Are your 'standard' meetings still effective?

When you have standard (routine) meetings you need to be prepared.

Your team need to be prepared too.

I see many of these meetings go through the motions and not really add any value to the day.

How are yours?

Here are some quick tips to reinvigorate your meetings if you aren't getting the results you want.

Make sure that your meetings start on time, every time, and speak to those that can't get there on time consistently.
Be clear about what the purpose of the meeting is - what is it designed to achieve?
Ensure that you have a standard agenda for the meeting.
Review your agenda to make sure that it serves the purpose of the meeting.
Consider adding notes to the agenda as to what people need to prepare in advance of the meeting (with clear responsibilities / specification).
Keep the meeting to time (with a little training most meetings can shrink down to their 'effective core'), use specified time slots if required.
Periodically use this checklist to ensure that your meetings are serving their purpose and adjust as appropriate.

A short, well run, meeting can really add value to a business in terms of optimising production / delivery. A badly run / pointless meeting is just a drain of resources and morale.

I hope you find the above checklist useful.

Giles

Giles Johnston
Author of Business Process Re-Engineering and creator of the 'Making It Happen' continuous improvement strategies online course.

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