Making the Best of Every Meeting

Patrick Lencioni, author of the New York Times Best-Seller, “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,” asserted, “Meetings are usually terrible, but they shouldn’t be.” Do your managers grumble when the infamous calendar invite for a company meeting invades their email inboxes? Do you find meetings monopolizing your calendar and preventing productivity? On average, office workers spend twenty-one percent (21%) of their work day in meetings, of which twenty-five percent (25%) is deemed as “wasted” in their opinion.

Here are seven (7) tips to improve your meetings and make the most of your employees’ time:

  • Prepare. Clearly communicate the meeting’s purpose and the desired outcome.
  • Limit the number of participants. The most productive meetings have fewer than eight (8) people. Large groups may lose focus and leave individuals feeling as though their time has been wasted.
  • Send the agenda and materials in advance. Provide the team an opportunity to review the material, think about the problem or proposal, and bring solutions and/or ideas to the meeting.
  • Start and end on time. Be respectful of the meeting participants’ schedules.
  • Ensure all attendees participate. Encourage the team atmosphere by calling on individuals to share their thoughts. Cultivate a meeting culture that prevents dominance by one party.
  • Keep a written record. Written notes ensure that faulty memories or differing interpretations don’t lead future decisions down the wrong path. Include specific, but reasonable, deadlines for follow up and ample details to make informed decisions.
  • Follow up. Assess your meeting’s effectiveness by evaluating the percentage of action items completed by its deadline.

For more tips on how to address company meetings, please contact HR Partners at 785-233-7860. In addition, we would be pleased to assist you with any other HR matters your business may need guidance with.

Source:  Meinert, Dori. “7 Steps to Running Better Meetings.” SHRM, SHRM, 24 Jan. 2019, www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/1118/pages/7-steps-to-running-better-meetings.aspx.

The HR Partners Holiday Video - 2024

We appreciate your business, and we wish you nothing but the best for Christmas and the New Year holidays.

2025 will be an epic year and we can’t wait to work with you to continue the magic.

To view the video, click the image below or click here, and once you see the video on Vimeo, please click the play button. Enjoy!

 2024HRPVideo

 

HR Advisor Newsletter

What our clients say...

What Our Clients Say About Us

"It's not what you say about yourself, it's what others say." - Anon.

We like to think our clients know us best. Here's what they have to say...


“We started working with HR Partners when we had staffing changes in our Accounting and Human Resource department. HR Partners has been there to assist us in that transition and has become a resource that we plan to continue to utilize. Everyone in their office is professional, courteous, knowledgeable, and always very prompt. HR Partners has been able to provide advice and guidance on numerous HR topics and provided a mandatory Workplace Etiquette for our employees. They have also updated our personnel manual in order to provide clear and consistent polices for our employees. HR Partners would be an asset for any company looking for assistance with any human resource needs.”

Kevin Holland
Vice President
Cook, Flatt & Strobel Engineers


“It gives me the peace of mind knowing that we have the support and expertise of Human Resources professionals just a phone call away through our collaboration with HR Partners. I would definitely tell anyone considering working with the HR Partners team that they offer a wide variety of services tailored to the client. The HR Partners team assisted our Company with the revision of the Employee Handbook by customizing it to our needs and culture while ensuring it complied with federal, state, and local employment laws.”

Sandy Atwood
Director of Human Resources
Kaw Valley Bank


 

“Consultation services provided by HR Partners proved a valuable resource for personnel matters and in updating our personnel handbook. As we continued to grow in staff size, we found an on-going retainer with HR Partners a great fit to support management, policy and training needs. The HR Partners team is professional, knowledgeable and creative in their approach and we can have confidence in managing employment matters with their involvement and understanding of our organization.”

Sandy Warren
Executive VP & CFO
Capper Foundation


“HR Partners has built an exceptional company with some of the most proactive professionals I’ve seen in a long time.  We hired HR Partners with a human resources 911 issue and were in much better shape within two weeks!  Kristina Dietrick, President of HR Partners,  is also great as a speaker and motivator for your staff.”

Michelle Meier
Administrator
Kansas Medical Clinic


 

“Schendel worked with HR Partners in several different capacities over a five state area. HR Partners answered our questions about employment law, helped train our management staff to be better leaders, and ensured our employee policies and procedures were legally sound and in the best interests of both Schendel and our co-workers. I've always found the HR Partners staff to be very knowledgeable, friendly and easy to work with. The relationship we formed with HR Partners helped protect both our company and our co-workers, and I feel it was very beneficial to Schendel."

Brent Boles
Co-Owner
Schendel Lawn and Landscape


“I want to thank you and your team again at HR Partners for your amazing work in securing a high quality Customer Service Representative (CSR) for our Topeka MRH Insurance Group office. Without a doubt, if it were not for your company’s ability to understand the different paths to communicate our need, we would not have been successful in securing in our opinion, the very best CSR in Topeka. HR Partners was instrumental in providing the strategy to secure such an individual for our company and my workings with each and every member of your team was professional and impressive. I shall ever be grateful for your assistance in helping our company grow in Topeka and northeast Kansas by securing the right MRH Team Member for our operation.”

Ross T. Hendrickson
President
MRH Insurance Group, Inc.Group, Inc.


“Kristina and her team are a dynamic and reliable group to work with.  Whether there is a crisis or you’re looking for strategic planning, they will handle it in a responsive, knowledgeable manner.  When I need a speedy answer which I can depend on to also be the right answer, HR Partners delivers.  This is a talented, smart group and I highly recommend their services.”

Kelly Liby
Anesthesia Associates of Topeka, PA


“HR Partners has been instrumental in ensuring our company is in compliance with ever-changing government requirements.  Equally as important, they’ve helped us effectively deal with some of those out-of-the ordinary human resource issues that pop up from time to time.  They have been accessible and very pleasant to work with.”

Jon Newcomer
President
Kansas Grain Inspection Service, Inc.


 

“We began working with HR Partners to help us fill an important position in our organization.  They offered some new and effective methods for helping us advertise the open position and were instrumental in assisting us with following up on potential candidates.

Since that initial engagement, we’ve utilized the expertise of HR Partners for a wide range of human resources services, from staffing assistance to general HR management advice.  Their entire staff has been exceptional.  They are professional, knowledgeable, responsive, and enjoyable to work with.   We are very happy with their service and intend to continue to rely on them as a trusted business partner.”

Seth Born
Comptroller/HR
Beachner Grain, Inc.


 

“Kristina and her group of advisors have been very valuable to our company over the last several years. They have assisted us both in critical employee issues as well as reviewing and updating our employee handbook. As their company name proclaims, they are true business partners!”

Mark Wheeler
President
Berlin-Wheeler, Inc.


 

“HR Partners has provided invaluable training, mentoring and coaching for my staff and coworkers that is in concert with our own Human Resources Department and internal policies, procedures and development plans.  It has proven to be a successful partnership for us that provides an extra set of resources in our staffing and organizing efforts, succession planning, and individual employee growth and development endeavors.  The staff at HR Partners are professional, courteous, and make working on challenging issues not only effective, but fun!”

Sylvia Davis
Utilities Director
City of Topeka