What do many people say is one of the greatest time-wasters and sources of boredom and frustration? Meetings! The mere mention of the word causes hearts to sink. People dread the conveyor belt of endless meetings. It’s often easier to attend, rather than challenge their need or understand their purpose. In your typical week, how much time is taken up with meetings? Imagine what it would be like if you only attended meetings that were effective and fun. It is possible!

In fact it’s fairly simple to hold effective meetings because most people know how; they just don’t do it. An effective meeting requires some thought beforehand, although not necessarily a lot of time. It’s the time commitment that gets in the way and yet a little time invested in thought and planning, saves time later.

An effective meeting requires a purpose. Write that purpose down, because although you may think you’re clear about it, this will concentrate the mind. You can now be more succinct, able to communicate it clearly and even challenge whether the meeting is necessary. What is the effective way of reaching this purpose? If a meeting is the most appropriate, then define specifically who needs to be there and why. If there isn’t a good enough reason for individuals to attend, is it just a habit to have them there?

Once the purpose of your meeting is clear, and you know specifically why each person will be there, the next step is to outline an agenda to define the outcomes you want to achieve. Distribute this to individuals prior to the meeting so they know what to expect and can prepare accordingly. What’s the value of attending a meeting when you end up thinking, if only I’d known we were going to be talking about this, I could have brought more or different information with me.

Effective meetings encompass the different styles of those attending. For example, some people really need an agenda and a reasonable length of time to prepare, while for others that’s unimportant and they prefer spontaneity. If these are regular meetings, it only takes a short time to ask the individual what he or she requires. Assumptions about what they need can waste a lot of time and hinder the process of an effective meeting. At meetings ask questions, such as, “What can we do to make these meetings more effective and fun?” This gives the opportunity for improvement and commitment from all individuals. An effective meeting not only focuses on tasks, but on people, their thoughts and feelings. It’s an opportunity to acknowledge people as individuals, relate to each other and build relationships.

Get each individual to recap for themselves their commitments, rather than being told what to do. This encourages more buy-in to the process and more follow through with actions. Check with participants at the meeting that they have all the resources necessary to follow through. This way, great ideas that are generated in meetings are not lost.

What if you’re called to meetings where the above doesn’t happen? Well, rather than moan about it, how about making changes. Start by asking what the meeting purpose is and the reason you are attending. This may be the opportunity other people have been waiting for to review the effectiveness of meetings and make powerful changes.

Imagine ending a meeting with a feeling of accomplishment, of participation from all involved, of inspiration to take action while having fun. To enable this to happen, ask yourself “What 3 changes will I make to increase the effectiveness and fun of our meetings?”