how much are meetings actually costing you?
TRANSCRIPT
10 Tips That Will Make You a Meeting Master
How Much Are Meetings Actually Costing You?
Table of Contents
3 MeetingsAreAffectingYourBottomLine
5 5DysfunctionalMeetingBehaviorstoAvoid
8 Top10WaystoEnsureMeetingsareEfficientandEffective
14 SaveYourBottomLinewithImprovedWorkManagement
16 AboutSmartsheet
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Table of Contents
AccordingtoresearchdonebyBain&Company,15% of an organization’s collective time is spent in meetings. Meetingsareessentialforcollaborationandquicklymakingcriticaldecisions,yetmanymeetingsareunproductive,andlessaboutcollaborationanddecisionmakingandmoreaboutstatusupdates.
Howmanytimeshaveyouwalkedoutofameetingandrealizedthatnodecisionsweremade,noactionstepsplanned,andreally,nothingwasaccomplished?Unfortunately,thisisrealityformostprofessionalswithoutknowingthetruecostofineffectivemeetings.
Onecommoditythatistrulylimitedistime.Thereareonly24hoursinaday,sevendaysinaweek,and365daysinayear.Sowhyaren’twemoreprotectiveofhowweinvestthatlimitedresource?
Meetings Are Affecting Your Bottom Line
15% of an organization’s collective time is spent
in meetings.
15%
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Meetings Are Affecting Your Bottom Line
Additionally,meetingsofteninvolveeithertoomanyorthewrongpeople.Consideraregularmeetingyouattend,ifyoulookaroundthetable,iseveryoneessential–areyou?
Considerhowmuchmoneythismeetingiscosting.Byaddinguptheaveragehourlyrateofallthepeopleinvolved,multipliedbythetimespentpreparingforandineachmeeting,overthecourseoftheyear,it’saheftyinvestmentforyourcompany.
Inthesamestudy,Bain&Companyfoundthatatonecompany,aweeklyexecutivemeetingrequired300,000hoursperyearofprepwork.Ifyouweretomultiplythattimebyanaveragehourlyrateof$50,that’saninvestmentof$15 million dollars per year!
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Meetings Are Affecting Your Bottom Line
Wetypicallydon’tthinkoftimespentinmeetingsinthesamewaythatwethinkofotherinvestmentslikenewsoftware,officespace,oremployees.Weschedulemeetingstosync,debrief,discuss,allwithoutacalltoactionorobjectiveinmind.Ifitwereanyothertypeofinvestment,for$15milliondollarsayear,therewouldbestrictguidelinesandanalysiscompletedtodetermineifthebenefitsoutweighthecost.
Realityis,meetings aren’t going anywhere.Butbyonlyschedulingthemwhenabsolutelynecessaryandensuringthattheyarerunefficiently,willhelpreducetheeffecttheyhaveonyourbottomline.Inthise-book,you’lllearnthefivemostcommondysfunctionalmeetingbehaviorstoavoid,andthenwe’llprovideten stepsyoucantaketomakeyournextmeetingagooduseofeveryone’stime-andmoney.
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5 Dysfunctional Meeting Behaviors to Avoid
5 Dysfunctional Meeting Behaviors to Avoid
1 Multi-Tasking Research showsthatin22%ofmeetings,participantssentthreeor
moreemails,forevery30minutesofmeetingtime.Unfortunately,when you’re multitasking you aren’t fully engaged in the discussion. Whichmeansthatyouwereeithernonessentialtothatmeetingoryoucouldcontributebutyoudon’tbecauseyourfocusiselsewhere.
2 Lack of Planning & Structure Manymeetingssimplygetoffonthewrongfoot.Withoutaclear
objectiveoragendainplace,attendeesarenotabletocomepreparedforthediscussion.When meetings aren’t structured, they become a free-for-all for whoever is the strongest personality.
In 22% of meetings, participants sent three or more emails, for every 30 minutes of meeting time.
