Sometimes,
the euphoria of having scheduled a team meeting itself can overshadow
the fact that such meetings tend to lose credibility if no concrete
results are produced out of them. Notwithstanding this fact, team
meetings are considered important because members who belong to
various backgrounds, skill sets, experience levels, age, and cultures
meet and discuss to arrive at a common goal. But most of the team
members hate such meetings, though they may ensure to bury this
secret in the cockles of their heart.
As
a team member, you may also feel that you are wasting your energy as
well as time by attending such meetings. But at the same time, it is
an undeniable fact that team meetings provide the members with a good
opportunity for discussing the goals of the team and also the ways to
achieve them. Members can also decide who will carry out which tasks,
when and how.
The
main point is if the meetings are held in the right manner, teams can
derive immense benefits out of them. So, it is the duty of the team
leader to ensure that the meetings are run effectively and
productively. The following tips may help.
1.
Preparation
Teammeetings are as important as other work activities and hence, you
should prepare well so you can get good results out of them.
2.
Have an agenda
There
should be a list of points that have to be discussed in the meeting.
The list should be made available to all the team members who are
likely to attend the meeting so they can come prepared for making the
meeting effective.
3.
Start time and end time
Meetings
should not go on endlessly. So, there should be a start time and end
time and these times should be strictly adhered to.
4.
Call for meetings only if there is an absolute necessity
You
should not conduct meetings just as a ritual. You should have a
meeting only if there are absolutely important points to discuss.
5.
Importance of delegation
Never
hesitate to delegate the responsibility of holding the meetings to
your team members. This will develop leadership qualities in them.
6.
Adopt an inclusive approach
Every
participant should be encouraged to contribute to the success of the
meetings. If the team leader alone speaks and everyone else keeps
concurring with whatever he says, there may not be objective ideas
forthcoming from the meeting. The very purpose of providing the
attendees with the list of points for the meeting is to enable them
to come prepared so they can contribute to the success of the meeting
with their out-of-the-box ideas.
7.
Never deviate from the goal of the meeting
Throughout
the meeting, the focus should be on its objective. If there is a
digression, members cannot have the desired results. So, every
participant should actively work for keeping the meetings focused on
the points on the agenda.
8.
Insist on closure
Once
a point is discussed and a decision has been made, you should insist
on closure of the point. Simply harping on the same points will take
the meeting nowhere.
9.
Assign follow-up actions
Once
decisions are made, each member should be assigned with tasks
pertaining to the follow-up of the decisions. There should be a
strict time-frame also for completing the follow-up actions. The copy
of the summary of the meeting with the details of the assigned tasks
should be made available to every attendee.
10.
Feedback
There
is always a scope for improvement and hence, your aim should be to
improve the effectiveness of team meetings. Therefore, you can ask
for feed-back from the participants so you can know the right ways to
run a productive meeting.
