Leading business meetings is something you have to learn

Starting the meetings with the most unimportant things

If you start with unimportant things, there is a risk of getting lost in discussions and in the end the meeting ends without you having discussed the really important things in the team.

Not thinking through and pre-planning the meeting

For me, the invitation should include a structure. And by that I don't just mean the tops (agenda items) and the start and end times, but also how much time is allocated to each item. This already leads to a good orientation and discipline when there is a lot of discussion.

So if everyone knows that only 10 minutes were planned for the current discussion point, but you are now already talking for 8 minutes, the rule is: postpone further discussion and decision or finally come to the result.

The other thing you have to think about is what are each of the points about?

Is it about informing? Is it about discussing? Is it to make a decision?

I like to mark the respective agenda item with the letter I for informing, D for discussing and E for decision. Of course, this can also be D and I: first we discuss, then we decide.

I also find it important and helpful to note who is responsible for what.

Who informs this point: do you do it as a manager? Or a certain employee? Then write the name in question in the invitation.

You want the decision to be made by the team after the discussion? Then write to the E like decision also "team".

You want the team to discuss, but you want to make the decision alone?
Then stand by it and write your name already in the invitation at the E.

In this way, it is already clear to all invitees at the time of the invitation what the respective agenda item is about. Information, discussion or decision. And with whom the respective responsibility lies.

Believe me from experience. This leads to clarity even during the meeting.

Wait to start the meeting because employees have not yet arrived?

Personally, I find this tedious: I myself make an effort to be on time, maybe even take a train earlier so that I'm on time and then they wait another 5-10 minutes for other people. If I had known this from the beginning, I would have arrived later.
Why show consideration for the unpunctual here? Why not reward the punctual for showing up on time and start accordingly as scheduled?

Overrun the meeting?

Just as you start on time, you should also finish on time.

Since you started with the most important points at the beginning of the meeting, there should hopefully be no important points left open at the end.
And even if they do: most participants don't feel like overdoing it either and get nervous towards the end, because there's enough work waiting at the desk anyway.

Just talk yourself and maybe even cut off the participants word

If you're really one of those leaders whose speaking percentage in a team meeting is 90%, you should consider what the benefit of the meeting is for everyone involved.

In this case, you will probably only inform and that, sorry, is also possible in writing. I don't need to call a meeting for that.
In a meeting is discussed, that already requires several people who speak.

In a meeting, different people with different ideas come together, aspects are examined from different angles, and those involved contribute their many years of experience.

So if you are the one who talks almost exclusively, from my point of view something is going wrong

Always run the meeting yourself?

There is a danger of cutting off others or talking too much yourself, especially if you yourself are the one preparing and conducting the meetings, i.e. also leading the discussions.
The more you relinquish leadership and let each team member lead the discussion at times, the more responsibility is distributed.

This way, every team member notices how challenging it actually is to lead the meeting. Maybe this also leads to a more positive effect on punctuality and participation in discussions.

Not only chair the meeting yourself, but also take the minutes to the meeting.

Hey, it is not written anywhere that the meeting leader must also prepare the minutes. At least, I haven't found this rule in any organizational handbook or the like.
So, as the meeting leader, make it easy on yourself and focus on running the meeting and leading the discussion. Please delegate the writing of the minutes to someone else. And by the way, you can also rotate this job, so that everyone in the team has a turn at taking the minutes.

Leave silent employees out of the discussions

There is a lot of potential buried in quieter employees. Just because they don't speak up in larger meetings doesn't mean that they don't have ideas and opinions. It is therefore all the more important to use other methods that do not rely so much on verbal expressions, but instead ask for ideas and opinions in writing. Keywords: Brainwriting/collection of ideas via moderation cards or Post-it`s.

Never question your own meeting system

A daily morning round? A weekly team meeting? Plus a 14-day status quo meeting?

Often, certain routines have crept in over the years and hardly anyone questions whether the structures and processes are still really purposeful.
So take a self-critical look at which meetings are really necessary within your team; maybe it's time for something new.

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