22%
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3 Participants Are Underprepared There’s no point for someone to attend a meeting unless they are going to actively
participateinthediscussion.Ifattendeesaren’tpreparedforthediscussion,withpotentialquestionsandthoughts,muchofthemeetingiswastedgettinguptospeed.
4 Meetings Start & End Late Whenthere’sacultureofmeetingsconstantlystartinglate,iteventuallybecomesthenorm.
Meetings that start late waste the time of other attendeeswhosetimecouldbebetterspentelsewhere.Justasimportantasstartingontime,isendingontimetogetindividualsbacktowork.
5 Time Is Not Action Oriented The purpose of every meeting should be to accomplish a specific action or objective.
Whenobjectivesarenotclear,attendeesleavewithoutclearnextstepsorasenseofwhatwasaccomplishedduringthemeetingtime.
5 Dysfunctional Meeting Behaviors to Avoid
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Top 10 Ways to Ensure Meetings are Efficient and Effective
Top 10 Ways to Ensure Meetings are Efficient and EffectiveThere’sabetterwaytouseyourvaluabletimetogether–takeactiontoreducethesefactors.Herearetenbestpracticesthatyoucanimplementtodaytoimprovemeetingeffectiveness:
1 Determine Whether the Meeting Is Necessary
It’seasytosuggestaquickmeetingtoironoutdetails.Butbeforeyouhitthesendbutton,considerwhetherthemeetingisactuallynecessary,whatyouplantoaccomplish,andwhyanin-personmeetingisbetterthananemailorquickpingonamessengerapp.
2 Estimate an Accurate Meeting Time Length Whenmeetingisinfactthebestwaytogo,estimateparametersaroundthelengthofdiscussion.
Mostpeopleschedulemeetingsforthedefaulttimeofonehourorthirtyminutes,andthentypicallyfillthattimeduringthemeeting.Butifthediscussionwillonlytake15,18,or25minutes,setthelengthandsaveeveryonesometime.Tryscheduling“stand-up”meetingsforregular–quick–syncs.Whenmeetingattendeesstand,meetingsmovealongandrandomdiscussionsareminimized.
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Top 10 Ways to Ensure Meetings are Efficient and Effective
3 Set the Agenda Ahead of Time, and Stick to It Withoutanagendainplace,meetingsaremorelikelytogoofftrack.Createanagendaaheadoftime,
includingsuggestedlengthsoftimeforeachagendaitem,andsenditouttoallmeetinginvitees.Allowparticipantstocommentonandadditemstotheagenda.Thisbringsownershiptoattendeesandensurestheyareawareofitemsthatwillbediscussed.Then,besureyousticktotheagendaduringthemeeting.
4 Include a Clear Objective and Expectations on the Meeting Invite
Onceyouhaveanagenda,it’stimetosendthemeetinginvite.Besuretoincludeyourintendedobjectiveforthemeetingandanyexpectationsyouhaveofattendees.Withthissetaheadoftime,attendeesknowwhatiscomingandcanbeheldaccountabletoparticipateandcomeprepared.
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Top 10 Ways to Ensure Meetings are Efficient and Effective
5 Invite the Right People Invitingtherightpeopleisjustasimportantassettingtheagenda.Youwanttoinvitepeoplethatwill
beengagedandparticipateinthediscussion,andarenotjustthereasspectators.Additionally,ithasbecomeveryeasytoinviteeveryonethatmaybeinterestedorhaveanopiniononthetopic.However,thisiswheremeetingscancostthemost.Bylimitingthenumberofattendeesitkeepsthemeetingshorter,encouragesparticipation,andimprovesaccountability.
6 Send Review Materials Ahead of Time Nowthatyouhavetheagendaset,andhaveinvitedtherightpeople,besuretosendanynecessary
reviewmaterialsaheadoftime.Thistiesbacktoattendeesknowingwhatisexpectedofthem,sotheyshowuppreparedandreadytoprovideinputandtakeaction.
