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We Need to Keep Meeting Like This!

By Denis Orme

Are you being meeting'd to death? How many times have each of us said, “That meeting was a complete waste of time!” Well, meetings can be either a complete waste of time or a very effective use of time, if planned and conducted effectively.

A failed meeting occurs when:

§ No clear Action or Follow-up items are generated, or results subsequent to the meeting are not produced. The exception to this is where a meeting is called merely to inform. If this is the case the meeting objective should be clearly stated.

If it is a bad meeting you may not know it but people will blame you and think you wasted their time, even if it is not your fault. If meetings are voluntary, people will be less likely to come to the next meeting you call.

Understand why you are meeting

Determine whether you even need to hold a meeting by describing the purpose of the meeting in one sentence. Typically there are three primary reasons for meetings:

1. To inform - These are town hall meetings particularly during times of change to make people aware of the need to change and that the status quo is more dangerous than the change. All people receive the same information at the same time, thereby reducing the rumor-mill.

2. Brainstorming - Typically to find ways to overcome problems or to become more efficient. This involves people who are involved in the process, or who will be impacted by the change.

3. Fact-finding - Gathering information about a situation, process or event.

If you don't have a specific reason for holding a meeting, then don't waste the time. Instead, find another way to discuss a small issue by using e-mail or phone. If the purpose of your meeting is now clear, then go ahead and schedule it.

Give adequate meeting notice

This is basic but if the right people do not attend the meeting because they lack sufficient notice the meeting cannot fulfill its objective.

Prepare an agenda

The key to having an effective meeting is that the agenda reflects the input of all those who will be attending. So go ahead and ask those who will attend the meeting to contribute to the agenda if the meeting is for fact-finding or brainstorming purposes.

For the agenda to be really effective, assign timeframes to each topic under discussion. This will not only enable you to meet the meeting objective, but ensure that discussion leaders use the right amount of time in preparing for their topic or in providing input.

In planning time allocations make sure there is adequate time for brain-storming, Q&A and the development of Action Items. I only allocate 90% of the actual meeting time. This enables you to effectively deal with smaller time over-runs.

To make your meeting run more smoothly, distribute the agenda and any background materials at least one week prior to the meeting as everyone will know in advance what will be discussed. Make sure attendees do their homework and come prepared to participate in discussion.

Who should attend the meeting?

If the meeting is merely to inform then the meeting should be very inclusive in order to cut down on the rumor-mill.

If the meeting is for fact-finding or brainstorming then I suggest inviting only those who have knowledge or ideas to contribute to your meeting objective. It is a real time-waster when people who need to be in your meeting are not invited and those that were invited did not need to be there.

Meeting location

Meetings should be held in physical surroundings which promote full discussion. The right amount of space would allow plenty of room particularly for longer meetings; the rooms would have the correct logistics; and where needed, appropriate for audio-visual presentations or tele or video-conferencing. Great meetings occur when people are comfortable and can just focus on the matters at hand.

Who will lead the meeting?

So much for planning, but the conducting of the actual meeting is equally important. I have found that rotating the meeting chair is a really effective way of training other people and also making them feel engaged.

The objective of the meeting chair is to keep the meeting on track and on topic without the chair either dominating the meeting him/her-self; and ensuring that those attending participate fully.

We have all seen dominant personalities hijack meetings, and so the chair needs to have strength of personality or the support of other participants when working to keep the meeting on track

When I hold regular team meetings I usually rotate the meeting chair so that, over time I develop a team of skilled facilitators. I have found that it is also a way to reign in meeting interjectors by them knowing that other people could do the same to them when they are the chair.

Meetings should not be a spectator sport unless the sole purpose is merely to share information.

Always start meetings on time so participants recognize the professional way meetings and business are conducted. Try to discuss only those items listed on the agenda (unless relevant to the topic under discussion) in order to keep the meeting on track.

Other matters should be deferred until the agenda is complete, if there is time remaining; or noted and deferred to another time.

The end of the meeting is really only the beginning!

Throughout brain-storming or fact-finding meetings progressively there will be agreements on actions to be undertaken, or further information to be obtained.

It is useful then to have a person record those progressive agreements. Do not have the chair also recording Action Items as it is just not efficient. Unless complex, I have found that the following form works really well to record Action Items. For the more complex, I use MSProject.

Responsibility – make sure Action Item responsibility is always assigned to only one person and not a committee. He/she can seek input from others, but will always own the responsibility.

It is always a powerful way to start a meeting by going through the Action Item list from the previous meeting, and be able to check off what has been accomplished since then.

About the Author:

Denis Orme has served as a management consultant to over 200 prestigious international organizations and companies. He is president of the Leadership Success Institute, is a national seminar presenter, and has written articles for prominent publications including The National Law Journal, The Forbes Report, and the National Business Review. Denis has been consulting various organizations for over 20 years and his effective “hands-on” approach has proven successful. You can learn more about his organization and services at www.leader-success.com

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