Grantham Business Club regular reveals top tips to make your meetings marvellous

Here is how to make your meetings marvellous, writes Grantham Business Club regular Jacqui Hanbury.

Jacqui Hanbury, a control engineer and business communications specialist who has been running her business, The Pathway Communication Company, for seven years.

Based in Grantham, she provides business coaching, training and consultancy to companies world-wide, and a regular at Grantham Business Club. She says:

How many meetings have you sat in and thought ‘why am I here?’ If it’s too many to count, you are not alone. Research says that more than 70% of meetings are pointless! As a Communication Specialist I get asked lots of questions – one of the most common is, “how do I make meetings more interesting?”

My top three tips are:

1. Ensure there is always an agenda. If there isn’t one, then there is probably no valid reason to have a meeting!

2. Keep everyone engaged. With phones, laptops, smart watches etc it is virtually impossible to keep everyone engaged in the meeting. My recommendation is to raise the issue at the beginning, agree on how often you will have a break to look at your tech and commit to being engaged outside of those times.

3. Ensure everyone gets a chance to speak and you hear everyone’s ideas, ask them if they are not volunteering to speak. And try and listen!

Meetings are only one type of communication in business. Changing the way you

communicate can change the whole atmosphere in a company, the culture, engagement and even retention of staff. Powerful stuff! And whilst communicating within the business is essential so is communication outside of it. A great way of communicating is networking, providing opportunities to find new customers, suppliers, learn about business topics and make yourself some business friends.

And of course, the one meeting that is not a waste of time is Grantham Business Club. There is an agenda, everyone is engaged, and everyone gets a chance to introduce themselves to the room. All three tips in place!

So, whether you run a business or work for a local business then come along to our next meeting and say hi or visit Jacqui’s website www.pathwaycc.co.uk.

The next meeting is Friday, May 17, at the Jubilee Life Centre, in London Road, at 7am.

The retailers meeting is Thursday, May 9, at The Tap, in Westgate, at 5.30pm.