MANAGEMENT: CONDUCTING EFFECTIVE MEETINGS

Meetings can be the biggest time-wasters or progress-markers. It all depends upon following several guidelines.

Numerous articles abound that give advice on this topic. I have my own short list but I’ll first mention several good ones I’ve found on other sites. There won’t be any duplicates.

Sources: effectivemeetings.com, personal experience

DON'T MEET

• Avoid a meeting if the same information can be covered in a memo, e-mail or brief report.

VENUE

• Don't hold the meeting in your office. Meet in a conference room or another office. This enables you to leave the meeting more conveniently.

ASSIGN THE MEETING PREPARATION TASKS

• Give all participants something to prepare for the meeting, and that meeting will take on a new significance to each group member.

MEETING’S PURPOSE

• Keep the number of participants in any meeting to a minimum and ensure that each person attending knows the agenda in advance and why they are attending.
• Know why you’re meeting and ensure everyone knows it. Know what to expect from the meeting.

AGENDA

• Prepare the agenda beforehand and ensure everyone has it.
• Follow the agenda. Start and end the meeting on time.
• Start with the priority items. If time runs out, the most important items will have been covered. The remaining items can usually be postponed to another meeting.
• Create a “complete” agenda. This contains every item that needs to be discussed. The items are organized by priority, by subject, or by any meaningful category.

IS IT A STATUS UPDATE MEETING?

• A well-conducted status meeting works on an exception basis. It uses the same principle of an exception report. This report that contains only those items that stand out as exceptions to the rule. If two projects out of ten have problems, then the report will only go into detail for those two projects.

USE TIME PRESSURE

• Use the 80/20 rule, namely, 80 percent of the work will be accomplished usually during the final 20 percent of the meeting time.
• Try a stand-up meeting.

WHEN TO SCHEDULE THOSE QUICK MEETINGS

• Schedule your 15- to 20-minute meetings at the start of the day. If you learn about problems, you will have the rest of the day to try to resolve it. Then, if necessary, you can hold another brief meeting at the end of the day.

SETTLE ANY POINTS OF AGREEMENT AND DOCUMENT THEM

• Typically, a discussion will ensue regarding an issue. At the right time, the leader or a facilitator should intercede and canvass the participants to determine whether a consensus has been reached.

NO DOMINATION

• Do not let any one person dominate the meeting or agenda.

UNINVITED PEOPLE SHOULD STAY OUT

• Prevent uninvited people from joining the meeting.
• Depending upon the environment, some bosses like to drop in unexpectedly. Although they certainly have the power to do so, their presence can inhibit participation. Furthermore, more people at a meeting tend to slow down the meeting.
• Place a "Do Not Disturb" sign on your door when you don't want to be interrupted.
• Diplomatically inquire about the purpose of the person’s presence at a meeting. If it doesn’t make sense, politely request that person to leave.
• Stand up when someone enters your office, and meet them at the door. If you and your visitor remain standing the meeting will tend to be shorter.
• Remove any extra chairs from the meeting room or stack your books and papers on top of any extra chairs. If you change your mind about unexpected visitors, you can always remove the books and papers.