Start on time, stick to the objectives, stick to timings and end on time

Given that nearly half of all meeting attendees believe that people arriving late or leaving early for meetings is one of their biggest irritations, establishing meeting discipline in terms of arrival, starting, and finishing on time, is vital. Consider stand up meetings. According to research, the quality of outcomes is similar in both stand up and sit-down meetings, but the meeting length is around 50% less.

● Ensure there is a leader - this might seem obvious, but if no one is in charge the meeting will be unproductive.

● Start on time - stick to the objectives, stick to timings and end on time. It is estimated that the average delay to the start time for a meeting is 10 minutes and 40 seconds, rising to 15 minutes and 42 seconds for senior leaders. And that lost time hurts organisations. Challenge tardiness, explaining how arriving on time helps reduce meeting time.

● Ensure everyone has a say - knowing how to move the attention away from someone who is dominating the discussion and encourage others to contribute is a real skill, and key to getting full engagement. In the words of author Susan Cain, “There is zero correlation between being a good talker and having the best ideas.”

● If people are pulling you off tangent, record the idea with a promise of further discussion at a later stage - Follow this up after the meeting.

● Confirm actions at the end of the meeting - ensure that everyone knows what they are doing at the end of the meeting, and that everyone knows what you are doing as well.

Prepare discussion questions. Questions should be clear and should require a specific response.

Bill Marriott, of the Marriott hotel chain, talks in his autobiography about having the personal discipline to always let everyone else give their view before you express yours. As leaders, very often if we express our view, the room becomes an echo chamber with others repeating back to us verbatim what we have already said. When a team member speaks, it is usually best that the leader is not the first to respond. If you ask people to contribute they have to feel like you are not disagreeing with their contributions.

While it may be true that meetings are not likely to disappear from our calendars, perhaps better preparation and running of meetings could at least make them shorter, more focused, and engaging for all concerned.

David is a school business professional and executive coach.