Meetings are notorious for being boring, time-consuming and downright unproductive.

We’ve all been there;

• The “this could’ve been an email” meeting

• The “why am I here?” meeting

• The “what am I having for dinner tonight?” meeting

When you can see the light switches turn off from your fellow peers, it can be disheartening. Drawing tree’s or triangles in the corner of the notebook isn’t going to help much in the next quarter, lets face it.

In this post, we’re going to walk through 4 tips to maximising productivity in your next meeting.

1. DEFINE A MEETING AGENDA

Before your meeting begins, ensure you’ve identified a clear agenda with objectives, action points and an overall set of meeting goals.

This will keep you productive by working toward a final outcome, instead of getting derailed or sidetracked with irrelevant topics.

If people chime in with irrelevant topics, consider asking for them to wait until the end of the session.

2. INVITE RELEVANT PARTICIPANTS

The more people involved in a meeting = the less productive your meeting becomes.

With numerous opinions and energies wanting to say their piece, or derailing the conversation entirely, it’s important to be picky about who you’re inviting to your meetings.

Limit your selection to the following:

• Key decision-makers

• Those who can provide real value/insight into the topic

Respecting your team’s communication styles is also an important consideration when holding a meeting.

• Do some of your team prefer written communication?

• Would they be able to weigh in more comfortably and productively via email?

3. ASK BETTER QUESTIONS

There’s two parts to this:

Firstly, calling on people by name is a great way to stay productive. Instead of asking vague questions at no one in particular, target a relevant participant with your query best suited to give an answer.

For example;

“How’re the mail-outs doing?” versus “Mark, what was the CTR results of our last mail campaign?”

Secondly, asking for feedback and inviting the opinions of others can push you toward new, productive results or solutions faster.

A mistake a lot of leaders make is not actively encouraging the feedback of their team during meetings.

4. CHOOSE AN INSPIRING SPACE

Our final tip for maximising productivity in your meetings is to choose a space that evokes inspiration and creativity.

Try spaces external to your office (but maybe pass on the stuffy hotel rooms!)

A study found that, owing to a 63% decrease in drowsiness, workers exposed to natural light were less likely to lose focus on important tasks. Speaking of which… have you checked out The Office?

At Anomalous Space, we have 6 spaces to choose from designed to bring out the best in your team and your business.

Drop us a message to book your next meeting and watch your productivity flourish!