A question for you: How many meetings have you had at work this week? And how many of them did you find truly useful? If your experience matches that of most employees worldwide…not many!
Research shows that executives consider more than 67% of virtual meetings failures, while 45% of employees state that they feel overwhelmed by too many meetings.
And yet, there’s an argument for meetings aiding real-time collaboration, with the opportunity to clarify doubts and brainstorm new ideas as they come up. So what’s the solution? Taking a strategic approach to meeting planning so that each always has an agenda and sticks to it.
In this article, we’ll discuss the common reasons behind unproductive meetings and offer best practices for remedying them. We’ll also show you how to have productive meetings with tools like ClickUp.
No more unnecessary meetings for you. Let’s begin.
How to Have Productive Meetings
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhat Makes Meetings Unproductive?
Here are some productivity red flags to watch out for, whether your meetings are in-person or online.
- No clear agenda: Every meeting needs a solid purpose and a short list of points to cover. Without a clear agenda or purpose that participants understand and agree on, meetings can be a waste of time without actual progress
- Too many meetings: If every day is crammed with meetings, it’s time to step back. Not only will your team’s focus decline if they’re in back-to-back meetings, but it’s also likely that several of those meetings could be more useful as emails or group messages
- Too many attendees: Chances are, your entire team doesn’t need to be CC’d on every meeting invite. Having too many people in a meeting can distract from the main order of business and leave less space for those who want to contribute
- Inadequate follow-up: A common mistake hosts make is not following up promptly after a meeting. A summary of points discussed and action items noted should be sent out immediately while the meeting is still on people’s minds—or it risks being overlooked in favor of whatever meeting is happening next
- Unprepared attendees: This is a consequence of not having a clear agenda ahead of time. Without that, those attending the meeting won’t know how best to contribute and may stay silent or go off-topic
- Inadequate technology: If you stick to traditional virtual meeting options like Google Meet or Zoom, chances are that only one or two people will be hosting the meeting while everyone else will be passively on mute. Without collaboration options built in, such meetings end up inviting little participation
- Distractions during meetings: Distractions like cell phone notifications, casual conversations, interpersonal dynamics, and unenthusiastic participation often shift the meeting’s focus and derail productivity
Summarize this article for me pleaseHow to Have More Productive Meetings
The good news? You can have productive meetings with your team if you plan them properly. Here are our top tips to make that happen:
1. Set clear objectives
We’ll start with an obvious but vital point—as the host, you should be clear on exactly why the meeting is happening and what you plan to discuss. For example, if the purpose is to finalize the social media strategy for Q4, create an agenda around it.
To make this first step easier, use ClickUp’s Agenda Template. Outline topics, objectives, and goals, ensuring a proper meeting structure. This template can be used for all types of meetings, regardless of the number of people attending them.
For example, in the agenda, you might state that the meeting will cover the latest market research, evaluate potential campaigns, and decide on the budget allocation. This way, when the agenda reaches your team members, they’ll fully understand what you aim to achieve by the end of the meeting.
And if, after chalking out your agenda, you realize that it’s essentially a status update, don’t hold a meeting; rather, stick to email. Your team will thank you for it later.
2. Only invite necessary attendees
You don’t need a full house (even virtually) to have a successful meeting. On the contrary—the lesser, the better.
Invite people whose contributions you need for the meeting agenda or who are directly involved in the matter you want to discuss. Follow the ‘two-pizza rule’ in this scenario. Limit the size of the meeting to the number of people that two pizzas can feed.
For example, if your goal is to get project updates, invite the core team members or managers who will give you a project status report. A meeting summary will suffice for everyone else to keep them informed without disrupting their workflow.
If attendees have any prior commitments, give them the option to decline the invite. Use ClickUp Brain to create poll questions about availability, time preferences, and alternative suggestions.
