5 ways to have more productive meetings

5 ways to have more productive meetings5 ways to have more productive meetingsWhat are the magic ingredients for asuccessful meeting? A meeting in which participants build relationships, exchange ideas, unearth insights, make decisions and get the information they need to move work forward? We all know theres no magic that comes without preparation and hard work. But there are five basic principles that underlie successful meetings. Incorporate these five meeting principles throughout themeeting cycleand watch your meetings bloom.Principle 1 Every voice mattersDifferent perspectives enrich a conversation, strengthen a team and generally lead to better outcomes. Good meeting leaders establish asafe and open environmentin which participants can voice their concerns. You dont have to transform your entire organizations meeting culture to make every voice count in your meetings.Keep the group small and manageable by only inviting team members whose perspectives are needed in order to ach ieve the meeting objective. Make other participants optional and be sure they receive a copy of the meeting notes so they stay in the loop.Be respectful of peoples different communication styles and preferences. Use strategies that meet the needs ofintroverts and extroverts. Different ways of communicating information like text, charts and audiovisual clips can appeal todifferent learning styles. The priority is to make information clear and accessible to everyone in the group in order to optimize engagement.Principle 2 Everyone should come preparedMeeting preparation often starts with the meeting leader, but doesnt end there. Team members also need to prepare for the meeting. As a meeting planner, you facilitate meeting preparation by creating a thoughtfulagendain advance of the meeting. But if youre the only person who is ready for the conversation, you risk spending extra time during the meeting setting up the context, the conversation wandering aimlessly, and team members feelin g lost, not needed, or that theyve wasted their time. On top of all this, the objective isnt met and you find yourself scheduling another meeting to continue this conversation.Include meetingpre-workas part of the agenda that you share with participants ahead of time. Pre-work is an assignment for meeting participants so they know exactly what to do prior to the meeting. It often establishes context or prompts reflection, so the meeting time can be spent engaging more deeply in dialogue to move work forward.Influenceothers to prepare for meetings by asking for their help in the agenda creation process and sending them reminders about completing the pre-work.Setting up team preparation normswill help reinforce this behavior.Principle 3 abflug and end with intentionHow you begin and end your meetings can have more impact on its success than you might think. People enter the room (physically and virtually) with other topics on their minds. They may not even remember exactly which meeti ng they are walking into given a full day of meetings.Its critical tobegin the meeting thoughtfullyin order to support the mental transition into the meeting conversation. Similarly, the end of a meeting is often hurried with some people sneaking off to another meeting before this conversation has fully concluded. Ending the meeting with intention helps participants feel their time was well spent.Start by reminding participants why youre there and what you plan to accomplish. Ask participants to set aside distractions like cell phones and emails, and to engage in the meeting content. Use a quickcheck-in procedureto help your team focus on the conversation and quickly get everyone participating in the meeting.End the meeting with awrap-up sessionthat reviews the tasks and decisions made during the meeting. This ensures that next steps and outcomes are clear, there is closure and the group feels a sense of accomplishment.Principle 4 Think of your meetings as launching pointsNo matter how productive the conversation, if the meeting outcomes arent implemented, the meeting was, in some ways, still a waste. Next steps get left behind and decisions are forgotten, making it hard to continue the momentum. So why spend time clarifying follow up items if they are only going to be abandoned?Recordnotes, ideas, learnings, decisions and other information so it can be easilysharedand accessible in the future. Send meeting notes within 24 hours of the meetings completion and be sure to include non-meeting stakeholders who should be informed.Make sure someone is accountable for each action item so it gets completed. Transfer your tasks to your personal task ordnungsprinzip so those items dont fall through the cracks or use a systemthat automatically puts your tasks from meetings onto your to-do list.Principle 5 Create, iterate, then iterate your meeting process againTake the time to develop a process that works for your teams meetings. Creating a shared process will make it ea sier for everyone to support effective meetings. The time you spend upfront developing a system will pay off down the road. When you have a process in place, dont let it grow stale instead, continually reflect on and iterate the process.Conductteam review meetingsevery few months to review your current processes for meeting planning, facilitation and follow-through.If your organization does not have existing meeting processes, or youre trying to overhaul a team culture, let a model like theGetting Things Done (GTD)method or theMeeting Canoeinspire your process.Does your team practice any of these key principles? Which ones could you start implementing today?This article originally appeared onBusinessCollective.Mamie Kanfer Stewart is the Founder and CEO ofMeeteor.