Our meeting facilitation skills training courses are designed to equip participants with the skills and training to run productive and focused business meetings.
However, we recognize that there are certain times when even the most skilled meeting facilitator should do away with regular weekly meetings. Below are some of these circumstances.
Alternate Ways To Meet
Technology has given the corporate world various ways to conduct business effectively and efficiently. When emails and brief consultations will do, there is no need to call a meeting that may just end up disrupting your co-worker’s schedule. Instead, resort to technology to keep up with one another’s progress, raise questions and share solutions.
Crunch Time
Every industry has a busy time of the year. For example, retail stores are swamped during the holiday season. Schedule only those meetings that are crucial for your business during your industry’s crunch time. Weekly status meetings may only add to the burden of your staff and may even cause them to get behind on their other more vital duties.
Shortened Work Weeks
Avoid weekly meetings when a long weekend is coming up. Your staff already has one less day to do their work; a meeting will only eat up more of the little time they have left.
Major Holidays
Holding weekly meetings close to big holidays (Christmas, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, etc.) can be an exercise in futility. Your staff may already be thinking of the upcoming holiday and be too preoccupied to give your meeting their full attention.
Thin Agenda
Avoid calling a meeting for a minor matter that may best be handled via email or a quick private chat with the person (or people) involved. Wait until you have a full agenda before calling a meeting.
Productivity Buster
When you cannot get your staff together for a meeting because they are busy working on separate important projects, let them. Meetings are supposed to improve productivity, not impede it.
Down Time
As stated above, it doesn’t make much sense to schedule weekly meetings during your industry’s busy time of the year. Likewise, weekly meetings are not necessary during your company’s slow season. When nothing much is going on, weekly meetings won’t accomplish much either. Instead, use any lull for team building activities or seminars that will improve and enhance your workplace productivity.
Sharing Information
When you simply want to make sure everyone in your staff is on the same page regarding a specific project, shoot out a memo instead of calling a meeting. It will save you time, get your point across and won’t disrupt the schedule and work flow of your staff.
Vacation
Weekly meetings don’t make a lot of sense when half your staff is out on vacation. Make sure you schedule meetings when the people who need to be there can actually attend.
Both our onsite and online facilitation training courses are designed for the busy executive or leader. If you find facilitating meetings a particular challenge, let us help you. Our meeting facilitators provide excellent facilitation training that will give you the skills, resources and confidence you need to be a successful meeting, project, conference or seminar facilitator.
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