Ahh communication – it’s so vital to everything we do! And too many of us are stuck in too many meetings and wasting time. While the world understands the importance of a meeting, not everyone does a great job holding them even if they have an idea of how a meeting should go. From an initial interview, a prospecting lead, a conference call, or even just sitting down to stay in touch, all of those ideas can have a great deal of consequences and importance attached to them.
The hardest thing is the actual preparation for your meeting itself and then presenting yourself well. What you shouldn’t be stuck spinning your wheels on is the setup. Whether you’re meeting in person or virtually, aim to keep things simple and to the point. If you’re effective you can accomplish all of your goals.
Communication is King
Effective communication is the key to any business or organization getting ahead (or staying ahead). It might sound so simple that it shouldn’t be listed as a talking point, but the truth is more companies either pass on this because they don’t see the importance, or they think they’re doing a great job but are actually failing at it.
By never taking the time to consider faulty communication, smaller problems become amplified. As organizations grow, the small glitches in communication actually balloon with the company and become major rifts. By the time a company realizes that it needs to streamline its communication processes and procedures, it’s probably wasted a ton of time, money, and its reputation just trying to get it right.
Communication might not seem like the most important thing to be a successful organization but if you don’t have it, symptoms will creep up out of nowhere and hit every department. Communication successes and problems aren’t just limited to within an organization and its clients either. We all know it affects our personal lives too.
Mastering the Efficiencies of Communication
Once you understand the need to communicate and keep everyone on the same page, it becomes even more important to communicate effectively. People get so much more out of a meeting if it is done efficiently. Time is valuable, don’t waste it! It’s inefficient to hold meetings longer than 45 minutes. So don’t block off the better part of a day, especially for a simple meeting that should only last a half hour.
Compare the point of the meeting to what you’re giving up by having the meeting in the first place. Have a clear picture of the potential gains (sales, efficiency, communication, networking, and etc.). And understand what won’t be able to take place while the meeting is in session to help you make the most of each minute.
This becomes all the more important when you realize that we live in a society where impatience is tested within a few seconds. You don’t have to be the best leader, just set yourself up for success by being concise, clear, and well organized.
Minimizing the Costs of Communication
While some meetings and presentations obviously require the in-person touch, there are more and more opportunities to experience face to face interaction without having to actually leave your desk. The capabilities of newer systems make it easy for anyone to login to a virtual meeting space.
Forget about the hassles of competing with your colleagues to reserve a conference room or having to travel to a client’s office – try hosting a meeting right from your desk virtually. Traveling to offsite meetings can get expensive and exhausting over time. When you’re on the road all the time it can also get stressful.
Conference calls and digital meetings can help you have more time and money to use towards other things like marketing and improving your relationships with through team building events or happy hours. Be smarter with your time this year!
No matter what your next meeting is about, remember the importance of how you prepare, present, and stay concise. You want everyone attending to get the most out of it in the shortest amount of time possible.
Utilize technology to beat your budget and pursue relationships that wouldn’t otherwise be “worth the upfront costs.” Don’t set yourself or your team up for failure; take the time to understand the best strategies for meetings so you can be successful!
Further Reading:
Bridge The Intent Impact Gap For Better Communication – Are you out of touch with reality and how others perceive you? Learn how to close that gap and be a better communicator.
Ways To Improve Communication And Increase Happiness – We communicate all day long so don’t you think it’s worth spending some time to get better at it? Find out how you can increase your happiness.
Why Communication Fails At Work And How We Can Fix It – Do you know the 10 main reasons why communication breaks down at the office? You will after reading this post!
How To Improve Communication At Work And In Your Personal Life – Life is so much easier when we all get along. Stop feeling frustrated and learn how to improve your communication skills.
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