3. Define ground rules
At the start of an in-person meeting, establish clear ground rules for behavior and participation to promote respect and efficiency. For effective meetings, you might set rules such as:
- ‘No phones or laptops unless they’re necessary for the meeting’
- ‘One person speaks at a time’
- ‘Respect all ideas’
- ‘Stay on the topic’
For virtual meetings, the following set of rules can be applied:
- Test your camera and microphone before the meeting starts
- Use the chat box to add comments during an ongoing discussion
- Keep your camera on and microphone off when not speaking
- Keep your background clean and professional
Setting these expectations upfront creates a focused environment that allows everyone to contribute effectively. Refer back to them as needed during the meeting to ensure adherence. Review and adjust the rules periodically based on feedback and your team’s evolving needs.
4. Start and end on time
Keep meetings as brief as possible, and commit to your time limits. Use calendar reminders and alerts to prompt those invited about the meeting’s start time.
Don’t waste time updating late arrivals to the meetings on what they missed—you want to create a culture where they show up on time and leave on time.
Another way to keep meetings brief and focused is to have ‘standing meetings.’ You can break longer meetings into multiple shorter sessions with specific focus areas for each and take a walk.
Evaluate the necessity of each agenda item and remove or delegate those that can be handled outside the meeting. Make your next meeting a walking meeting.
5. Stick to the agenda
Draft a detailed meeting agenda and share it with participants before the meeting. Include the points to be discussed and the time allocated, enabling attendees to prepare any questions or suggestions in advance.
For example, you might allocate 10 minutes to reviewing the last meeting’s action items, 20 minutes for a market research presentation, 15 minutes for discussing campaign ideas, and 5 minutes for making budget decisions.
ClickUp Brain helps you create a meeting agenda based on past tasks and meeting notes to identify areas of focus, recurring themes, and outstanding actions. A well-defined agenda with a clear list of discussion items, desired outcomes, timeframes, and responsibilities is essential to keep the discussion focused.
During the meeting, use a visible timer or a clock to keep track of time allocations. If the conversation goes off-topic, don’t hesitate to step in and bring the focus back to the agreed-upon agenda items.
In addition, create an ‘issue bin’ where off-topic issues or team meeting ideas can be noted and addressed later.
Some AI prompts to generate meeting agenda:
- I need ideas on how to facilitate a productive conversation between [team size] people with different backgrounds and opinions
- I’m looking for techniques to ensure that team meetings are goal-oriented and action-focused
- I need your help creating a comprehensive meeting agenda for our next meeting. Can you suggest key topics to include, such as [LIST OF POSSIBLE TOPICS], and any supporting materials we may need, such as [MATERIALS]? Please ensure that the agenda reflects our objectives for the meeting
6. Use visual aids
It’s rarely a good idea to just have someone talk throughout a meeting—especially in virtual scenarios. It leads to boredom. It’s distracting. It’s a complete waste of time.
Supplement your discussion with visual aids like charts, graphs, or images to make it more engaging and creative.
For example, you could use a PowerPoint presentation with slides showing market trends, a bar chart comparing the performance of previous campaigns, and a Gantt chart outlining the timeline for the new strategy.
You can also enhance your meeting experience with ClickUp Whiteboards.
Whether you’re brainstorming new concepts, mapping out strategies, or visualizing agile workflows, ClickUp Whiteboard’s intuitive interface allows everyone to contribute and see the bigger picture. This makes it easier to align objectives and make informed decisions quickly.
Moreover, you can link relevant documents, files, and notes to provide context within the whiteboard, ensuring that all necessary information discussed during the meeting is at your attendees’ fingertips.
💡Pro Tip: ClickUp Whiteboard has an editing toolbar to capture your ideas. To make your whiteboard more interactive, you can add color-coded shapes, draw freehand, format text, add sticky notes, and link to existing tasks.
7. Encourage everyone to participate
Make sure to create opportunities for everyone to contribute during the meeting by inviting specific individuals in advance to share updates, questions, or thoughts on particular topics.
For instance, ask Employee A to present the market research and Employee B to lead the budget discussion. Encourage using features like the hand raise to jump into the conversation or virtual breakout sessions where small groups can work together on a topic.
You can apply techniques such as ‘think-pair-share’ where attendees first think individually, then discuss with a partner, and finally share with the larger group to ensure balanced participation.
