Good meetings are not spectator sports

by Dennis Brockmann

 

 

 

E-mail, voicemail, pagers -- these devices connect us, but they also isolate us. You're alone at your desk, talking to other people alone at their desks. Electronic communication has its advantages, but sometimes there is just no substitute for a well-run, face-to-face group meeting.

How often have you sat through meetings that were like spectator sports? Two or three people seemed to know or care what was going on. Everyone else was just there to receive information. We see this as a common concern with many of our clients.

A good meeting, by contrast, can spark your organization by improving communication and building teamwork. Effective staff or management meetings lead to better decision-making and stronger individual and team commitment and accountability. Regularly scheduled meetings give the players a chance to learn and fine-tune the process.

Good group interaction can benefit your organization in several ways. First, it helps CLARIFY GOALS, creating shared accountability and buy-in among staff members that will carry over beyond the meeting. For example, say your company has made it a goal to land a new customer who is coming into town to look you over. There is no better way than a group meeting to make sure everyone understands the goal and moves forward together to make that goal happen.

Meetings give you a chance to COORDINATE ACTIVITIES. The work of planning the schedule for the customer's visit, arranging facility tours, and providing necessary information can all be organized and orchestrated more efficiently in a group.

Meetings also let you ELICIT GROUP INPUT and EXCHANGE POINTS OF VIEW. Before your customer's visit, the team can discuss ideas about how to make the most of the opportunity. As one idea fuels another, this process builds consensus.

Group exchange provides an opportunity for SHARED DECISION-MAKING, which in turn increases the chance of successful implementation of decisions once they are made. From deciding to take on the new customer, to figuring out how to do it, to planning the follow-through after the visit, your team members' involvement will build their commitment to the process. 

Finally, meetings allow you to OBTAIN AN IMMEDIATE REACTION from your team when speed is vital. If a team member learns during your customer's visit, for instance, that there's a competitor involved and immediate action is needed, a well-established group process will allow a more efficient and timely response.

We have found that implementing the following seven steps will help organizations make their meetings more productive and successful:

 

1) Establish ground rules. A few basic rules of conduct will set a tone of respect. These ground rules can be made part of the minutes and reviewed periodically. They might include:

·        Meeting attendance—attendance requirements, excused absences, quorum.

·        Punctuality—starting and ending meetings on time, respecting time commitments.

·        Preparation—coming to the meeting prepared to contribute.

·        Listening—respectfully valuing everyone's input.

·        Taking timely breaks—an almost sure way to refresh everyone's attention.

·        Raising issues and concerns—keeping the meeting on a constructive and positive note, not attacking individuals.

·        Openness, honesty, and professional conduct—avoiding hidden agendas and "gotcha's."

 

2) Make sure everyone knows his or her role. An effective meeting will have a leader who plans and conducts the proceedings, a facilitator who keeps the process on track and monitors ground rules, and a scribe or recorder who documents minutes and assignments. For smaller more informal meetings, these tasks can sometimes overlap. For instance, one person can serve as both leader and facilitator. However, if you find your meetings running overtime or getting bogged down, or if there is unbalanced participation, a facilitator can make the process more effective.

The facilitator can restate, clarify, draw parallels, ask leading questions, make constructive comments, expose hidden agendas, if need be, and encourage across-the-board involvement. The goal -- a good productive meeting.

 

3) Distribute the agenda in advance. The biggest complaint about poorly run meetings is the lack of a published agenda. People come with no sense of purpose and certainly with no preparation. The agenda is the most important way to set expectations for the meeting. With no expectations, how will you know if you had a good meeting? 

The meeting leader should solicit agenda items in advance from participants, if appropriate, marking each agenda item as information-only, discussion, decision, or a status report, to set expectations for desired outcomes. Assign start and stop times for each item to serve as a reality check for completing the meeting on time.

 

4) Come prepared. Remember, good meetings are not spectator sports! The leader should ask for, and expect, advance preparation. Information (i.e. reports, correspondence, financial data) circulated in advance may help participants come better prepared and allow the meeting to run more efficiently.

 

5) Check your process periodically. Throughout the meeting, make sure you're on track to finish on time. Encourage active listening and balanced participation. If an item gets bogged down in differences of opinion, agree to hold off until the next meeting and assign tasks for appropriate fact gathering. If an item becomes a single individual's issue, take note and agree to handle it off-line outside of the meeting. Personal agendas should not be allowed to consume meeting time. Leaders and participants alike, if they see a meeting going poorly, should take responsibility for doing something about it.

 

6) Make, accept, and record assignments. Take notes on the assignments people accept and target dates for completion. The key word here is accept. People receiving assignments must acknowledge acceptance and commit to timely follow-up. Even those without assignments should understand the importance of their role in supporting group decisions.

Notes and assignments can be recorded on flip charts, as appropriate, to help create group memory from the meeting. Participants will know their ideas are being considered when they see them written before the group. Also, people retain twice as much of what they both hear and see. Flip charts can be typed up for distribution after the meeting, or brought to the next meeting for reference.

 

7) Closing the meeting. Provide a summarization of the meeting, conclusions and assignments to make sure there is consensus on what was decided and a clear understanding on all job assignments and due dates.

Allow a moment at the close of the meeting to critique for continuous improvement. What went well? What could have gone better? Do participants have any positive recommendations or agenda items to suggest for the next meeting?

 

The work is seldom done when the meeting ends. Post-meeting follow-up on decisions and assignments is the true test of a good meeting.

What kind of results can you expect by implementing these steps? In teaching our clients in the use of these steps in place, it is not uncommon to hear the staff say, "I don't ever want to miss a meeting."  Wouldn't that be great thing to hear in your organization?