Your time is extremely valuable. Unfortunately, countless minutes (even hours) are lost each day which could have been spent doing something productive. This is why meeting efficiency is our focus and should be yours too!
Sonero is designed for having effective meetings but it’s one piece of a larger puzzle. We’ve spent years studying meeting behaviours to come up with our Top 5 Tips for Meeting Efficiency.
We know you will immediately start to see results when you work these tips into your daily meetings!
Tip #1 - Set an Agenda Designed for Meeting Efficiency
As the old saying goes, failing to plan is planning to fail. This could not be more true for meetings because a meeting without an agenda is doomed from the start. Writing down a few loose topics won’t cut it, either. A quality agenda is the key to a quality meeting!
First, how long is this meeting going to be? If you only have 2 items to discuss in an hour-long meeting then you’ll inevitably go off topic. Likewise, packing too many items into a short meeting will mean there won’t be enough time to address them all.
Next, be sure to build in time for discussion and Q&A. We recommend leaving at least the last 10 minutes of any agenda open to accommodate any creative discussion or insightful questions.
Finally, don’t keep your amazing agenda a secret! You’ve worked hard on building the perfect meeting and you want to run it effectively. Send a copy of the agenda to all attendees in ample time so people arrive prepared or request topics to add.
Tip #2 - Arrive Prepared
Agenda? Check.
Reports? Check.
WiFi? Check.
Coffee? Check!
Showing up prepared to a meeting is our next tip for meeting efficiency. We’ve all been in a meeting where precious time has been wasted by someone who hadn’t looked up certain information or just aren’t prepared. This is a huge time-drain for everyone involved! It might even result in a second meeting which is the last thing anyone wants.
Read the agenda (if you didn’t write it) well before the meeting so you can gather any collateral that will come in handy. It will also give you time to ask/answer any questions to make sure everyone arrives as prepared as you!
Tip #3 - Invite the Right People
Does Dan from Accounting need to be in the Weekly Sales Meeting? As much as there can be value in inter-departmental meetings, sometimes people just don’t need to be there.
Inviting the right people to a meeting is an important way to save everyone’s time. If there are moments that are relevant to other departments you can forward them portions of the notes to keep them in the loop. This way they can get caught up in 5 minutes instead of sitting through a 1 hour meeting.
On the other hand, don’t forget to invite stakeholders who will benefit the meeting. If you’re discussing a new product rollout, include any affected department so they can start to plan and provide input.
Tip #4 - Keep it Short
Most people schedule meetings for 1 hour out of habit. Some also want to book extra time and assume the meeting will end early. But, is this really an effective strategy?
Scheduling longer meetings has a tendency to backfire because people will instinctively try and fill that time. This results in a lot of off-topic discussion or spending too much time on an issue which creates analysis paralysis. Not to mention the fact that great discussion early in the meeting is usually forgotten by the end of the hour (or more).
Take a good look at your agenda and ask yourself – does this need to be an hour? Scheduling shorter meetings (around 30 minutes) helps keep people on task. This, in turn, helps free up attendee schedules so they can focus on more productive activities. You’ll be surprised at how much can be accomplished in 30 minutes!
Tip #5: Use Productivity Tools for Meeting Efficiency
We live in an age of incredible productivity tools that you can take advantage of. These products can help keep meetings on task, identify action items, and capture the important moments that are discussed. If you’re not automating these tasks already then you’re losing valuable time in every meeting.
Implementing Sonero is one of the best ways to improve meeting efficiency. Our product fits seamlessly into your current workflow to take admin tasks off your plate while providing analytical insights to help you improve. Our users have reported a 30% increase in meeting efficiency since adding Sonero to their tech stack.
Book some time today to learn how Sonero can help you and your team. You can even take some time to take it for a test drive before committing to improve your meeting efficiency once and for all!