Well, moment of truth. Raise your hand if you have ever left a meeting that felt like it was totally wasting your time? No matter how, meetings are still important to accomplishing a shared vision within business entities.

With the availability and accessibility of technology, meetings are not limited to physically face to face but also take place virtually. It turns to be more challenging while most virtual meetings happen to have members who are often multi-tasking at the same time. In this article, we will share some tips and strategies on how to run a productive meeting, regardless of title.

Set Meeting Objectives
This is very important to prevent members to wonder why are they here. Thus, only set a meeting when clear objectives are identified. Be clear and concise, the objectives should have results-oriented terms and actionable goals. Better yet, send them with the meeting agenda so everyone is on the same page.

Create Agenda & Send Calendar Invites
An Agenda is crucial to support progress towards meeting your objectives. Strictly sticking to the agenda to prevent getting derailed into off-topic conversations and going on for far longer than anticipated. This is helpful to introverts to prep for speaking or brainstorming sessions too!

Start on Time, End on Time (if possible)
Time is money, nothing can waste more time than waiting for late comer (especially key persons). If you have many topics to cover within a short timeframe, try to use timer or set time limit for each section to help you keep on track. If there are unexpected events such as conflicts, give the team a choice whether to stay longer or reschedule another one.

Take Meeting Minutes
Always take notes for every meeting, regardless of meeting length. The main purpose is to document what was discussed as well as action particulars. It is suggested to store them in a centralised sharing location (such as Google Drive) where members can access at any time. Simple action but beneficial to the whole team.

Always End with an Actionable Conclusion
Clear actions must be addressed, for example, who is responsible for what, when are the deadlines, what are the priorities, etc. Of course, all team members must strictly follow their roles and accomplish the goals. Quick follow-up meeting is necessary to trace the progress and ensure everything is smooth. Otherwise, all the time you spend will be for naught.

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