Best Practices to Make Meeting Participants Active and Attentive

by | Last updated Oct 19, 2022 | Published on Sep 4, 2018 | Business Transcription

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Meetings have an important role to play in any business organization and are the best occasions to discuss and make important decisions. Constructive meetings are the best way to get the team together and have a healthy interaction. These meetings can be recorded and transcribed into notes with the help of business transcription services that can be used for later reference and for maximizing efficiency.

Meeting

Meetings always have an agenda that list a number of activities that need to be fulfilled for the growth of the company. Some believe that meetings are a necessity and many others believe that it is a pure waste of time. Meetings are estimated to cost businesses as much as $37 billion every year and around 30% of the employees believe that meetings are unproductive. Conducting a meeting efficiently is not enough but the participation of the members attending is also important to make it productive. So, following are some tips for encouraging participation in a meeting:

  • Speak with passion: For a host, it is not always easy to keep all the employees on track. So, to capture and maintain the attention of your employees you must talk with passion, purpose and determination. Sometimes you could be conveying a message that may not be interesting but talk with enthusiasm and that will make your employees attentive.
  • Be humorous: It is no secret that meetings can be boring when there is continuous discussion about work-related topics. This can make the employees tired and sleepy. So, it is best to include humor in the talk. Laughter can increase blood circulation and also activate gamma waves in the brain that make one more alert. It also reduces social distance between people and reduces stress.
  • Keep your phones or any smart devices away: Smartphones, laptops computers etc are useful for employees but it can distract them. Not allowing them to use it during meetings may sound like treating them as students in a classroom. But eliminating the usage of smart devices in a meeting helps employees to focus more and in case of urgent personal matters, one can attend the phone call or email outside the meeting room to prevent disturbances.
  • Invite only important personnel: Whenever you conduct a meeting, make sure to invite only those delegates who are important and directly involved in the meeting. Inviting irrelevant people for the meeting can be a waste of time for the attendee as well as the host. For those who are included in the meeting, make sure that they are well aware of the topic that needs to be discussed.
  • Address everyone: Address each participant individually about their assignment and any changes they might experience. Ask them if they have anything to share. This will encourage the participants to talk and share more insights, opinions and views.
  • Keep a facilitator: Assign a person who would encourage people who haven’t spoken to actively engage, ask the participants if something is missing and ensure that everything is fine. This person must be one who would ensure that the meeting achieves its objectives and that all attendees are engaged and focused.

Keeping meetings short and conducting them in a concise manner helps the attendees to give their full attention. With the help of general transcription services, all important decisions taken in the meeting can be transcribed into accurate notes. Before ending the meeting, make sure to ask everyone and get feedback about the meeting. This will make everyone feel that their voice is heard and they are given equal importance. Well-organized and productive meetings improve interaction among the employees and management, and among the employees themselves. Meeting organizers should take effective steps and follow the above-mentioned tips to get the most out of their business meetings.

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