5 Factors That Lead to Unproductive Meetings

Have you ever been in a meeting where you ask yourself why you are wasting precious time? While meetings are essential especially when working with a group, at times things do not turn out the way you thought it would be. There are a multitude of reasons why you found yourself in unproductive meetings, and why it happened from the 5 factors and how to fix it.

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1. The meetings could have been a straightforward email or a simple note

One of the major reasons why many companies are managing unproductive meetings is because most of their meetings end up being unnecessary, to begin with. If you are planning to hold a meeting, the purpose of it should be defined in the first place. What are the main goals and the desired result? It is necessary to pinpoint an outcome to justify a company meeting.

Take, for example, a meeting is essential if the main goal is to reach an important decision. Unless, if you are not able to determine the significance and want to address an issue without any purpose or agenda, you won’t need to have a meeting. Instead, you should consider a different and more productive approach to discussing the matter. Organizing a meeting qualification process can be helpful to avoid setting up unnecessary meetings in the future. 

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2. You did not establish any agenda before the meeting

One of the most common issues, why meetings are unproductive, is that you didn’t have an agenda in the first place. Having a meeting without any properly outlined objectives can gradually turn into an aimless meeting that wastes everyone’s time. As the organizer of the meeting, it’s important to set an agenda and inform everyone that is involved in advance. Most meetings tend to have a list of items that need to be addressed and discussed. 

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3. There is no context throughout the meeting

Another common issue why meetings end up a time-waster is that they lack context and this tends to occur as a failure to define the purpose and objective of a meeting. If you arrange a similar meeting that occurred last week, would the attendees be able to recall what has been discussed? 

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4. There are no good action point process

Action point processes are essential for advancing things forward in each meeting that took place. They can provide a goal for both the closing of one meeting and the opening for future meetings. Action points provide the necessary information to ensure that every person involved will have the proper course of action.

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5. There are no simple follow-up process on the actionable points

It’s important to establish a simple follow-up process for the actions points that you have listed above. The follow-up process should begin immediately after the meeting concluded. Your action points should include a detailed description and a deadline. Next, you need to have set a process in place to ensure everyone else can provide status updates. 

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You Jing is a content writer who writes career and lifestyle contents to inspire job seekers and employers alike on their journey to work-life balance, empowerment and transformation in their career path.

Reach me at youjing@jobstore.com