STAY FOCUSSED

With budgets under extra pressure it's even more important to get the most out of your meetings. To find out how we can help our guests become more productive, we asked people about their attitudes towards meetings and found that 40% of people lose concentration after just 20 minutes. Our research found that the biggest cause of meeting fatigue is business jargon. People say corporate chatter makes harder to understand what's being said in a meeting and in general annoys them.

To stop people switching off we're urging businesses to cut back on corporate jargon. Based on the countries most hated business jargon phrases, we've created a top ten list along with the Holiday Inn plain English alternative.

Worst business jargon

Out of the box

Touch base

Blue sky

Incentivise

Brain dump

Downsizing

Synergy

Ducks in a row

Face time

Leverage

Holiday Inn alternative

Think differently

Make contact

Limitless thinking

Encourage

Transfer information

Reduce

Working together

Organised or prepared

Meeting

Use

Getting rid of pointless jargon will help you keep a captive audience throughout your meeting.

Read on for more helpful meetings tips:

Have an agenda and make sure you stick to it. Stay focused so others do too.
If discussions move away from the agreed agenda, schedule them for another time to help the meeting stay on track.
Start and end your meeting on time. If you're the organiser, get there early to make sure everything is set up and you're ready to leave on time.
Appoint someone to be in charge of taking notes and capturing any agreed actions during your meeting.
Take regular breaks during your meeting to get people moving and help them stay alert. This also provides time for people to check phones and email.
Encourage active participation in the meeting - think about having a Q&A session or an open discussion during the meeting.
If you are using PowerPoint, make sure your slides are visually interesting and easy to read - the less words on a slide the better.
Think about what refreshments you order so your guests are kept alert.
Follow up on actions as meetings should always be results orientated.
Finally, ditch the business jargon and try our Holiday Inn alternatives for a more productive meeting.

Whatever your meeting needs we’re bound to have a solution to suit your requirements. Contact Us now.