Four Ways To Hold A Good Meeting
Meetings are an important part of keeping your team on track and your initiatives on track. There are numerous benefits to holding weekly staff meetings, whether you need to share data, gather feedback, or decide things.
So, what factors contribute to the effectiveness of a meeting? Meetings that are effective enable an open discussion that draws on every member’s knowledge, skills, and points of view to resolve issues and support each other in achieving the collective goals. This may appear to be a simple definition, but consistently running meetings that fit that description requires skill. The better your leaders are at running effective meetings, the more likely you will see the four benefits listed below in your organization.
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Better Engagement and Collaboration
Meetings, when well-led, provide everyone with the opportunity to participate and contribute. Effective facilitators focus on posing questions and guiding the discussion to ensure that everyone understands that their opinions and ideas are valued. These discussions may even spark collaborative strategy meetings, which result in new ideas or solutions.
Create a list of questions and use board portal software to help stimulate discussion when preparing for a meeting. If there are any individuals who do not regularly speak up, invite them to share their thoughts with the group.
Improved Accountability
A good meeting facilitator is skilled at providing an atmosphere in which everyone feels valued for their contribution. This makes participants feel more at ease taking on assignments and emphasizes that each task has an impact on the project as a whole. Committing to a task in a meeting carries more weight than doing the same one-on-one or via email. People feel more responsible to the group and are more motivated to complete their own piece of the project when they say “yes” to an assignment during a meeting.
The team will be able to review the task assignments in the meeting notes if action items and responsibilities are captured in the meeting notes, which increases personal accountability. At the end of each meeting, summarise the action items, including who is responsible for them and when the tasks are due. Following the meeting, send a follow-up email or use your project management system to reinforce the commitments made.
More Opportunities For Personal Growth
A fully successful meeting provides opportunities for everyone to learn new skills. The facilitator is honing their leadership abilities by employing effective communication techniques and encouraging the group to hold themselves responsible for their commitments. Participants can see the benefits of a well-organized meeting and emulate the skills and behaviors modeled by the leader. A productive meeting also allows participants to stretch themselves and try something new.
Ways to Hold a Meeting: Conclusion
While this is not an extensive list of all the benefits of holding weekly staff meetings, it does show that there are many. Meetings that are well-run help to increase engagement, collaborative effort, accountability, and personal development, in addition to keeping everyone on the same page. However, not all leaders are equipped with the necessary skills to run an effective meeting. Fortunately, this is something that can be learned and honed through training and practice.
