10: Hi! I'm Kyle Ingham, Founder of The Distilled Man.

12: And today I want to talk to you about how to run an efficient meeting.

15: Now meetings can be one of the biggest wastes of time in office culture

20: and I would wager that probably 5 out of 10 meetings that you sit in are either

23: unnecessary or at the very least inefficiently run.

27: So, how do you make sure all your meetings are productive and efficient?

30: Check out these 8 tips on how to run a perfect meeting.

34: So, number one, figure out if the meeting is even necessary in the first place.

38: Some things by their very nature just not good use of group time.

41: So, if you're trying to get feedback on an extensive document, for instance,

46: something like that might be better handled offline.

48: The idea that you're going to be able to get meaningful review and

51: comments during the meeting from 5 or more people is pretty ridiculous.

56: On the other hand, if items are sensitive or require significant back and forth

61: or clarification,

62: they can be a great use of meeting time.

65: So, number two, and this is a big one,

66: is ensure that only the key people are invited to the meeting.

70: Now remember, meetings are resource intensive.

72: They take up people's time. And most people mistakenly think

76: that if you schedule a one-hour meeting on the

78: calendar and say the meeting is not productive then you've only lost

81: one hour of time, but in fact, you have to look at it in terms of

85: the number of people-hours exhausted.

87: So if you have five people in your meeting and you've had a one hour meeting

90: that's not one hour of wasted time.

93: That's five hours of wasted time. And from there it's pretty easy to quantify

97: how much a meeting is costing either your company or your clients, depending

100: on how your business is set up. Just multiply those person hours by the

104: salaries or your billable rate.

107: Now it's tough to do this one because it

109: sometimes can ruffle feathers when you have to either disinvite people or leave people out,

114: but the fair way to do it is to assign delegates from each department

118: so that you have one person representing from each group or department that their

124: job is to represent that team

126: and then filter that information back to them make sure that their interests

129: are represented, and so on.

130: Number three, set expectations with meeting attendees. Have a clear objective

135: and an agenda for the meeting.

138: You really need to think about what the meeting purpose is.

141: Do you want to decide something?

143: Do you want to gain buy-off on something?

145: Do you want to get input on something?

147: You need to have a clear idea of what

149: the objective of the meeting is.

151: And more importantly, you need to actually communicate that to the people

153: who are in the meeting so that when they get there or even before, ideally,

158: they know why they're there.

159: Now for shorter meetings of 30 minutes, or maybe even an hour,

163: a written agenda isn't necessary in the meeting for everyone, but beyond an hour

167: you absolutely need, not only in a written agenda that sent out ahead of

172: time, but one that's actually in front of the participants during the meeting.

176: And on that note don't beholden to typical meeting times of 30 minutes

180: or an hour just because that's what your calendar tool automatically sets.

184: You may need a face-to-face meeting but it doesn't mean that you need a full 30 minutes

189: Maybe a 15-minute touch base where you just quickly get in the room

194: look each other in the eyes and decide something.

197: So, number four, and this is a tip

198: that I really appreciate, is that the meeting actually starts when the invite is sent out,

204: not when the physical meeting starts.

205: There's a real opportunity to help make a meeting way more productive

209: if you learn appropriate ways to engage your

211: invitees even before the meeting happens.

215: So, for example, let's say that you have something that you want to get people's

218: feedback on. Say you have a 25-page slide deck

222: you want to walk people through.

224: Now, do you think you're going to be more

225: successful in getting feedback if you schedule a 30-minute meeting and just

229: walk through it and give people five minutes to comment? Or do you think it's

233: going to be more successful if you actually you know

236: give people a week heads up,

238: send that deck out a week ahead of time,

241: set really clear expectations that they

244: need to provide feedback and discussion in that meeting? Now, go a step

248: further and ask them to not only read that deck but to provide feedback half a

255: day before or a day before the meeting.

257: Not only do you make the meeting time

259: really productive, if you do end up having a meeting,

262: but, assuming that everyone has similar comments

265: or everyone's aligned on feedback for that thing

268: that you were going to discuss, originally,

270: you may not even need to have a meeting.

