One of the many ways that teams can work more effectively together and be efficient with everyone's time is by evaluating their meeting structure. Here are 4 steps you can take this week to maximize your time by ensuring meetings are being held in the way they are intended:

1. Evaluate the purpose of any recurring meetings you have set. What is the goal of those meetings? Are they still useful? Are the right people involved? 

If the answer to any of those questions is "no" or "I don't know," take time this week to work on fixing that by revisiting the "WHY" behind the meeting and based on the "WHY," fill in the "WHO."

2. Set an agenda. Do all of your meetings have an agenda? Your agenda doesn't need to be complicated, but letting people know what you plan to cover can help the time together be more productive. Agendas give everyone a chance to prepare ahead of time, and also keep the team from diving down rabbit holes. Someone in the meeting must also take on the role of "timekeeper" to ensure the agenda is adhered to. 

3. Prioritize your one-on-ones. Jim Cali, one of our ACE Peer Group Executive Coaches, is the king of the one-on-one meeting. These are meetings with your direct reports to keep you and the team on track through regular check-ins. Mix in personal and professional updates, and be sure you both save things for these scheduled meetings.

4. Save items for your meetings. Use the meetings you have to keep other time uninterrupted. If something isn't urgent, remind your coworkers to save things for the next meeting. Try to do the same for them: it helps everyone to focus on their work outside of the set meeting times. 

Meetings can jumpstart productivity, or they can zap it. By focusing on making them more efficient, we can boss our calendars instead of letting them boss us, so we get more time back during the week. 

We'll talk to you next Sunday!