7 tips for keeping meetings on track

Meetings are a part of working life – it’s how we coordinate with colleagues, discuss important topics, and make decisions. According to Zippia, the average corporate employee spends four hours preparing for and attending meetings per week. And yet, few people run meetings well. 71% of those meetings are considered unproductive and an estimated $37 billion is lost per year to unproductive meetings.

The basics of running a smooth meeting and keeping them productive are well-known. Prepare an agenda ahead of time, start and end on time, and get a team member or two to help. But there are details within those basics that can make a big difference. Here are seven tips for keeping your meetings on track:

1. Carefully choose attendees

Not every meeting needs to include the entire team. In fact, sometimes it’s better to have a smaller meeting with only the people who are directly involved in the topic being discussed. When inviting people to a meeting, be clear about why they’re being invited and what role they’ll be expected to play. This helps meetings stay super focused because when attendees play a main role in the topic at hand, they are more likely to bring up relevant points.

If you have attendees tell you that they don’t want to attend because they feel the topic isn’t relevant to them, hear them out. They may have a point – and their feedback can help you adjust the meeting’s purpose or attendees for next time.

2. Have a purpose for each agenda item

Meeting agendas should be prepared and distributed before the day of the meeting so that attendees are aware of what will be discussed. But it’s not enough to just have a list of topics – each item on the agenda should have a purpose. That purpose could be to come to a decision, to provide updates, or to brainstorm ideas. Having a clear purpose will help keep everyone on the same page, and your meeting focused.

As an attendee, you can help keep the meeting productive by preparing the key points you want to bring up or questions that you have about the agenda items. This way, you can avoid wasting time during the meeting trying to remember what you wanted to say.

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3. Give each item an allotted time

Giving each item on the agenda a time frame will help to keep the meeting moving along and prevent any one topic from going off-topic or monopolizing the meeting time. This is especially important if you have a lot of ground to cover.

However, you should have some flexibility for the time allotted to each item. If a discussion is going well and attendees are engaged, there’s no need to end it just because the time is up. Be sure to allow for a few minutes of conversation in case there are any questions or concerns.

And, if the discussion doesn’t go as long as planned, it’s ok to go ahead and move on to the next topic. You might even be able to end the meeting early.

4. Start the meeting with a reminder to stay on track

Simply starting the meeting with a reminder to focus on achieving the goals of the agenda can help keep everyone focused. It’s a gentle way of keeping people from getting sidetracked or going off-topic. When moving on to the next agenda item, reiterate the desired outcomes.

You can simply say something like, “As a reminder, the purpose of this agenda item is to come to a decision about X. We have an allotted time of 30 minutes to discuss this item, so let’s focus on achieving that goal and avoid going off-topic.”

5. Guide attendees back to the right path

If the discussion starts to stray off-topic, gently bring it back to the matter at hand. If someone has an issue that is not related to the current discussion, encourage them to bring it up at another time or in a different setting, or direct them to the appropriate person.

Keep an eye on the goal of the agenda item, too. Stick to the purpose of your agenda item and avoid expanding on that agenda item. For example, if you’re brainstorming ideas for a new project, don’t start discussing the details of implementation. That’s something that can be saved for another meeting. This brings us to our next point.

6. Have separate meetings for different purposes

If you find that your meetings are becoming longer and more unfocused, it may be time to break them up into smaller meetings with more specific purposes. This way, each meeting can stay focused on its goals, and attendees won’t have to sit through a long meeting that covers topics that aren’t relevant to them.

You can also use this opportunity to invite different attendees to each meeting. This will ensure that only the people who need to be there are in attendance, and that their time isn’t wasted.

7. Do roundtables right

Roundtables are a great way to get input from everyone in the meeting, but they can also be a source of frustration if not done correctly. Avoid doing roundtables to get updates. Updates can be written and distributed via email or appropriate Slack channels. Instead, use roundtables for discussions or brainstorming sessions.

Be specific about what you want to know from each person and give them a time limit to answer. If someone goes over their allotted time, gently remind them of the time limit. Once everyone has had a chance to speak, move on to the next item on the agenda.

Conclusion

Not all meetings need to be run with total efficiency and precision. However, if you find that too many meetings are starting to drag on, or that they’re not achieving their goals, it may be time to take a step back and reevaluate how you’re running them.

Try implementing some of these tips, and see if it makes a difference in the productivity and focus of your meetings. If not, don’t be afraid to experiment until you find what works best for you and your team. After all, the goal is to make sure your meetings are productive and efficient so that everyone can focus on doing their best work.