“That Meeting was Magnificent” (PART 1)
By: Janet Adetu Date: 6 years agoComment: 0 Category: Articles
“I cannot believe I just spent the last five hours in that meeting, my whole day has gone and I really had so much lined up to do today. I still have to get back to the office to approve some crucial assignments for tomorrow”.
“Half the meeting was unduly dragged, some issues were over emphasized and somehow the conduct could have been better. Nonetheless we were able to strategize a positive way forward. It was a good meeting at the end of the day!”
Have you uttered these words or similar in the past? Do you prefer physical or virtual meetings? Are your meetings magnificent?
On the average a very busy professional or business entrepreneur spends the better part of their day engaging in telephone conversations, answering numerous emails and attending to countless meetings. They are responding to requests, making decisions or planning for the future, the task is to increase productivity and profitability. Meetings are a means of putting heads together to forge forward with ideas or re-evaluate past decisions. Some meetings are face to face, teleconference, video conference or chats. With the new 21st century high technology, having meetings has become easier, faster, probably a lot more efficient, however they will still require the time of the individual.
How these meetings are conducted proficiently is a way to reduce the constant time wasting experience at the same time to facilitate productive meetings, encourage teamwork and action. Scheduling meetings also needs to be looked at with the mind of ensuring that the agenda is goal oriented, the minutes are well documented for easy understanding and the types of meeting conducted are necessary. We see severally that having too many meetings can become unproductive if there is no focus , control, direction or follow up.
“Do we really need to have a meeting?” The truth is depending on the nature of business you are engaged in, a meeting may not always be necessary. If you are selling a service or product for the first time and you are intending to create a good first impression, then a first time meeting maybe necessary. A meeting may also be necessary if your transaction involves many parties or if there are communication malfunctions where telephone calls and emails are not received or delivered. Also if communication is confidential and sensitive, or if action and timing is of great essence, or possibly if you need to maintain a paper trail or documentation is required.
Today in the business world we are able to accomplish a lot without having face to face meetings. Time is indeed saved and used more productively when planned well. I recently had some designs done for me for my children’s manners project. All my designs to completion were done via email and telephone in the UK. I did not need a single physical meeting for this transaction and I was able to achieve this on time and effectively. Currently I also have another project on going; I am quite proximal to the agent working for me. We have spoken severally and communicated by sending information and material back and forth over the last few weeks. Interestingly we have never met but feel quite close as if we have had several meetings. Of course this comes on the platform that there is a huge element of trust and confidence in the quality of service you will get. This also involves a good element of respect and courteousness on both parties. There are times when such communication is beneficial to your need that will avoid you prolonging the fact, the objective and the overall goal.
No matter the nature or length of your meeting the key point to remember as an executive, entrepreneur or professional is to plan for it well, determine action plans and measure the results of strategies already taken in order to optimize its benefits.