If you are a manager and the majority of your workday was spent in meetings, you will probably just be satisfied having attended a good meeting. But what if the meeting could be more effective, energising and maybe even a positive experience?

I have written numerous articles with titles such as, why most meetings are awful , stop sucking at meetings and end frustrating meetings . These all reflect the general view of meetings; they are ineffective and a waste of time. However, this does not have to be the case. Meetings are a great opportunity for connectivity, collaboration, decision-making and action. When run right, meetings not only work, they make people and companies better. 

I do believe ineffective meetings are a cost that any business arguably has the greatest opportunity to control; therefore making meetings work is potentially the next productivity breakthrough for businesses. So let’s start with what makes a good meeting? It is the usual tips; I call the basic requirements of any meeting:

  1. Meetings must have a purpose and agenda
  2. Invite the right people; doers, decision makers & those impacted
  3. Have a meeting leader and timed agenda
  4. Close with actions and circulate/store minutes


By only having a meeting when necessary and being able to answer clearly WHY you are calling or attending the meeting will result in a more effective meeting for all who gave up their time and attended. But a good meeting has a few more requirements:

  • Timely - It should start and end on time
  • Collaborative - Everyone participates equally but squelch side conversations
  • Consistent - Stick to the agenda and do not be hijacked by an individual with their own agenda
  • Summarise - At the close of each agenda item read back the items discussed, actions, ownership, and status or timeframes involved
  • Effectual - Stuff gets done!


So what elevates a good meeting into a positive meeting experience? In positive meetings people enjoy themselves and look forward to the next meeting. They go that extra step to be:

  • Open – People say what they really think
  • Collaborative – Everyone participates equally but squelch side conversations
  • Creative – Thinking goes beyond the usual
  • Celebrate Success – Recognition is an important part of building a positive culture


Professor  Fredrickson at the University of North Carolina has found that positive emotions like interest, awe, pride, amusement, gratitude to name just a few, don’t just trade our good thoughts for bad ones, rather they literally broaden the way our brains are working. For example, when you experience positive emotions the research suggests: 

  • Your field of peripheral vision is expanded so you can take in about 75 percent of what’s happening, versus 15 percent in a neutral or negative mood.
  • Your brain is flooded with dopamine and serotonin helping you to make and sustain more neural connections so you can organize new information, think more quickly and creatively, become more skilled at complex analysis and problem solving, and see and invent new ways of doing things.
  • And because your brain feels safe, you think more about “we” – how to collaborate with people around you – compared to when it’s in survival mode and thinking only about me.


With over a decade as a senior leader in large organisations, here are my 4 tips to inject more positivity into your meetings:

  1. Open the meeting positive - Psychological experiments have shown that the way a meeting starts sets the tone for the whole meeting.  
  2. Share News - Attendees might not know everything news about the company, department or project. Use the meeting to tell attendees what is going on. 
  3. Make timely breaks - Keep people’s minds focused, have a break, and then get back to it making the whole thing more directed yet relaxed
  4. When appropriate lose the table - If you don’t need a table then don’t have one! The advantages to table-less meetings are numerous; Communication flows better, you increase participation, and you can get people closer together.


Meetings can truly be valuable and productive. Whether they are formal or informal, they can have the same goal, to be actionable, effective, more energising and a positive experience. I know meetings can work and when done right make people and companies better! 

Minute-it software is designed to help any business make meetings work by making meetings simpler, collaborative and more productive for everyone.


For more information visit Minute-it  or watch Minute-it YouTube Channel