Make Your Meetings Great – And Save Time And Energy

Ever wondered why your meetings rarely end before their scheduled end time?

*๐—ฆ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฝ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜€๐—ฒ*

*๐——๐—ฟ๐˜‚๐—บ-๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐—น๐—น*

Most of us love to talk!

Ok, that probably didnโ€™t come as a surprise.

While talking builds connection, having days full of long calls depletes our energy.

And weโ€™re all busy, sometimes overworked.

We spend so much time in calls,
calls that donโ€™t end when they served their purpose.

They end when the time is up. Or after.

Then we rush to the next one, skipping lunch, feeling stressed.

How can we do this better?

As a team, take ownership of your time and productivity, together.

I created a team agreement for you that can help you.

Give it a try. Let me know how many free hours you gained this month!

See -Free Downloads – for the document.

How To Have Effective 1:1’s With Your Team Members

Remember those 30-minute one-on-one meetings that felt more like a cozy chat than a productive meeting? We laughed, we talked, but often missed the key points.

It turns out, most managers, myself included, learned to conduct effective 1:1s more through slow experience than quick training.

Good 1:1s meet both the work and personal needs of your team.

Here’s how to make yours better:

1. ๐—–๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ธ-๐—ถ๐—ป ๐—ผ๐—ป ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น-๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด: Be genuinely curious and caring about how your direct reports are doing. Example questions: “How did you feel this week?” “What was your best moment?” “How has your week been?”

2. ๐—จ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ ๐˜๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—น ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐Ÿญ:๐Ÿญ๐˜€: Tools like Asana, Jira, or even Google Sheets are great to track your meetings. Both you and your team member should add updates and agenda points, and review those, before the meeting.

3. ๐—ž๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ ๐—ฎ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฟ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜: Follow a set agenda. Cover open topics, action items, blockers, questions and successes. Save your valuable meeting time for discussion – you can share regular updates through the online tool.

4. ๐—ฃ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฐ๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜๐˜† ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐˜๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜€: Starting on time and avoiding cancellations shows respect. It signals to your team you value their time.

5. ๐—™๐—ผ๐—น๐—น๐—ผ๐˜„ ๐˜‚๐—ฝ: If you promise to take an action, update your team on the progress. Itโ€™s a great way to build trust. Ask the same from your team.

6. ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด: For leaders, information is gold. The leader that listens well has a big advantage. Listening also makes your team feel heard and cared about. (We all overestimate our ability to listen.)

7. ๐—”๐˜€๐—ธ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ณ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐˜๐—ถ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€: Encourage them to think and reflect about their week. Ask about highlights and challenges. Instead of giving your ideal solution right away, ask them what they think first. This supports growth and learning.

Using these tips, you can turn 1:1s from simple chats into powerful tools for growth and success.