273: So, number five and this is closely

274: related to the point we just talked about, you may want to consider

277: pre-wiring meetings that involve important or particularly sensitive topics.

283: And I wanted to thank Bruce over at projectmanagementhacks.com

287: for introducing me to this term.

289: I've done this before but I never really knew the word for it.

292: And essentially the idea is if during a meeting you want to always get

295: alignment, you want to get collaboration.

298: You don't want any surprises you want it,

300: you don't have any land mines, essentially.

303: So, if the topic that you're

305: dealing with is a particularly sensitive one or particularly critical,

309: you may want to consider using that pre-meeting time like we were talking

312: about earlier, but approaching some of the key players who are going to be in

316: the meeting and trying to gain alignment even before the meeting happens.

320: It can just be a quick check-in, a little drop by or drive by and you kind of preview

325: the issue or the topic or the point of view that you're going to

329: share in the meeting and get their thoughts on it. Because if you can

334: kind of hash out any issues that they might have, get alignment from

339: them ahead of time, it's going to go a long way

342: in terms of making for a smooth meeting later.

345: Number six, actively manage your meetings.

348: So, even if you've gone to the trouble of

350: putting together a perfect agenda

352: you still have to actively manage that meeting to make sure that you stay on track.

356: Now of course if real magic is happening and there's some great ideas

360: and great synergy that's happening in the meeting at the time, you don't want

363: to snuff that out necessarily. But a lot of times, and I'm sure you're familiar with this,

368: people will bring up tangential ideas that,

370: sure, it's a great idea but it's kind of off topic and off agenda.

374: So, the trick for that is actually using the parking lot method, where you can

378: just use, you know, a corner of the whiteboard or if you have one of those

381: flip chart sheet things. Just capture that in a parking lot and get them to

386: focus again on the agenda.

387: So, your job as meeting facilitator is to not only make sure that you stay on

392: topic and stay on track, but to make sure that you're getting equal

397: representation from the attendees in the room. And that means that you do have to

401: interrupt sometimes, but you can do that delicately, though.

404: So, for instance you could say something like,

406: "Listen Bill, you made some really really good points here,

409: I actually want to hear what Jane has to say about this as well,

412: and then we can maybe come back to some of your ideas at the end, okay?"

416: So, number seven,

416: and this is absolutely critical, is agree on the next steps that need to be

421: taken during the meeting and then document them.

424: So, as meeting organizer you need to be the one to say,

427: "Okay guys, so I just want to make sure that I'm clear,

430: Bill is going to follow up on this, right? Right Bill?"

434: And then following the meeting, what you want to do is actually

436: send out a quick meeting summary and document

440: those next steps and who is responsible.

442: It really goes a long way in making that meeting time really actionable and productive.

447: Now, the final point,

449: tip eight, and this is a pretty advanced tip.

453: Bring donuts.

455: So, I used to bring donuts to meetings all the time, and actually there was

459: one client that I did it with in particular. It was so consistent that

464: it started being this running joke with them that

467: the marketing director would say, "Oh, I see Kyle and I start salivating."

472: And so I would always bring this pink box of donuts

474: and it was kind of like bringing a gift each time.

477: And it was always exciting because they knew they were going to get

479: their sugar rush when it came. So, we always had a good laugh and then it was

483: just kind of a nice way to start each meeting with a smile.

486: And with your internal team, yeah sure, you could look at it as bribing them with sugar.

490: But I'm telling you, it's amazing what people will do for donuts.

495: So, remember not every topic is worthy of a meeting, but if you do need a meeting

499: it's critical that you follow these tips to make sure that all of your meetings

502: are as efficient and productive as possible.

505: And if there's other tips and tactics

507: you've used to make meetings more productive, let me know in the comments.

511: Well, I hope you found this helpful.

512: If you like this video, please hit like below and make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel,

516: if you want to see more videos like this.

518: And finally you can download a copy of my free PDF guide,

522: 48-Hour Gentleman: Your One-Weekend Plan to More Confidence, Poise and Manly Know-How.

528: Thanks again for watching and I'll see you soon.