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In a perfect world, you'd have plenty of time to get everything done. But things come up at the last minute, and sometimes you need to call a meeting on the fly - whether to brainstorm ideas, make an urgent announcement, or revisit strategic plans.
Ad hoc meetings are becoming more and more common in the workplace, and if they're approached in the right way, they can be much more productive than those organized meetings you had weeks to plan.
So how can you plan for an unplanned meeting? Follow these guidelines to make ad hoc meetings what they're supposed to be: a productive way to keep your team competitive.
1. Set a goal. If you don't have time to put together a formal meeting agenda, at least have a clear objective. Sticking to that objective is important - far more important than worrying about whether or not you have a slick PowerPoint presentation. And Richard Branson says you should skip the slides, anyway.
2. Decide who needs to attend. Good meetings help coworkers share information, come up with new ideas, and keep their teams on track. But meetings also come in many different shapes and sizes, depending on what the objective is.
If you're making an announcement or going over numbers with your sales team, you can get together in a large group. But if you want to discuss an issue or have a brainstorming session, then the meeting should be much smaller. Here's a rule of thumb: The smaller the meeting, the more collaborative it'll be.
3. Use the right tools. With many employees doing different things during the day, it can be difficult to get everyone to drop what they're doing at a moment's notice. Let coworkers join the meeting on their own terms via phone and screen sharing with an instant, easy-to-use tool like join.me.
4. Be flexible about where you meet. If you can't secure a conference room for in-person attendees, stay on your feet in a quiet corner of the office. When people stand, they don't waste time, which will help keep the meeting focused.
If space is limited and you're expecting remote participants, opt to gather at someone's desk where you can use a single phone or computer to conference others in.
5. Keep control of the meeting. Make sure everyone remains on point. Remember your meeting objective. Anything off-topic can be saved for another time or a follow-up email.
6. Let other people speak. If you're not making an announcement, let others speak up. Bringing others into the conversation shows that your coworkers' ideas are valuable. After all, if you just wanted to hear yourself talk, then maybe you shouldn't have had a meeting in the first place.
7. Keep the meeting short. To make sure the meeting ends promptly, you can implement certain rules such as limiting the amount of time each person has to speak, or just keeping track of the clock. If you're expecting a few people to contribute, make sure they are aware of that, and that they come prepared with a few line items to discuss.
There are many ways to have a good meeting, and these are just a few of them. Stay on point, keep things clear, and be flexible about how you get everyone together. Follow these tips, and these ad hoc meetings will be a valuable tool in keeping you and your team in top form.
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