Many employees probably groan and grumble when they see that the boss has scheduled yet another meeting. But Cameron Herold, a business development expert and author of “Double Double: How to Double Your Revenue and Profit in 3 Years or Less” (www.DoubleDoubleBook.com), insists it doesn’t need to be that way. “Meetings aren’t terrible,” Herold says. “We’re just terrible at running meetings.” He says businesses can make better use of the time spent in meetings, and improve employee morale and productivity in the process, if they follow simple steps.
Have an agenda. Meetings that don’t have a clear agenda tend to get off track easily. They also often include people who don’t need to be there and would be better off back at their desks, completing important projects, Herold says. The agenda can be short, but should include the main purpose of the meeting, the possible outcomes and the action items to be covered. “An agenda prevents the meeting from being hijacked by some random topic,” Herold says. “It also allows your more introverted team members to prepare what they want to say in the discussion. Most introverts won’t chime in when they don’t know the agenda ahead of time and you could miss some great ideas.”
Determine a meeting style. There are basically three styles of meetings: information share, creative discussion and consensus decision. In an information-share meeting, the information flows in one direction. Either employees tell the leadership something, or senior management has something to say to employees.
Start on time and end early. If you scheduled the meeting for 10 a.m., start at 10 a.m. “This shows respect for people’s times, and also reflects something much bigger,” Herold says. “If you can’t start a meeting on time, why would it be any different for anything else that’s going on in a company?” End the meeting five minutes early. That gives people time to grab a cup of coffee, check emails, go to the restroom or chat with colleagues before their next meeting.
About Cameron Herold
Cameron Herold, author of “Double Double: How to Double Your Revenue and Profit in 3 Years or Less” (www.DoubleDoubleBook.com), began his first business at age 21. He has been instrumental in the successful sale, branding and integration of 500 business locations with three major companies. He’s best known as the driving force behind 1-800-GOT-JUNK?’s spectacular growth from $2 million to $106 million in revenue in six years. His range of executive roles includes strategic planning, negotiating corporate acquisitions, operations, people, sales, marketing, call centers and public relations. Herold is a top-rated lecturer at the EO/MIT Entrepreneurial Masters Program and a powerful and effective speaker at EO/YPO & Vistage events around the world.
