regularly scheduled meetings

Regularly scheduled meetings (staff meetings, progress report meetings, and sales meetings) sometimes seem to be called out of habit or sense of duty rather than need. They’re valuable not only for the information they allow people to share but also for the face time they offer. However, their importance doesn’t necessarily make them interesting. Meeting with the same people in the same room every week to discuss the same topics can get boring, resulting in many empty chairs – and a lack of enthusiasm among the remaining attendees. Here are some ways to keep your regular meetings fresh – and attendance high.

• Regularly review the meeting’s purpose
• Solicit agenda items from the group in advance
• Cancel when there is no reason to meet
• Rotate leadership of the meeting

Martha Craumer

“Give Your Standing Meetings a Makeover,” adapted from the “The Effective Meeting: A Checklist for Success,” Harvard Management Communication Letter. March 2001. As quoted in HBR Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter. Harvard Business Review Press. 2016.