Making the Most of Your Project Team Meetings

Anyone who has sat through a long and boring project management team meeting has probably thought, at least once, “Why am I here?” Team meetings don’t have to be aimless, dull and never-ending. Here are a few helpful tools to help make your next teem meeting more effective, shorter and maybe even add a little fun into the mix.

The meeting should be as short as you can make it. However, it must be long enough to accomplish the task(s) at hand. Try dividing the number of minutes allotted for the meeting by the number of people attending. If this number is 4 or less you’ve either invited too many people or not allowed enough time to get things done.

Distribute the agenda beforehand. This accomplishes two things. First of all, people won’t be surprised and will have time to think about what will be discussed before the meeting begins. Second, circulating a handout during a meeting wastes time and those attending the meeting spend time reading and trying to digest the material, rather than getting right to work.

The best way to spice up a dull meeting is through the use of humor. It reduces stress, increases creativity and lightens the overall mood of the meeting. Add a little lively music before the meeting or tell a joke or two to start things out. If joke-telling isn’t your forte find a person on the team who is good at it.

What works for one project management team may not work for another, but trying something new could be the key to turning a boring, ineffective meeting into one that actually moves the team forward.