At the end, open the floor to discuss for a designated time. If you’ve observed a pattern of specific people staying quiet during meetings, you could try calling on them to encourage them to speak.
Involving everyone makes the discussion more engaging and gathers a wider range of insights, leading to better meeting outcomes.
8. Share meeting minutes and action items promptly
After the meeting, summarize the key points, decisions, and action items. Ensure all attendees know their next steps, including expected outcomes and deadlines for each task.
For example, after deciding to launch a new campaign, you might assign Employee A the task of creating the plan, with a deadline of next Friday. Similarly, Employee B could handle the budget approval by Wednesday.
This way, everyone knows exactly what they need to do and by when. Invite questions and requests for clarification immediately so there won’t be any follow-up meetings later.
Thanks to our ClickUp Meetings feature, you can take notes, manage an agenda, and set action items that hold your team accountable all in one place.
Here are some of the most widely used features in ClickUp Meetings:
- Rich editing: The editor menu lets you change the font, add color, and format meeting notes in an interactive way
- Assign comments: Assign tasks and comments to your team members and convert them into trackable task
- Create checklists: Add everything to be discussed to the meeting checklist and tick them off as and when they’re done
- Add recurring tasks: Set recurring tasks to ensure you have the agenda ready before the meeting
- /Slash commands: Use /slash commands as shortcuts to save even more time while creating documents or tasks and taking other actions in ClickUp
💡Pro Tip: Once you compile the meeting notes, email the meeting recap within 24 hours so that the points covered are fresh in everyone’s minds. Also, they should be stored in a shared location accessible to all attendees for future reference. For example, you could create a Doc and provide access to it to all meeting participants.
When taking notes from your meeting, you can be as creative and organized as you need to be. Highlight key points, use bullet points for clarity, and organize information efficiently using AI tools for meetings.
If you’re using ClickUp as your project management tool, after the meeting, use ClickUp Brain’s AI note taker to summarize the key talking points and takeaways and send them to all participants. ClickUp Brain can also convert dependencies into tasks and assign them to relevant team members.
In addition, use ClickUp Clips to share audio and screen recordings for action items. For example, embed a Clip in the task description after the meeting, add assignees, and move the task to your List, Folder, or Workspace.
💡Pro Tip: ClickUp Brain transcribes all Clips. So when you ask ClickUp Brain a question, it searches the transcripts of all Clips you’ve created to find an answer.
9. Rotate leadership
Allow different team members to lead meetings periodically. This can provide fresh perspectives and foster leadership skills within the team. For example, if you typically lead the weekly project update meeting, consider assigning a different team member to lead the same meeting each week.
Provide them with the agenda and any necessary preparation materials ahead of time to hold meetings. Encourage them to bring their unique approach to the meeting. After each meeting, give feedback to help them improve their leadership skills. That way, you’ll bring up some variety in your weekly meetings.
10. Create a feedback mechanism
Ask your team for feedback on your meetings at regular intervals and act on their suggestions whenever patterns emerge. For instance, if you regularly get feedback that morning meetings are distracting, you can shift future meetings to the afternoon instead.
This way, you maximize your chances of hosting meetings your team is interested in attending.
Share a short survey or feedback form to capture attendees’ thoughts on how to have productive meetings. ClickUp Forms are customizable, easy to create and complete, and seamlessly connect to trackable tasks for quick action.
With powerful, user-controlled automation, you can turn form responses into tasks that integrate directly into your workflows.
Summarize this article for me pleaseOrganize Productive and Successful Meetings with ClickUp
Work meetings may have developed a reputation for being redundant, but with a shift in how you approach them, they can be highly productive, with meaningful engagement for everyone concerned.
At the end of the day, you have meeting outcomes to accomplish. Sometimes, that will call for a 30-minute meeting; sometimes, it will simply call for rolling up your sleeves and getting to work. Be alert to which is which, and you’ll benefit from a happier and more productive team.
And if you’re still wondering how to prepare for a meeting, you know ClickUp is there with you every step. We offer templates and AI tools for meetings to help you get started.
If you’d like a sneak peek into our interface, sign up for ClickUp for free. You won’t be disappointed. Good luck.
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