Whether meetings are in-person, virtual, or joint, they often have one thing in common: late and irregular starts. People come at the wrong time, and those who do arrive fill in the blanks with useless chatter.

bestselling Author, Vanessa Van Edwardssuggest approaches that will keep the meeting on time and positive.

timely and positive

It is inevitable that some participants will not arrive on time. That’s even more possible with hybrid and virtual meetings, where last-minute technical difficulties like “camera not found” or an unexpected reboot can delay remote participants.

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Van Edwards suggests a simple solution: start the meeting on time and have participants share something positive within the first three minutes of the meeting. He used this approach himself. “My team knows that. They come to the meeting prepared to celebrate and have something good. Latecomers, if they miss it, that’s okay.”

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This positive note is not a long description of a great experience. Instead they are brief and to the point.

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Van Edwards explains: “Whoever answered the call first started with something good. Then something good rolled around. ‘Oh, I’m learning Mandarin.’ Someone says, ‘Oh, I’m planting my garden.’ Someone said, ‘Oh, my daughter just graduated fifth grade.'”

The goal is to spend only about the first three minutes in this positive exchange. “Everyone was sharing something fast and that made the first three minutes structured in a positive way,” said Van Edwards.

Set Punctuality Expectations

To prevent more serious delays and prevent people from missing out on important discussions, set clear expectations. Van Edwards suggests saying something like, “We’ll start at 3:05. If you need to use the bathroom or coffee, do so within the first 5 minutes. We’ll start at 3:05 and Tim will come right in.” with your agenda item when we get started.”

This approach to starting meetings accommodates latecomers but avoids what Van Edwards calls the “terrible opening.” This sets a positive tone and ensures that meaningful discussions are initiated immediately.

A few more tips for productive meetings

Van Edward’s positive sharing approach works best in regular meetings with mostly the same audience. Some encounters don’t repeat or have a changing cast of characters. Here are some more tips that can help meetings produce better results.

Set clear goals for the meeting

Before any meeting, it is important that you know exactly what you want to achieve. This will help everyone stay focused. Communicate the goals to all participants in advance.

Prepare an agenda and send it in advance

An agenda helps keep meetings organized and on track. It should include a list of topics to be covered and, if applicable, specify how much time will be spent on each topic. Send agendas to all attendees at least one day in advance so they can arrive prepared.

Start and end meetings on time

We’ve covered the best way to get started, but also annoy attendees if the meeting takes longer than expected. Be punctual and adhere to scheduled start times, topic lengths, and end times. Keep an eye on the clock to make sure the track near the end ends cleanly.

Involve all participants

Meetings are conversations. Everyone should be able to contribute. Be sure to solicit input and feedback from all participants. This is especially important for virtual participants who can be ignored or difficult to interrupt.

Keep the meeting focused

It is very easy for meetings to discuss topics that are intersecting or unrelated. Follow agendas and meeting schedules. If someone starts to get distracted, gently remind them that their worries can be dealt with at another time.

follow

After the meeting, it is important to follow up on any actions or decisions made during the meeting. Send meeting summaries and clarifications of all tasks, assignments and deadlines.

Avoid unnecessary meetings

People almost universally complain that there are too many meetings and they spend too much time in them. But they still attended the meetings. While it’s great to focus on improving meetings, I think it’s also important to ask yourself two questions:

• Is this meeting really necessary?
• Is it really necessary for all invited attendees to attend?

When meetings can be eliminated or participant lists reduced, the entire organization is more productive.

Note published in Forbes US.