Six Tips for Conducting Effective Team Meetings

If you’re like me, there’s simply too much to get done each day to spend time in unproductive meetings.  Yet, despite the fact that most of us feel this way, we still subject ourselves to them week after week.

If you’re leading a real estate team at your brokerage or office, here are 6 ways to help you have shorter, less frequent and far more effective meetings:

1. Have An Agenda: Write an agenda in advance, share it with everyone attending, and stick to that agenda during the meeting.  If everyone knows what will be covered, it will be easier to keep everyone accountable to the agenda and the clock.
2. Focus on Objectives: Help avoid tangent conversations by ensuring all meeting work and discussion centers on the long-term, measurable objectives for your team and business.  Ask yourself and the group regularly if necessary: “Is this discussion relevant to our goals?  If not, can it be discussed later?”
3. Discuss Details Later: If a particular topic comes up that requires deeper thought by a subset of the group, don’t have that discussion with everyone around the table.  Literally “table” that conversation for after the meeting, and ask the subset to stay a couple extra minutes, if possible, to finish up that piece of business or decision right away
4. Ensure Equal Participation: Be active about soliciting feedback, asking questions, and gathering the ideas & opinions of everyone in the room.  If you’ve chosen the meeting participants correctly, everyone has something valuable to offer the meeting.  Make sure their voice and contributions are heard.
5. Learn Something: Every meeting can include at least a few minutes to learn something new.  Invite a guest speaker (even someone from elsewhere in the organization), or ask a meeting attendee to share a best practice.
6. Record & Distribute Notes: Ensure someone is taking notes during the meeting, and in particular, recording action items and expectations of both individuals and the group overall to keep everyone accountable.

What are you doing to help make your meetings more effective, efficient and accountable?