Get More Out of Your 2014 Meetings

Office meetings, whether held weekly or monthly, are typically dreaded by employees. They either view them as a complete waste of time or look forward to the fact that they can 'tune out' for an hour while getting paid.

Neither solution is ideal, so here's how to ensure your employees start enjoying office meetings and getting the most out of them.

Why employees get nothing out of business meetings:

• They're mundane - Most jobs have meetings once per week or biweekly, and most employees can agree that nothing new is ever said. Employees are bored and feel their time is being wasted.
• They're inconvenient - Do you schedule your meetings first thing in the morning when employees would rather check emails and get started on work? Are they held on a Friday afternoon when everyone's itching to leave? Schedule them according to what works best for your staff and your business.
• Employees feel what they say doesn't matter - Employees like to feel that they have a say in the grand scheme of things. Oftentimes, employees speak up but nothing is ever changed, making them feel insignificant.
• There's too many - Only hold meetings as often as they're necessary. Don't feel obligated to meet once a week just because you think that's 'what needs to be done.'

• They're long-winded - Just because you blocked off an hour of your employees' days doesn't mean you need to take up that whole hour. Say what needs to be said and let everyone get back to work.

How to get more out of business meetings

In 2014, make it a goal to spice up your business meetings. Make them more fun and engage everyone. Hopefully, by the end of the year, employees will actually start looking forward to office meetings.

Here are 5 things you can do to get more out of your meetings this year:

• Bring food - Functions are better with food, plain and simple. If this isn't something you want to be in charge of each meeting, let the employees’ alternate bringing food. Ideas include themed potlucks, sweets n' treats, a chili cook-off, or even a beer cart (served after the meeting, of course).
• Include everyone - In other words, value what your employees are saying and do what you can to take it to heart. If employees are unanimously unhappy with a system or process, consider changing it. As a business, you are nothing without your employees (and your customers).
• Hold meetings as necessary - Maybe you're used to having a weekly or biweekly meeting, but is that always necessary? It's good to come together as a team, but is only vital if important information or processes need to be discussed. Maybe you only need a monthly meeting or even a quarterly meeting. That's OK. In fact, your employees will probably thank you for it.
• Have a start and end time - Block off an allotted amount of time for your meeting and don't go over. If you finish up early, let everyone go instead of dragging it out. Even better, allow the team some time to socialize before getting back to work.
• Ask for feedback - Again, involve your employees. After each meeting, send an email asking for feedback, and more importantly, listen to this feedback and take it to heart. Employees don't mind attending meetings if they find them valuable and know they have a voice.

And, most importantly, be intentional.

Create goals for each meeting and follow through. Change will never happen without a plan of action in place.