You’ve likely been there — stuck in a boring business meeting, staring at the clock while your manager drones on about another irrelevant report. You imagine what you could be doing with the time, perhaps finishing work, grabbing lunch or socializing with co-workers.
Changes that have come out of the pandemic — such as hybrid work arrangements, new technology and people working remotely — have made team meetings all the more challenging., removing all recurring meetings with more than two people “in perpetuity.” Other business leaders, however, maintain that meetings are essential to the workplace.Regardless of your role, here are seven tips and strategies you can implement to run more effective, productive and — ultimately — enjoyable work meetings.
“One of the things that gets lost is just how expensive meetings are. It’s an invisible cost,” said Catherine Connelly, a Canada Research Chair in organizational behaviour and professor at McMaster University’s DeGroote School of Business. There’s nothing worse than being forced to attend a meeting that’s irrelevant to the work you do. Likewise, it’s frustrating when the people that do need to be there aren’t in attendance.