Effective Meetings

I will often hear reasons as to why people are looking to change jobs.  It is not always about money.  Work life balance is usually a hot topic.  One of the many complaints that I hear about from candidates who are working for mid to large size companies is the lack of productivity and/or efficiency due to administration and other corporate hurdles.  Excessive meetings is one of the biggest areas of complaint.  

Candidates often wonder about attending mandatory meetings that don’t directly impact their work.  Complaints range from, “I am being asked to attend because the President likes his dog and pony show…I think I am brought in more for their morale boosting or team building purposes rather than for the good of me driving my own mandate…or why do I need to sit through a 60 minute meeting when only the last 15 minutes pertain to me?  These types of feelings are not usually developed during effective meetings.

When meetings are effective for all, most people leave charged up, so why not lead an effective meeting in order to maximize the use of time and resources of all stakeholders?

These are the basic steps that should be followed to lead an effective meeting.

-Give ample lead time for the meeting.  This will greatly reduce negative feelings from random stakeholders asked to join a meeting at the last minute.

-Give the team an agenda and do it in advance. This maximizes the impact of the meeting and allows people to think about things even if it is subconsciously.

-Start the meeting on time.  Don’t wait for Gerry, the top sales guy who is allowed to work on his own schedule because he brings in the business.

-Be concise and direct in an engaging format.  This maximizes people’s attention spans and audience retention rates. (review effective communication if needed)

-Use strong communication to open in a confident tone with good levels of energy.  Address why the meeting impacts all parties in the room.  Give a shout out to the individual departments if it will be effective in gaining stakeholder buy in and commitment.

-Ask for input from each department so that everyone feels partial ownership which increases success rates.

-Do not allow for tangents regardless of who is leading them.  Politely get people back on topic.  No one should be an exception to the rule in order to show that there is no favoritism.

-If someone tries to hijack or dominate the meeting, have them take it up with you after the meeting.

-Engage all people if it is a small meeting.

-Take notes during the meeting.  Audience usually appreciate that their thoughts are important enough to capture for the group.

-Summarize the meeting in a concise manner.

-Discuss next steps and action items.

-Thank the group and close the meeting with a positive and inspirational message.

If these actions are taken, even people who are remotely connected to the original purpose of the meeting, will feel more engaged and be less likely to feel that the meeting was a waste of time for them.

Farewell,

Mike