In theory, meetings are an important way to develop ideas and keep cases on target. And yet, many times, meetings can seem boring and pointless. To make your law firm’s meetings more meaningful, and therefore productive, here are some tips to follow:

Keep meetings as small as possible.

Invite only those people who must attend and can provide valuable input towards accomplishing the goals of the meeting, such as the lawyers and paralegals involved in the case, as well as decision makers who are required to provide their stamp of approval.

Set goals.

Set small but achievable goals of what you’d like to accomplish during the meeting. Announce these goals at the start of the meeting so that everyone is on the same page.

Send out an agenda ahead of time.

Create and send out an agenda several days before the scheduled meeting. Determine which topics you want to cover and how much time you want to devote to each topic. Keep the agenda brief, using bullet points rather than full paragraphs.

Stay organized.

There’s no point in having a meeting if no one remembers what’s discussed during it. So make sure one of the attendees will take notes and distribute those meeting notes after the meeting.

Maintain a schedule.

Assign someone the task of keeping track of time. Have them alert the meeting facilitator when topics are going over the allotted time. Also, staying on topic, rather than drifting off into left field, is key to maintaining a schedule.

Encourage participation.

The best results come from lots of ideas and vigorous debate. So don’t let one or two people dominate the discussion; let everyone’s voice be heard. Use a whiteboard to keep track of all the ideas offered (even if some of them aren’t so good) and thank all the participants for their input. If an employee is quiet or seems reluctant to speak, ask them direct questions about their opinion.

Create a plan of action.

At the end of the meeting, be sure to articulate what the next steps should be and to assign those responsibilities to specific team members. Each person should leave the meeting knowing exactly what is expected of them.

And if your meetings aren’t as productive as they should be because you don’t have the right people in place, please contact Pacific Staffing. As a legal staffing firm serving Northern California, we can give you fast access to top-notch legal and support staff.