What is the best day to hold a meeting?
Read our day-by-day guide on the pros and cons of having a meeting at certain times.
Getting the most from your meetings can come down to something as simple as the mood of your employees. This varies throughout the week, so we’ve come up with a guide on which days are the best to hold meetings.
Monday
Pros: People are hopefully fresh and raring to go on a Monday. It’s a great time to look at the week ahead and get a plan in place before things start to unravel.
Cons: Mondays can be busy with people tackling projects that were put to one side on Friday and dealing with any emails that have arrived over the weekend. Also, people might not know what their week has in store for them yet.
Best for: A ‘planning ahead’ meeting.
Tuesday
Pros: According to a recent survey, Tuesday is the most productive day of the week. This means people are into work mode and ideas are flowing.
Cons: Do you really want to block this flow and productivity with a meeting? Only schedule a meeting if necessary.
Best for: Idea generations.
Wednesday
Pros: As the midpoint of the week, by Wednesday people will have tackled the big tasks and will have a good idea of what’s ahead of them. It’ll have also given people time to plan for the meeting if you’ve booked it in advance.
Cons: As the furthest point from the weekend, people are starting to flag a bit.
Best for: Good for new business – it gives clients a chance to break up their week by getting out the office.
Thursday
Pros: Now is the last chance to see what needs doing before the weekend. An early morning Thursday meeting gives you two full days to save the week’s workload.
Cons: Some surveys suggest it’s the least productive day, possibly because people have their eye on the weekend but without the pressure of the Friday deadline.
Best for: Emergency meetings to hit the weekly deadlines
Friday
Pros: Fridays can often be quiet, so you could use this down time to pencil in a catch up meeting and see how the week has been.
Cons: While for some it’s quiet, for others it’s a time of getting everything out of the way before the weekend, so staff might be busy.
Best for: Social meeting – get everyone out of the office and chatting in a more comfortable setting.
Which day is best?
If you’re looking to plan ahead without interrupting work flow, then Monday is a good day as people are not as productive as on Tuesday and you can plan your week in advance.
If you want to reflect on the week and plan for the following week, then Friday afternoons when things are a bit quieter are a great option. You can also incorporate a social aspect into the Friday afternoon meeting by taking it out of the office.
Posted by Ashleigh Sharp
Images courtesy of Getty Images
