How to have effective meetings
11 practical tips for successful and productive meetings
“This meeting could’ve been an email”, sometimes, this is on everyone’s mind, right? How often is your calendar so full that you don’t have time to focus on other tasks? And how many meetings run overtime or end with no clear actions to take? At tb.lx, we decided to nip bad meetings in the bud and created our own framework for effective meetings.
How we improved meetings at tb.lx
As a tech startup scaling in an international environment, it is easy for meetings to take up increasing space in our calendars, especially when interacting with stakeholders scattered across the globe. When we realized that our developers were spending too much time in meetings — which then impacted their productivity and their wellbeing it the company — we made it one of our company objectives to reduce the time spent in meetings. Our Product Owner Gonçalo Amorim took the lead in making this happen:
“We thought of making meetings shorter, more dynamic, useful, and effective, truly making the most of the allocated time slot. Based on this premise, I started by creating a survey asking people what they suggested to improve meetings. I then analysed the answers and obtained the baseline for the new framework. Questions included “How happy are you with the number of meetings you have?”, “How do you rate time management during meetings?”, “How do you rate the value of meetings?” — Gonçalo Amorim, PO
Remote work increased the meeting load
As our team grew, meeting attendance became more diluted and we were able to replace recurring reporting meetings by asynchronous or written communications (like emails, newsletters and sprint logs), which significantly reduced the time spent in meetings. Nonetheless, after shifting to a primarily remote setting in March 2020, we noticed another spike in the time spent in meetings. This called for a revision of our meeting framework, since online meetings became the main vehicle of both work and socialization.
New variables impact the flow of meetings, such as having extra 5 minutes in the beginning for small talk, having bigger buffers in between meetings in case someone has to support kids or family, or to set up devices. Now, as an established hybrid company, we have found an effective way to keep the show running without experiencing meeting fatigue. Read our meeting tips below.
Try these 11 things to make your meetings more efficient
1. Do you really need to schedule a meeting?
Whenever you are going for the “Invite” button, ask yourself: Is this meeting really necessary? Can this information be shared asynchronously? Does this topic call for a discussion or brainstorm? Booking only the necessary meetings is the first step to reduce the time spent in them.
2. Leave buffers in between meetings
Leaving a breather when scheduling meetings is something we adopted as a best practice. It can be used as a break to grab a coffee, to change topics or organize notes. When possible, you can even block these buffers on your calendar.
“I always have 10 to 15-minute buffers in between meetings. This helps with time management and creates a safety net in case your previous meeting is delayed, or you’re late (for example, for meetings after lunch).” — Gonçalo Amorim, PO
3. Have an agenda and share it with participants beforehand
This helps participants assess if their attendance is required, in the case of non-mandatory meetings, and also gives context for people to come prepared.
4. Block time to prep before a meeting
What topics are you going to address? What questions do you already have? Read the agenda and prepare the meeting. Coming to a meeting fully prepared will only make it flow better and more time-efficient.
5. Define roles for the meeting and present the goals
Start the meeting by agreeing on who does what: having a moderator, a time-keeper, a note-taker, and other roles, will not only ensure that all participants are engaged and fully present, but it will also lead to more focused meetings. Then, present the agenda and the expected outcomes, to manage expectations and keep the session structured.
6. (Politely) interrupt if the meeting is going off-topic
If your meeting doesn’t have a moderator to keep topics on track and you feel that the discussion is no longer being productive, raise your hand (physically or virtually) and steer it back to relevance. You can do this by asking for clarification, asking about action to take, or summarizing the points so far. If a more complex topic comes up and deviates from the agenda, it should be taken offline and discussed only between the people it concerns.
7. Don’t multitask
This should go without saying, but resist the temptation to multitask while in a meeting, especially if it’s a virtual call. Lack of focus can mean that you have to spend more time talking about certain agenda points, it can create more interruptions.
“If I am leading a call and notice people are not paying attention, you can use basic sales techniques such as asking a question directly to someone and saying their name. It is quite easy to tell if someone is paying full attention or doing something else, especially if people wear glasses you can see the reflection of the screen, and this takes away focus from the meeting and can compromise effectiveness.” — Gonçalo Amorim, PO
In online meetings, this can be fixed by communicating transparently, for example: write in the chat if you’re getting up to do something, so that you don’t leave people wondering if they see you getting up while your camera is on.
8. Ask for the opinions of all participants when a decision is being made
Throughout the meeting, engage the attendees by asking for feedback and their opinion. This not only makes sure people are paying attention and engaging with the topics, but also that decisions can be made more quickly, without the need for additional meetings. If necessary, take short breaks so that people can reflect more clearly.
9. Take notes that can then be added to your company’s documentation
Keep track of the key points discussed during the meeting, even if there is a designated note-taker. Creating a meeting minute can also be a good way to store information about the meeting and share it with colleagues that didn’t attend, or the refresh your memory in the future. Remember to make the page accessible to the necessary people.
“When I’m running a meeting, what I do to keep it organized is to create a table where I put down who will speak, about which topic, a space for notes about the topic, and a space for notes during the meeting.” — Gonçalo Amorim, PO
10. End the meeting with action points
This is a productivity game changer: always end a meeting by assigning action points and responsibilities to the various participants. By creating these, you are ensuring that the issues from the meeting are resolved and a clear solution is in place. For optimal results, action points must have a lead and a due date. In the case of recurring meetings, you can start by reviewing the last session’s action points.
11. Measure a meeting’s value to assess its future need
Finally, collect feedback to know if and how to improve the meeting. You can even create a system to track the evolution of the framework of your meetings. For example, use the ROTI formula (return over time invested) to understand if it was a useful meeting, if the same frequency should be kept in the future, or if the format is working.
Final notes — Think of meetings as the Before, the During, and the After
“I feel that meetings aren’t just the present: It’s the before, the during and the after, and there are things to do at every stage.” — Gonçalo Amorim, PO
This mindset is the cornerstone of our meeting framework. Preparing for a meeting, being fully present in the discussion and leaving with clear action points will make the quality and productivity of a meeting sky rocket.
If you found these practical tips to be helpful, share them with your colleagues and friends. Or leave a comment telling us your favorite one.
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