Take Back Quality Work Hours By Managing Your Meeting Time

BY Kathy Crosett
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There you are again, sitting in another meeting while your work piles up. If your company is growing, you might notice you and your employees are involved in more meetings. While some of this group time is completely necessary, you can take back quality work hours by following these tips from TechRepublic writer Scott Matteson.

Managers know a certain amount of their time will be spent in meetings. After all, you should be providing vision and leadership on issues facing the company and the product line. You also need to connect with your team members on a regular basis. 

Role

But, how many of your team members should sit in on meetings? You can answer that question by thinking about roles. Each meeting attendee should have a role. If they possess technical expertise needed to explain an issue, they belong in the meeting. If they’re making a presentation, of course they need to be present. Asking people to attend a meeting so they can gather information is another matter. Chances are, you, or someone else, can quickly bring staffers up to date on what happened in a meeting at a later time.

Low-​Value Meetings

Low-​value meetings have a way of creeping onto the calendars of managers and employees. These meetings may have started out with a strong initiative. For example, departments may have teamed in meetings in order to launch a new product or service. After the launch, you should be asking if the weekly meetings to discuss issues are still necessary. Many times, they’re not. Encourage employees and other matters to share ongoing updates via internal instant messaging systems or through email.

Control Your Schedule

Before the week begins, you and your employees should review the upcoming schedule. Set deadlines for completing tasks and projects and then block large chunks of time on your calendar. Your employees should do the same thing. This action ensures you all have the time needed to complete high-​priority tasks.

Meetings are a necessary part of the business world. They can also be disruptive when you’re trying to concentrate on completing a writing assignment or a set up calculations. If possible, schedule your meetings to take place all in one morning or on one day.

When your team members watch you manage your meetings, they'll do the same. Good meeting management will improve efficiency and satisfaction for everyone.


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