Let’s continue meeting this way

Imagine yourself in the  control room. And with control room we don’t mean at NASA but actually handling the meeting schedule of the founder of the company. Your role of executive assistant is very diverse but most of all very challenging.You are responsible for ensuring that he or she can work as productively and efficiently as possible. One of the most ineffective things at work is the constant stream of meetings and appointments that fill the schedule. But of course, everyone wants some face time with the founder to discuss matters. So what can you do make sure that your manager doesn’t feel like he/she is in meetings constantly?

1. Plan better

Of course, planning better sounds so obvious but it will make a world of difference. Every now and then, be critical and look at the diary. Try to avoid spreading out the appointments but keep them in blocks together. This will help you plan your day better, one block for meetings and one block for other times of work. Not only will it make creating the schedule more easy, it’ll also make it more clear for people who request a meeting with your manager.

2. Not like Tetris

We probably all played the game Tetris, in which you  stack all different shapes together to form a straight line of blocks. If your schedule is starting to look too much like a game of Tetris, you’re doing something wrong. Like we mentioned, organize your days in blocks and  avoid having any overlaps. A disorganised schedule will result in frustration but also in a disorganised frame of mind.

3. Meet in the middle

You are in charge of creating the schedule for your manager, but you’ll most likely deal with other Executive Assistants who also put their manager’s interest first. So make sure that you always meet in the middle. Quite literally by finding a place to meet that’s convenient for all parties concerned, but also figuratively when it comes to taking all the different stakes into account.

4. Prepare and share

Make sure that all attendees are prepared. Even when they don’t need to prepare, make sure that you share the relevant information before the meeting. Whether that is by creating a standard shared agenda, or by sharing the relevant documents and presentations beforehand, whatever is necessary to make sure that you can reach point number 4.

5. make short meetings a goal

If your manager is not keen on meetings, make clear beforehand to all attendees that one of the goals of the meetings is to be as concise and efficient as possible. That is possible if you take steps 1 – 4.

Looking for a place to host your next off-site meeting or are you a member in need of something different? All Spaces offer inspiring meeting rooms with all modern features, beautiful design and various lay-outs.  Check out what we have near you.