Call meetings what you will—a productive place offering healthy exchange of ideas, or an exercise in boredom—but their importance cannot be overstated. Productive meetings are an excellent means of finding meaningful progress towards company goals, as well as a way to build teamwork and to learn about the work of your colleagues.

There are certain actions and behaviors, however, that can absolutely kill any productivity you may find in an office meeting, both on an individual and a group level. Read on to find out what not to do at a meeting!

Mistakes That Individuals Make At Meetings

Don’t Arrive Late

How you operate and carry yourself in the workplace has a drastic impact on how your efforts are perceived. Arriving late isn’t just a faux pas; showing up 5 minutes past when a meeting is supposed to begin shows that you aren’t interested in being productive as a group, that you don’t know how to manage time well, and/or you don’t value the time of your peers.

Don’t Zone Out or Fail to Participate

Meetings can be more than boring at times if they’re poorly run. But meetings also contain a lot of important information that you need to know. And more importantly, meetings are a platform on which you can provide insights and ideas, offering up your knowledge in order to craft a healthier and more productive workplace. You shouldn’t rob yourself of this opportunity, and a good leader shouldn’t deny you the chance, either.

Don’t Interrupt

Getting your thoughts and ideas out there is important. But it is not more important than the ideas of others. Value the insights of your peers and respect the time they are allotted—especially if you expect the same treatment when you are speaking.

Mistakes Groups Make at Meetings

Scheduling Meetings Simply for the Sake of Doing So
Meetings should have a point. It doesn’t need to be a big point, it can be as simple as taking 10 minutes to get some team feedback on the current projects your group is working on. But planning a daily meeting religiously when you don’t really have anything important to impart or discuss is a waste of everyone’s time.

Talking in Circles

Hanging on one point for the entire estimated duration of the meeting is a very common mistake to make. The easiest rule of thumb is this: if one single talking point is capable of taking up an entire meeting, it should have its own designated meeting. However, if the conversation can be trimmed down without sacrificing progress, moderate the conversation when everyone starts repeating themselves.

To avoid any power struggles or awkward dynamics, it’s a good idea to rotate the person responsible for keeping the team on track.

Not Respecting the Team’s Time

Meetings are important, and there’s no denying that. But they also consume a lot of time, and that is a resource that no business has an excess of. Be careful to avoid meetings dragging on too long, or cutting into important work time. This is an exceptionally common problem. If your team struggles to meet deadlines, carefully examine how much time is spent in meetings that are not entirely necessary.

Feeling like your meetings aren’t quite getting much done? Or anything done? The next time you have a meeting of the minds at your workplace, go over this list and see if anything sticks out. If your team is committing a don’t, bring up a potential solution!

Don’t Do THIS at Meetings!