Consider these strategies to make your next meeting a grand success

1. Consider these strategies to make your next meeting a grand success Meetings are vital for any business, and with audio transcription services you can get meeting transcripts. Here are some tips to make meetings effective. MOS Legal Transcription Company 8596 E. 101st Street, Suite H Tulsa, OK 74133

2. Meetings are an important part of any business setup as these provide the occasion for interaction and active discussion. The proceedings of a meeting can be transcribed using audio transcription services and maintained for future reference. Many people consider meetings a waste of time. This is mainly because organizers may overlook several key aspects that contribute to making meetings successful. As statistics show, businesses spend billions of dollars on ineffective meetings every year. Poor meetings fail to generate ideas and also negatively affect productivity. This calls for more awareness about conducting meetings so that the objectives of the meetings are met. Following are some of the best strategies to consider when conducting a business meeting. Lay down your objectives: Often, meetings are held without establishing what they want to achieve. So, identify your objectives before the meeting and this will help you to stick to the topic and let your employees know what the meeting objectives are. Keep track of the time and avoid unnecessary rambling: In a meeting, the team always has a tendency to discuss topics that were already discussed before or narrate a long story; this is a waste of time. Ensure that the meeting host good control over the topics discussed during the meeting and keep track of the time. If team members tend to ramble, then interrupt them and request them to get to the point or make the narrative short. This will help you save a lot of time and also make the meetings more productive. Have an agenda: Meetings usually take up a lot of time but having an agenda helps to keep within the allotted time and discuss all the topics you want to discuss. It will also enable you to avoid unnecessary confusion or rambling. The agenda should define the purpose of the meeting and outline the topics. It helps to keep everyone focused and discuss what is important without wasting any time. Send out meeting agendas to the team members ahead of the meeting so that they can prepare for the meeting. Here are some tips to make a good agenda:  Mention the purpose of the meeting and write it clearly at the top of the agenda. If you do not have a clear goal or objective, then there is no need for conducting the meeting. Consider using a memo, e-mail, conference calls or series of one to one meetings to canvas participants about meeting topics prior to creating the agenda. www.legaltranscriptionservice.com 918-221-7810

3.  Set priorities and identify which topics need to be discussed first. This will prevent any confusion and ensure more clarity to what you are trying to achieve.  Do not include too many topics in one sitting; keep the agenda focused on a few items. Cut down on meeting attendees and unnecessary meetings: Invite only people who can contribute to the meeting, avoid inviting unnecessary attendees. Moreover, all participants should be knowledgeable about the topics discussed in the meeting. This will minimize noise and prevent waste of time. This will also ensure that the meeting is conducted efficiently and effectively. Similarly, do not conduct more meetings than what are actually required. Go through your schedule and identify which meetings are important. Unnecessary meetings are a waste of time as well as it also affects the productivity of the employees. Keep it short and do not drag: Meetings can sometimes last for 40 minutes or one hour or more. Try to keep your meetings to 30 minutes or lesser because people tend to get distracted easily. The best tip to keep your meeting short is, before the meeting starts say that you have scheduled a call after 30 minutes. This will let your team know that the meeting can’t drag and keep them attentive during the meeting. Other tips: Arrive early for the meeting especially if you are the host. A late facilitator can spoil the energetic mood of the meeting. Do not wait for everyone, meetings should start at the scheduled time. If other participants are late to the meeting, you should repeat the topics again. Similarly, if any of the latecomers is essential to the first agenda item, then be flexible and move on to other topics and keep things moving. If some members of the meeting are not participating, then make sure to get their opinion. Stay focused on the purpose of the meeting. Stand-up meetings are often encouraged because it ensures that meeting participants stay focused. Ensure that the decisions made during the meetings are adequately disseminated, especially to staff members who are personally impacted by the decision. Also ensure that the company resources are appropriately redistributed to make effective execution of decision. www.legaltranscriptionservice.com 918-221-7810

4. CommonMeeting Pitfalls to Avoid  The host puts aside the agenda of the meeting for his own agenda  Loud group members are allowed to dominate the meeting  Key members of the team are ignored or not present  Decisions are made based on generalization, exaggerations, guesswork and assumption  Discussions consistently go out of topics  Overly ambitious agenda  The host allows interruptions like telephone conversations, interference from outsiders etc  Too many participants  Meetings exceed beyond agreed time limits  Waiting for latecomers to arrive  Improper or unclear decision making process Factors Affecting Meetings Conducting a meeting effectively depends on several factors:  The circumstance, mood, atmosphere, and background  Organizational requirements  The team or the meeting delegates (the needs and interests of those attending)  The meeting organizer’s confidence experience, personal aims, role etc.  The organizer’s position and relationship with the team  Aims of the meeting The most important step in holding a successful meeting is planning. The above mentioned steps could enable you to conduct a meeting efficiently and achieve your objectives. To keep a tab on all important decisions taken in the meeting, you can hire a general transcription service provider that can ensure accurate meeting transcription www.legaltranscriptionservice.com 918-221-7810