A meeting has a lot of purposes. Team meetings are indeed a great way to bond, share, engage, generating ideas, setting new goals and so much more. And a meeting has to be effectively carried out in order to leave an impact. Each level of employee has a takeaway from it to carry that in their corporate career. If not, then team meetings are nothing but a waste of time.
As an employee, at any level, it is important to participate in such conventions, emphasizing active participation, for everyone to learn and cooperate. An aim, a speech manner, logic, timing, timeliness needs to be taken care of along with your own style.
Here are Tips in Making the most out of meetings-
Planning- Meetings may be there for planning tasks/ projects but a planned meeting is also important to avoid time wastage and interrupt on-going schedules. An early alert, possibly with an agreement and availability of everyone involved works well.
Having an Agenda- Proper planning will always need an agenda. It shows the readiness of the person directing the meeting and makes it easy for everyone to predict what is coming their way. Otherwise, meetings turn out uninterested and directionless. There is also no harm in sending mails, "topic of discussion" or a written agenda of the same, just to give a heads up.
Differentiating the people- The director of the meeting should divide the audience as per the level of information and its requirement. Hence, many times, experience-wise meetings are conducted. A team meeting could be for all or for a few less experienced or most experienced.
Don't keep too many people- To avoid chaos, don't keep too many people at once. Sometimes, the hierarchy is also used to pass on the message to avoid such a situation.
Meeting Style- Recognize the type of meeting it is, and then create your content or data, communication style. The meeting could be only to pass information, brainstorm, or engage with the team. The tone, the type of words, the topics have to be taken care of well and managed as per the type of audience. This uniqueness makes the meeting impactful.
Timing- Again pointing towards the planning, a well-planned meeting would start and end in time. Setting proper time for each agenda is a good way with the buffer time of break/ Q &A. It also shows the concern towards everyone's time, and if effectively done will try to cover each topic as well as breaks well in time.
A good audience and participant- As a spectator or learner, one should be active in the responses, doubts, questions, add-ons. In fact, eye contact from both the receiver and the speaker, and confidence in the tone helps maintain the engagement.
Sticking to the Agenda- Ensuring non-deviation from the ongoing topic lies in the hands of the speaker. And that is definitely an important point to hold the interest of the audience. Avoid wasting time, make pointers for yourself to come back to the topic, make use of the PowerPoint presentation.
Making the most out of a meeting depends on a lot of the engagement of the people involved. The more you give out, the more you get back. Responsiveness makes every meeting better and interesting. Be open to doubts, discussions, suggestions. Attend with a pen and a pad for notes. Also, ensure a follow-up for more information.