting that did not achieve what we intended it to. If this has happened to you, you are not alone.
In 2015, Mersive’s “The Truth about Meeting Culture” study revealed top meeting challenges to be: staying on task, getting everyone to participate, and coming to decisions and actions for next steps. And in 2017, Harvard Business Review surveyed 182 senior managers from various industries, wherein 71 percent of respondents said meetings are unproductive and inefficient.
It’s safe to say that, for the majority of us, meetings aren’t working. They’re a source of team dysfunction and it’s up to us as leaders to make a change and set the stage for our meetings to be more efficient, more productive and well worth people’s time. Let’s explore seven ways to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of team meetings.