We spend a lot of time in meetings. I don’t know the exact number of hours. I’ve seen statistics ranging from 3 hours a week all the way up to 23 hours a week. Regardless, it’s a lot.
Of course, it feels even longer when the meeting could have just been an email. Or when the person leading the meeting is doing a poor job of it. Organizations should put an emphasis on providing training to people who will be asked to lead a meeting. One of the nicest compliments you can get is “That was an excellent meeting!”.
But I don’t want to talk about leading meetings today. Except from the standpoint that when someone leads a meeting well, it helps with participation. Which is the whole purpose of a meeting. Otherwise, you’re just talking at people.
Participants have a role in the meeting. It could be beneficial to think about how to be a good meeting participant.
Do your prework. Participants should review the meeting agenda and think about those topics that they want to discuss. This isn’t about adding new items to the agenda. (Side note: If you do want to add something, the time to do that is before the meeting starts.) But if there’s something on the agenda that you need to think about or some information you want to gather prior to the meeting … this is the time to do it. Come to the meeting prepared.
Read More: https://www.hrbartender.com/2025/leadership-and-management/be-good-meeting-participant/