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Top 10 Ways to Ensure Meetings are Efficient and Effective
7 Designate a Moderator Typically,bestpracticeisthatifyoucallthemeetingthenyouownit.However,sometimesotherscall
ameetingandyouaretaskedtosetupandrunit.Eitherway,makesuresomeoneisthemoderatortostartandendthemeetingontimeandsteerthediscussionbacktotheagendaifitgoesofftrack.Itishelpfultoassignsomeoneotherthanthemoderatorastheminuteornotetaker.Thatwaythemoderatorcanfocusonkeepingthediscussionmoving,andthenotetakercanfocusoncapturingthekeydetails.
8 Start on Time and End on Time Ifyouownthemeetingbesuretostartontime,nomatterwhoisrunninglate.Thishelpsensure
thatyousticktothetimesetfortheagenda,andrespectsthetimeoftheotherindividualsattendingthemeeting.
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Top 10 Ways to Ensure Meetings are Efficient and Effective
9 Capture Key Points During the Meeting Besuresomeoneisfocusedoncapturingkeypointsthroughoutthemeeting.Bydesignating
someoneotherthanthemoderator,yournotetakercanfocusonwhat’sbeingdiscussedandidentifyactionitemsforfollowup,whoisresponsibleforeach,andbywhen.Thelast5minutesofeverymeetingshouldbesavedforrecappingthesenextsteps.
10 Send a Follow-Up Email with Action Items After the Meeting
Oncethemeetingisover,themoderatorshouldreviewthenotestaken,andsummarizekeyitemsdecidedandnextstepstobesenttothegroup.Sendthefollow-upemail,includingtheactionitems,andthenbesuretostartthenextmeetingwithactionitemsofthepreviousmeeting.
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Save Your Bottom Line with Improved Work Management
Save Your Bottom Line with Improved Work ManagementThesecrettorunningeffectivemeetingsistounderstandpotentialinefficienciesandcatchthembeforetheysnowballoutofcontrol.Withjustafewsimplechanges,youcanhelpensurethatyournextmeetingisaneffectiveuseoftimeforeveryoneinvolved.
And,althoughthesetipswillhelpimproveefficiency,havingamorecollaborative,automatedwaytomanagetheprocesswillreducethetimeyouspendcoordinatingallthedetails.Hereareafewwaystofacilitate amorecollaborativemeetingprocess.
✓ Set reminders foryourselfandmeetingattendeestoprovidefeedbackandupdatestomeetingagendasinrealtime.
✓ Provide one, always up to date, source formeetingdetailsandinformation,tokeepeveryoneintheloopandreducetheamountofemailsyousendtogatherandprovideinformation.
✓ Link relevant information to the agenda,enablingthemeetingparticipantstodrilldownintodetailsofitems.
✓ Take notes directly in the agenda andusethatasasystemofrecordforactionitemsandpreviousmeetingdiscussions.
Gonearethedaysofrunningmeetingsfromstatic,outdatedagendasorPowerPointslides.Startmasteringyourmeetingstosaveyouandyourorganizationtimeandmoneyinthelongrun.
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About Smartsheet
Organizationsneedawaytogetworkdone,notjusttalkaboutit.Smartsheetisthebestwaytoplan,track,automate,andreportonwork,enablingyoutomovefromideatoimpact-fast.Smartsheetcloud-basedworkmanagementplatformempowerscollaboration,drivesbetterdecisionmaking,andacceleratesinnovationforover70,000brandsin190countries,includingmorethan50percentoftheFortune500.NamedbyForbesasoneoftheworld’stopprivatecloudcompanies,SmartsheetcomplementsexistingenterpriseinvestmentsbydeeplyintegratingwithapplicationsfromMicrosoft,Google,Salesforce,Atlassian,andmanyothers.
Discover a more collaborative way to manage meetings and other workflows with Smartsheet.
Contact Our Team Today
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