How long should meetings be

Meetings should be followed up with minutes, if appropriate, and progress monitoring on assigned tasks. Then decide if it needs to be dealt with or requires a separate conversation when people are prepared. If the meeting is to stick to its allocated time, items may need to be deferred. A classic time waster in meetings is the PowerPoint presentation so consider limiting its use.

Please update your payment details to keep enjoying your Irish Times subscription. How long should a work meeting last? Short and snappy meetings are key as people begin to switch off after 30 minutes Fri, Oct 7, , Updated: Fri, Oct 7, , Olive Keogh.

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Schedule long meetings for the afternoon. While no one really wants to lose a huge chunk of time to a meeting, if the agenda requires that, afternoons work best.

Once people come back from work, they can usually stay for up to four hours if necessary. Schedule right before quitting time to get it done quickly.

Again, most people want to clear out quickly in the afternoon, so if you need to deal with an issue quickly, set the meeting for 3 pm or 4 pm. Late afternoons may also work better for customers, since they have fewer conflicts.

Remember, people with young children may have to leave earlier than most. Consider evenings for high-level meetings. Tip: make all your meetings 5 minutes shorter. Many of us experience many back to back meetings. Sorry that is not an an acceptable excuse and you should not accept that from your colleagues either.

To make sure this does not happen again in your organization, schedule your meetings to end 5 minutes before the bottom and the top of the hour. So your meetings will now be 25 and 55 minutes instead of 30 and 60 minutes. This gives participants time to go to the next meeting or dial in and start the next meeting on time. With a mind-set of getting decisions made quickly and efficiently, a well-planned 25 minute meeting your old 30 minute meeting has the potential to achieve a lot.

A short meeting like this for which an agenda with topics to be discussed during the meeting has been circulated in advance can clear up a number of different project issues or process questions quickly. An hour meeting might be appropriate for a topic that requires a greater depth of discussion. For example, the annual review is an example of a meeting that may require an hour, as there is a need to get into depth regarding what the employee has been doing, what they have achieved and what still needs to be worked on.

Both participants in this case need sufficient time to be able to articulate their points to feel satisfied that the meeting was constructive.

A project update meeting for a large project with several key stakeholders may also fit into this category, so that every business function has the opportunity to have just a few minutes to provide their update and ask questions. Try to avoid meetings that last more than one hour. In most cases these are meetings that are too long and not being sufficiently efficient with time.

Staff can use the breaks to check e-mail or even disconnect for a few minutes making them come back feeling refreshed for the next part of the meeting.

Get started by determining the type of meeting space needed , and then reach out to us for availability. Manheim PA Warehouse Hotel. Engagement Levels First, it's important to understand engagement levels before determining the ideal length of a meeting. Schedule Minute and Minute Meetings Typically, minute meetings are not daunting. The minute meeting can easily be broken down into: Five minutes to greet and farewell 15 minutes to determine the overall needs Five minutes to figure out how to go about getting those tasks accomplished This format is great for keeping staff attentive and engaged.

Tips for Better Meetings If you're hoping to improve your meetings, start with the following steps: End five minutes early. Avoid letting tangents derail the meetings.