Internal meetings are vital for any organisation, but they can cost quite a lot especially when employees have to travel to be there. With that being said, they should be engaging to keep everyone’s attention and they should be productive so that everything on your checklist gets covered. Every minute counts in these meetings.
Prepare
Preparation is key! Create an agenda and determine your meeting style and objectives to ensure you make the most of your time. If you do not have an agenda, your meeting will easily fall off track, making it difficult to achieve your objectives. It’s best to distribute the agenda to all attendees a few days prior so that they can also prepare themselves.
Start on time
As mentioned, every minute counts. Starting on time will not only help to cover everything on your agenda, it will also set the tone for the day and for future meetings. Starting late can cause others to become sour and/or disinterested, especially for the fact that they made it there on time – it’s only respectful.
Limit attendees
The more people in your meeting room, the harder it will be to stick to your plans as the discussion will go in various directions taking up precious time. Steve Jobs was said to be an advocate of small meetings because he felt too many minds got in the way of simplicity. Be exclusive with your invites and allow the select few to communicate to the others later.
Encourage dialogue
Great things can happen when everyone feels welcome to express themselves plus it will keep everyone’s attention. It’s always a good idea to start with an ice-breaker even though they can be annoying, they can work wonders for a group if done right.
Switch it up
Another way to keep attendees engaged is to switch it up each and every meeting whether it be location, communication style, or another tactic. With the meetings always changing, the team will be excited each time especially when they don’t know what to expect. Same same is boring and without a doubt disengaging.