Have you ever caught yourself wondering in the middle of a meeting, what is the purpose of this, and why am I here?

Let’s be honest, we all have been to those meetings where we weren’t sure why we were invited or even what the purpose of the meeting was. 

I want to make sure that you are running effective team meetings so that people aren’t left wondering why their presence was needed, and nobody leaves feeling like their time has been wasted. 

Here are five key ingredients to running effective team meetings.

Would you prefer to read rather than watch? Not to worry! You can read the blog post below.

Running Effective Team Meetings

Tip #1: Define the outcome

I want you to think about the purpose of the meeting. Why are you calling these people together, and what are you trying to achieve?

Are you calling the meeting because you want to disseminate information, is it time to make a decision, or do you need fresh new ideas? 

Whatever the reason is for the meeting, be very clear about it right from the beginning. Otherwise, you may find yourself in a room full of people who have no idea why they are there. 

A good habit to get into is when you call the meeting, whether through email or some other way, be sure to include the reason for the meeting in the invitation, so everyone knows right away what this meeting will entail. 

Tip #2: Include necessary people

When people call meetings, they usually go one of two ways. They invite everyone to the meeting, or they only ask a couple of people to attend. 

Before you send out the invites, make sure you think about who is necessary at this meeting. If you invite everyone in the office, but the purpose of the meeting really doesn’t affect them, you are wasting people’s time. On the other hand, if you are concerned about wasting people’s time and end up not inviting everybody that this meeting applies to, it is pointless. 

When you extend an invitation for people to join a meeting it’s important they know they are necessary components. Make sure they know that too. You can include it in the invitation that you are only inviting necessary people, so they know beyond a doubt that they need to be there, and it’s not a waste of their time. 

Tip #3: Hold space for participation

If you have put yourself through all the trouble of making the purpose of this meeting clear and only inviting necessary people, then be sure to give them space to participate. They are there because their voice matters. 

Sending out an agenda ahead of the meeting so the attendees can have time to think about what they want to say beforehand. Not everyone is comfortable speaking on the fly, and they need time to process things before speaking up. 

If they are in the meeting, you have determined their voice matters. It is only fair that you give them a chance to mull things over so they can speak up with confidence.

Tip #4: Follow-up process

Follow-up is so critical. Nobody wants to sit in a meeting and voice their opinions, concerns, and ideas, and then nothing comes of it. How frustrating is that? 

Make sure there is a wrap-up at the end of the meeting so everyone is clear on what you talked about and everyone’s next steps.

Tip #5: Define meeting behaviour

This tip needs to be defined before any meeting takes place. 

What type of behaviour is expected during a meeting? 

A rule I really like is that we do not interrupt others during a meeting while they are talking. 

If you are doing a virtual meeting, do you expect everyone to have their cameras on? Should their microphones be muted when they enter the meeting, those types of expectations should be set beforehand.

So nobody is guessing what is expected of them. Making everybody fully aware of what behaviour is acceptable ahead of time will make the meetings run a lot smoother. 

Conclusion

Learning how to run effective team meetings as a manager is crucial to making the most out of meetings when you call them and keeping the people attending engaged. 

You don’t want anyone to wonder why they are even there, or worse, what the meeting is about.
If you want to take a deep dive into how you can become an effective leader, book a call to chat with me today and find out how my New Manager Accelerator Program can benefit you.