Making Your Meetings More Efficient

A recent article on CMMOnline noted that U.S. employees are spending, on average, 7.5 hours a week in meetings. Assuming eight hours constitutes a workday, that’s nearly a whole workday every week devoted just to meetings.

With that much time being spent on meetings, what you do during that time matters even more. To help you become more efficient and more productive, Asana, a time management software company, has come up four common complaints about meetings, along with tips on how to address each one.

1. “I have too many meetings on my calendar.”

• Cancel unnecessary meetings.
• Establish a no-meeting day.
• Decline meeting invites.

2. “My meetings are too long.”

• Think of your time as a valuable commodity.
• Try a “stand up” meeting—a 15 minute status meeting where participants literally stand while speaking and have a time limit for their delivery.

3. “My meetings lack focus.”

• Identify the purpose and goal of the meeting.
• Share an agenda and context before the start of the meeting.

4. “My meetings aren’t as productive as I’d like.”

• Select the right attendees and outline their roles within the meeting.
• Assign an attendee to take notes.
• Delegate action items to participants as the meeting progresses.

Meetings might seem like a necessary evil, but by using these tips, you can have fewer and do more in less time with the ones you must attend. To learn more specifics on each tip, check out Asana’s website.