MAKE YOUR MEETINGS MATTER Tips to Get the Most out of Your Time
Ask yourself, “What are the biggest time wasters in my office?” If your workplace is like most, it’s a safe guess that social media and meetings are on your list.
go. If, however, their time could be more wisely spent, you shouldn’t force them to attend. Prioritize who needs to be at the meeting and whose time could be better used elsewhere.
Maybe there’s a way you can eliminate social media from your office or, at least, curtail its use. However, meetings are an essential part of effective workplace communication. The question, then, isn’t how to get rid of meetings, but rather how to make them more efficient. With that in mind, here are a few tips for getting the most out of your meetings. Have a Game Plan If you don’t have a reason for a meeting, don’t have a meeting. Weekly meetings can be a great way to catch your staff up on the latest news and issues at the office, but there’s no need to make them the same length of time every week. You should never feel like you need to fill a certain number of minutes. Instead, get to the heart of what you’re talking about, allow the staff to ask questions, and then get back to work.
Start With Big Ideas A meeting should be a forum for hashing out concerns and tackling big-picture concepts. If you’re listing off a slew of granular changes, those aren’t the ingredients for a productive meeting. Information like that can be disseminated in other forms. As you discuss a larger concern, details relating to it will arise during your discussion. Ask yourself if the meeting has a larger topic that merits discussion.
Engage Your Participants A meeting should be just that. If you’re not expecting collaboration, don’t call it a meeting.
Tell your staff you’re giving a presentation and
they’ll come ready to take notes. But if you want to actually have a meeting, every participant should come ready and willing to engage with the ideas on the table.
Allow Exceptions
There’s no surer way to make an attendee anxious than pulling them away from an important task. Nobody should skip out on a meeting simply because they don’t want to
Suzanne has been with us longer than anyone — about 15 years. So she understands the processes from beginning to end. Suzanne controls our office and answers my personal telephone line at 312-499-0649. Her email is suzanne@opemonline.com. If you call and I’m not available, Suzanne will take your message and make sure I call you back. She also helps gather all the paperwork necessary to put a complete financial picture together. The documents generally include the following: past tax returns, pay advises, bank statements, budget information (along with substantiation), and anything else we can think of that will strengthen your position. Suzanne will often gather third-party information. That includes credit reports and public records from motor vehicle registrations, deed transfers, driver licenses, liens and judgments, tax assessor records, corporate affiliations, historical person locator, and utility locators. We do all this to make sure the information we provide to outside parties (the IRS, US Trustee Department, Department of Justice, etc.) is complete and correct. So when Suzanne calls, cooperate with her fully. She is here to help!
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