Have you ever sat through a meeting which lasted too long? And then to top it all off, you didn't get the result you wanted in the end? A good solution is a stand-up meeting. This is a meeting where participants stand and the time limit to deal with the issue is from 5 to 10 minutes. This type of meeting is useful when you don't want to use a meeting room or if there are too many participants to fit into a room. Participants won't slouch in chairs and the meeting will be short because it's not comfortable to stand too long. It's also harder for participants to hide their phones under the table or work on e-mails.
It can even be done in an open office if the entire team is included. Nevertheless, stand-up meeting won't help you if the meetings don't work and waste your time. Of course, if you need to deal with more complex issues, process lots of data or discuss different solutions, stand-up meetings aren't a good solution.
If you need a timeframe of half an hour to two hours to solve an issue, don't bother with stand-up meetings and focus on techniques which may help you to achieve the best results. Allbusiness.com has the following advice:
1) Hand out the agenda before the meeting
The agenda should be provided to all participants in advance. It sounds obvious, but it's often done shortly before a meeting or even while the meeting is in progress.
2) Outline the meeting
Lay out the reason and form of the meeting. Also, the expected outcome should be stated. This information can be mentioned on the invitation or on the agenda.
3) A reason for participation
Make sure that there´s really a reason for each participant to be there and that (s)he knows it. You can send an e-mail with specific information or documents.
4) Schedule time for particular topics and speakers
By organizing the meeting according to specific topics, you can invite participants for a specific time when their topic will be discussed.
5) Manage the discussion firmly
Keep the targets and length of the meeting in mind. Follow the schedule. The aim is an outcome everybody will agree on. If the discussion is too long, stop for some time and sum it up.
6) Move side issues for another time
If you get to problems which aren't connected to the current meeting, announce to the participants that the issue will be solved later or at another meeting. Write topics down.
7) Record the results
Do it on a board, so everybody can see it. Then summarize it in the meeting minutes.
8) Short and concise minutes
Write the most important results at the top of the minutes so those who read it can see what they need quickly.
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