Mention a meeting and eyes are sure to roll. (Another one!) When everyone these days is hurrying to get things done, a meeting sometimes can seem more like an intrusion than a valuable exchange of ideas.

So how do you promote engagement from attendees?

Hosting a successful meeting takes careful planning, consideration of possible disruptions, and making allowances for personal interactions, says Bob Gardner, ACHC Corporate Strategy Manager.

To promote engagement, here are a few suggestions:

• Reserve time in each meeting for casual conversation.
  • If you build time for casual talk into the agenda, you won’t be frustrated when it occurs.
  • This is critical for team building in virtual meetings and to get buy-in from attendees.

• Schedule for the shortest amount of time needed.
  • The trick is to find the right amount of time needed to achieve outcomes.
    • For example, for a quick question, schedule 15 minutes instead of 30 minutes for discussion.
  • Plan for large or daunting tasks by using a series of meetings instead of one long one.
    • Scheduling one long meeting likely will cause attendees to check out or be less engaged.
    • Scheduling a series of meetings allows you to receive feedback and make modifications for future meetings on the same topic.

As the meeting draws to a close, Gardner suggests asking attendees if anything was missed. This provides another opportunity to promote engagement while validating the value of input from all in attendance.