If you often find that employees seem distracted during meetings, you may be wondering what you can do to get their attention and ensure they stay focused. There could be various reasons why your meetings don’t seem to go the way you want them to. This is why, it’s important to look for new solutions and experiment with different methods to find what works best for your team. Sometimes, it could be that meetings run longer than they need to or there isn’t enough time for questions in the end. Regardless of what the problem is, there are some steps you can take to improve your meetings today. Check out our suggestions below for more information.
Avoid Wasting Time
Time is precious in the business world, so it’s crucial to ensure that you keep an eye on the duration of each meeting. Make sure you cover only what is important and avoid mentioning details, that could be sent in an email. The longer a meeting is, the more likely it is that employees will lose interest quickly, as well as motivation to attend other meetings in the future. It’s advisable to stick to a 30-minute interval, which will allow you to discuss significant events and connect with one another more easily.
Use New Engagement Tools
It’s also important to stay up-to-date with the latest engagement tools, that can help you achieve amazing results. For example, Vevox is a leading polling and Q&A platform, which you can rely on to boost engagement in both online and in-person meetings. Thanks to Vevox, it’s easy to energise and motivate your employees to participate during business meetings. With the help of word clouds, you can break the ice and gauge how your team feels. Moreover, the Vevox app allows you to run engaging Q&A sessions, ensuring that everyone is given the chance to be heard.
Create An Agenda
You shouldn’t go into a meeting without an agenda in place, as this will ensure that you know exactly what you want your team to get out of it. Otherwise, things can get chaotic very quickly, which means that you won’t be able to complete any important tasks on time. Devising an agenda in advance allows everyone to focus on the main issues at hand and understand the purpose of the meeting. Also, setting up a clear plan means that everyone will be aware of their responsibilities in the process.
Encourage Participation
Empower employees to participate during meetings and share their opinions and thoughts without being afraid of judgement. It can be beneficial to strengthen your listening skills so that you can understand employees’ points of view. In addition, it’s crucial to make meetings meaningful for employees, as this way they will be more excited to attend them and take part in discussions.
You can do this by:
- celebrating milestones
- coming up with themes
- organising competitions
- keeping each other accountable
These strategies will turn your meetings into a source of inspiration and collaboration, encouraging employees to think outside the box and break the monotony of their days.
Collect Feedback
Just like everything else in business, it’s essential to collect feedback from your employees to find out what is going well and what you can improve. Every now and then, be sure to check with your employees and ask them how they feel about your meetings. It can be a good idea to send out anonymous surveys or encourage employees to come to you directly, if they have ideas that you can implement. This way, employees will see that you are doing your best to maximise meetings, so they will be more willing to participate and help you make the most of them.
Get Rid Of Distractions
There are many distractions around us, which could be making it more difficult for employees to concentrate on the agenda. The fewer distractions there are, the more likely it is that you will have a productive meeting. It can be a good idea to set up a few rules before each meeting to ensure everyone can stay focused. For example, if you are organising a virtual meeting, you may want to ask employees to get a proper headset with a clear mic. When it comes to face-to-face meetings, you should focus on creating the perfect meeting environment, such as by asking everyone to keep their phones on silent.
Set Realistic Goals
At the end of each meeting, it can be helpful to set aside some time to set realistic goals for your next meetings. Make sure you get your employees involved in this process, as this will ensure that they stay invested in these goals and objectives. As a result, employees will begin to see the importance of holding meetings and staying focused. For example, you may consider letting employees vote for different goals or asking them to come up with one or two goals as a team. Moreover, once you achieve these goals, you can celebrate together.
