How to run an effective meeting

A regular task for many leaders is hosting meetings. For some of our clients, the thought fills them with dread. It’s understandable because there can be so much to consider. Common thoughts are: - “What if no one listens to me?” “What if the meeting is dull?” “What if they can tell I’m nervous” “How on earth am I going to get everyone engaged?” “I’ve got to deliver some bad news”

If this sounds like you; read on!

1-2-1 coaching can guide you through the considerations and reflections necessary to make your meetings go smoothly, helping you identify and embed the right thoughts and behaviour patterns. But let’s talk about some of the quick wins that you can practise each time.

Do you even need a meeting?

An obvious question perhaps but an important one. We’ve all been in ‘meetings for meetings sake.’ Whilst it might be good to get a group of people together and it certainly helped many of us get through the height of the Covid pandemic, every minute spent together is a minute your team could be progressing work. A recent survey

of 2,800 people found 83% have between 4 and 12 hours of meetings in their calendars each week. Think about the hourly pay rate of your team members and multiply it by the time you’re together that week. That’s the base cost of getting together. Question the purpose of your meeting. If you’re giving a message, could it be done in a different way, such as via email or a video snippet? That way your team can choose when they give it focus. If you need decisions made; do you really need everyone there? If it’s for you to catch up with progress, could you do it individually with some quick bursts of coaching time?

Does your meeting need to be online, again?

The virtual world has been a friend to many recently; but online meetings have huge limitations. It can be difficult to ‘read the room;’ tech issues can ruin the flow; a numb bum is a given and do you really want to hear the phrase ‘you’re on mute’ yet again? Why not suggest a ‘walk and talk’ meeting – everyone dials into a WhatsApp call or similar, sticks their headphones in and chats while they get outside, or just dusts the house. In our experience, these calls can be liberating but limitations you’ll experience are people talking over each other, heavy breathing as people overexert themselves, and traffic noise. For those who are back in the office or hybrid working, why not consider a breakfast meeting or coffee meeting, where everyone grabs some refreshments and chats that way. You could get the positive vibes flowing by picking up the tab! Often, a less formal setting can help conversation flow and encourage team bonding.

Take the pressure off yourself

Just because you’re a leader, it doesn’t mean you have to be in charge of everything. Who says you should come up with the agenda? Who says you even have to be there? Some of our clients convince themselves that they have to ‘drive’ everything. But if they give themselves permission to adapt their leadership style and become a little bit more ‘laissez faire’, it can be amazing how other individuals step forwards and share their ideas. A team will generally work together for the good of themselves and their goals without being led by the nose. Openly trusting your team to get the job done in your absence can be empowering. And if you really need an update – just request a summary of the meeting afterwards.

Manage the time

Just because your meeting is booked for an hour it doesn’t mean it needs to run to the death. If you’ve achieved what you came for – give everyone some time back. No one is going to complain! Stand up meetings can often help with timings as well and have become more popular as more businesses adopt agile principles. Rather than sitting down everyone is on their feet. Ultimately the discomfort of standing for too long means things get done faster.

Hopefully, these ideas will help you when planning meetings. If you want to try a more personal approach to building your leadership capability, why not contact us for 1-2-1 performance coaching?