Mind your Ps: Make your meetings and conversations more efficient with these five tips
Whether it’s a weekly team touch base, a daily huddle, a shift-change check-in, or a one-on-one, each of these meetings can face the question: How can we make this worth our time?
The power of a good meeting can create a place where people come together and transform the conversation, they can make decisions while building team relationships, feel less lonely, and be more in sync with their teammates. In 2021, the average professional had 21.5 hours of meetings per week. With over half the work week gone, it’s important to know if these check ins are worthwhile or not.
Organize your conversations with these starter tips:
- Don’t auto-default to one-hour of time together, instead go for the shortest amount of time that is reasonable given the goals of the conversation.
- Decide what type of chat it’s going to be and try changing how it will occur, whether that’s walking, polls or quizzes, or silent brainstorming.
- Continue to evaluate your check ins to see if anything can be shortened or turned into a simple message instead.
For some guidance, use the 5 Ps
Purpose
Having key objectives for any interaction in a workplace is essential. The reason the meeting is taking place is what motivates the rest of the set-up. Figuring out why the meeting is happening and what problems you are trying to solve can be an easy way to determine what needs to be on the agenda.
Product
Creating success criteria will allow for the outcome of the meeting to have tangible actions. What is it that the people are trying to achieve from this meeting? Stating specific deliverables at the end will provide long and short-term goals to keep the meeting on track.
Participants
Lay out whose perspective and buy-in are necessary for the meeting. This will easily allow you to figure out who needs to be included and how much involvement is necessary from each member.
Probable Issues
Knowing what concerns could derail the meeting from its purpose or outcome is important to note. Figure out what topics are necessary to achieve the best outcome of the meeting followed by what potential hiccups could prevent the meeting from achieving its goals.
Process
Figuring out what type of meeting it is (i.e. brainstorming, reviewing, resolution, etc.) is necessary. It’s important to lay out a proper agenda with the facilitator, the documentation of the meeting, and what attendees need to prepare to participate. This allows the group or person to see how much time they will need to prepare and what will be run through during the meeting.
Always have an agenda
An agenda can be the most crucial piece of a meeting or check-in. Instead of simply having a topic, state questions that the group can be ready to answer. This will also allow you to know who to invite, what the outcome of the meeting should be, and how long it will take. If there are no key questions, then a meeting might not be necessary.
Having a proper set up that allows for both the facilitator and the participants to know what’s going on can lead to greater success in active participation. It makes it easier for participants to be present and know what’s happening and for you to be efficient in your meetings.
It’s important to know whether the meeting is necessary or not, but it’s also important to ensure that any type of conversation that is happening is worth everyone’s time who is included. When you’re preparing your next check-in or meeting, don’t forget to put the 5 P’s into action!
