Making Team Meetings More Productive for the Workplace

Team meetings; either you love them or you hate them. As a manager, however, it’s your job to ensure that they are highly productive and make a difference to your organization. If your team walks out with a renewed senses of purpose, you have done your job. Right now, you may not be seeing this so, you need some ways to improve productivity. Read on for some tips for boosting the effect of team meetings and increasing productivity.

Use a meeting agenda

Holding team meetings with no real purpose is a waste of time. Instead, use a brief meeting agenda that can be sent out ahead of time, where team members can indicate the hot-button topics they want to discuss during this valuable time. Be the leader and facilitate the meeting according to this agenda. If other topics come up, schedule a meeting with that person directly to work through things.

Avoid meeting distractions

In this day and age of mobile devices and social media, it can be easy for a meeting to become derailed by text messages and emails. To make your team meetings more productive and focused, prohibit the use of mobile devices during these brief periods. Tell employees to turn them off during meetings and set an example by doing the same.

Set a regular team meeting time

When things get hectic in the workplace, employees and even managers may think it’s OK to blow off team meetings. Over time, people just stop coming and communication breaks down. Instead, have a regular 30-minute team meeting on Monday mornings to get the week off to a great start. Let employees know to email their ideas and concerns on the Friday beforehand, so you can prepare the agenda.

Have a comfortable meeting space

No one really wants to come to a team meeting held in a cramped stuffy office. Take the meeting to an open and more comfortable area, such as the break room, the company cafeteria, or outdoors, whenever you can. Include comfort items such as beverages and snacks to set a positive mood for the meeting.

Make team meetings fun

You can also have a “theme” for some of your team meetings to improve employee morale. Plan a fun activity that teams can participate in. Invite another team for a friendly competition, like a trivia game or shooting some basketball hoops to win prizes. Your employees will be energized, happy, and ready to be more productive on the job.

If you use the above tips, you’ll soon find that your staff meetings are being a more positive influence on the productivity of your people.