19 Timeless Tips to Keep Meetings Short
Do you want to keep your meetings short? Of course you do! Meetings are expensive in terms of both time and money. But how can you get through them as quickly as possible, without sacrificing quality or agenda items?
We've compiled nineteen tips for getting the fastest meeting ever: from cutting down on unnecessary small talk to taking advantage of the ‘number system’, there's no shortage of tricks for making meetings more efficient. Follow these tips and you'll have a meeting that's done before it starts. And while there is nothing wrong with spending a little extra time crafting the perfect meeting presentation, there is something wrong with sitting through a three-hour snoozer when it could have been accomplished in thirty minutes.
1. Schedule an earlier meeting. It's better to have a packed morning and a relaxed afternoon than the other way around.
2. Pre-read the agenda. Nothing kills a meeting faster than delving into an item that falls outside the time constraints of the meeting.
3. If there are guests, start with them – they're less likely to have questions afterwards, and they're much more likely to be prepared by having done their homework before going through the door, so to speak.
4. If a meeting is to be conducted at a certain time, call everyone at the same time and let them know there is no later coffee break. This will create a more leisurely atmosphere.
5. Instead of running through the agenda item-by-item, schedule five minutes of discussion at the beginning before anyone raises an issue or asks something that can't wait until afterwards. As soon as someone has to go on (because they have a call in), that's their cue to leave the meeting and not come back until their item has been dealt with.
6. Don't ask people to be on time if they reschedule their call. If they only call you when they are on time, that's the message – but if you always wait for people to show up late, then that's the message as well.
7. Rely heavily on individuals' familiarity with the meeting schedule, and respect their authority to change it at any time.
8. Use the "number system". If your meeting agenda is set out in numbers and letters, use those numbers and letters to stick names onto a strip of paper which gets passed around during morning coffee break. When you get to your name, make note of the number you are on and take a guess at the letter it should be. Hopefully – although it won't always be the case – when you are called by your correct letter you will have a quick and easy discussion about what everyone needs to do for their item, or what could be discussed after morning coffee break.
9. After morning coffee break, use a new roll of paper to cross off names as they leave based on their individual requests, if any. This encourages people to finish up with their agenda items before leaving and prevents anyone from slipping through the cracks at the end of the day; in fact, they may even catch up during afternoon chat!
10. Use a round robin for items with only a few people able to attend. Give each person in the room a number, and then go around the table, allowing everyone to talk about each agenda item. At the end, a quick count of how many people chimed up for each item can help you determine which ones are more pressing than others.
11. Keep a running count during your meeting; it makes it much easier to gauge how much time is left when you are already on number 12 instead of number 7.
12. Keep question-and-answer sessions short – under five minutes should be your limit, or else you'll lose those who have less patience with extraneous Q&A time.
13. Keep all written documentation short, clear and factual, where possible. If you don't have great documentation to work with, try using a spreadsheet for each item or point of discussion instead. (You can even make it a ‘spreadsheet tool’ during your meeting!)
14. Kick off your meeting with a joke (or at least a smile). The best way to get someone to laugh is to tell them something that is funny – but only if it's hilarious! Don't fall into the trap of trying to be funny unless you can back it up and there are no stronger ways of capturing interest in what you are saying (don't try and force humour).
15. Factor in time for a question session, and implement it by handing out a slip of paper with questions written on it in advance. Then, at the end of your meeting, open the floor to questions. The effect is like magic: when everyone has thought about their questions during your presentation, they all come out at the same time and you don't have to deal with their individual requests.
16. Don't go into too much detail. If you can summarize a point into one sentence or paragraph and send that off to everyone instead of going through an hour-long presentation on your issue, then do so – it will save everyone's time, plus you'll appear knowledgeable and concise!
17. Keep the minutes to a page or less. You'll save everyone time in this manner, not least of all because it will be easier for you to create the document when all is said and done.
18. End your meeting with a call for a final question and answer session, followed by a quick recap of what has been accomplished (and changed). This will make people feel confident that they have their points clarified and can go on to do their jobs.
19. If you have an obvious problem, make sure you address it at the beginning of your meeting, and don't leave it until after their first agenda item has been completed. Keep a running count of all agenda items together – that way you always know what's left to be dealt with at the end of your morning coffee break.
Chapter 6: How to Effectively Sell Yourself
Of all the things in life that are important enough to invest in and properly pursue – a spouse, a career, raising your children – perhaps none is as important as building and maintaining a solid network of friends. In many ways, the people you prefer to be around will dictate the course of your life. For this reason, it's important to do your best to connect with people when you first meet them; not only will this make for a more interesting evening, but it could be the start of a lasting relationship.
Building rapport with someone is an art in itself and one that requires practice. At this point, you are probably wondering what things have to do with building rapport and how they can help improve your ability to connect with others.
Conclusion
The answers to many of these questions come from your ability to effectively sell yourself. You already know that it's important not just to be able to speak for yourself and defend your point of view, but you also need to know what you have to offer. This is why it's so important for each of you in a group setting – whether it's two people in a conversation or a hundred people at a conference – to make an effort in finding something about the other person that adds value. It doesn't matter who you are or what your job title says; if there is something interesting about the person, you'll want to talk with them.