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Try ‘stand up’ meetings to resolve issues quickly!

Managers spend a large part of their day in meetings- meetings with team, with clients or with their bosses. And by the end of day, they are left with little time to do the actual work, to put into action what they have decided in the meetings. On the other hand, meetings can bring down the productivity of employees. They interrupt workflow, consume a number of working hours and leave the employees tired. Meetings are no doubt very important and indispensable at the workpl ace. However, they serve the purpose only when their number and duration are limited.

It is indisputable that to be able to take the right decision that is acceptable to everyone associated with it, a meeting has to be convened to debate the issue. So many companies have laid down rules that would help them reduce meetings and save time.

The following are some of them:

The facilitator should prepare the agenda with the inputs from the relevant people and distribute it well in advance to all those who would attend the meeting. The copy must contain information like the topics that would be discussed, expected results, details of attendees and the time duration of the meeting. This would help them to do the necessary groundwork, be prepared with required data and have an idea about how and where to proceed. He should also be available to provide necessary clarifications and revise the agenda based on their responses.

A good facilitator or manager starts the meeting on time and sticks to the agenda to make it productive. Waiting for latecomers or stopping the meeting to update them are as unprofessional as late coming itself.

Distractions should be strictly banned. Laptops and phones should not be allowed into conference rooms if attention of every member is to be ensured. At the same time, small talk, discussion on unrelated subjects and arguments should not at all be allowed.

Designate a timekeeper. This person is not just responsible to begin and end the meeting on time. He would also ensure that each topic on the agenda gets only the designated amount of time for discussion. Google ensures that its meetings stay on time by using a ticking clock. The company uses a timer on the wall counting down the minutes left for the meeting or the topic. The pressure by the time running out keeps the meetings on track and as per the schedule.

A company in Los Angeles made the attendees stand all through a meeting and noted that the duration dropped drastically. The participants did not want to stand longer while their feet were hurting and this led to meetings that were shorter and efficient. So if any passive participants relaxing in soft chairs are observed, this is an option that could be tried. Do not schedule the meetings for more than 30 minutes. Convene meetings only when they are absolutely necessary and be very specific about the issue. Keep the necessary data ready to avoid wasting time in running around to gather it. Adhere to meeting etiquette religiously. Post meeting-guidelines on walls of every conference room.

Try to keep the questions to the end. Conclude the meeting on time. If there are a few attendees who still have questions or want to discuss more on the subject, allow the others to leave and then talk to these individuals.

All through the meeting the facilitator should ensure that the meeting is flowing smoothly. In case there are any signs of impasse, he should suspend it till the situation improves instead to forcing it to end.

Meetings are definitely very important constituents of workplace activities. But they would yield the expected results only when all the participants are focussed on the purpose and commit themselves sincerely to obtaining the results.

NITYA SAI SOUMYA