Early in my career, it seemed like there was a meeting every hour. I often was heard saying ‘When do we break for work?’
Seriously!
Recurring meetings lived up to the paradigm of unfocused objectives and meaningless participation where attendance was compulsory but attentiveness was optional. My manager was wise in guiding me on how to host and attend meetings that were valuable to the project and resulted in accomplishing objectives.
This article reminded me of three important things to assure meetings are not dead weight but instead are the building blocks to successful communication.
- Publish an agenda in advance
- During the meeting, make assignments with due dates
- Recap the meeting so everyone knows expectations
This article written by Jesse Lyn Stoner, Seagate Center for Collaborative Learning, addresses The Art of Hosting Meaningful Meetings. Her article highlights the best of tips for meetings that you should have, and meetings you should not.