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Communication is the key to success, and I’m not just talking about the ability to send a text or an email, convenient as it may be. Sometimes you need to “sit down” and get everyone on the same page, whether that be on a video call, in person, or over the phone. Whether it’s a strategy or project update, sometimes things are done better in real-time by having a meeting. However, sometimes having a meeting about a meeting is not the best use of your team’s time. So what is the best frequency or strategy when it comes to meetings? Is it better to have short and frequent meetings or long occasional meetings?
My Opinion
Based on my experience, I think the best option is to have longer meetings with less frequency. Every time you have a meeting, it takes you away from your daily tasks. Not to mention, it’s more than just that half-hour you will be spending in that meeting. You will also need to account for preparation time! Then, you repeat for the next meeting. If you combine all of the smaller meetings into one large meeting once or twice a month, you will be able to cut the prep time down. A monthly check-up is always good to make sure everyone is on the same page and everything is running smoothly. You can take all of those little meetings you have throughout the week, and make it one big meeting.
Make Meetings More Effective
Having one longer meeting about many projects and agenda items may not be feasible for you. In that case, you should consider ways to make your meetings more effective. Fellow, an online agenda software company, had some great suggestions on this topic. First, determine whether you need a meeting and who needs to be a part of it. Can this just be a phone call between two people, or do you need the input of multiple people? Second, make sure there’s an objective. What do you plan to get out of the meeting? Finally, make sure everyone present for the meeting can actively participate. If someone doesn’t speak for the entirety of a meeting and has no tasks or takeaways from the meeting, then they probably did not need to be there.
Conclusion
Any time spent in a meeting is time that could be spent doing a task. By getting your meeting strategy under control and figuring out how to make your meetings as effective and efficient as possible, you will increase the productivity of your team and overall organization.
