Effective Meetings

Effective Meetings

Posted on 26. Jan, 2011 by in 1 Leadership, Strategy & Change

Be ruthless with your time.  Kill off the time-sucking activities that distract you from your daily and life purpose.  And in the confines of business, that means demanding all meetings be effective and efficient.

We all have a shrinking pool of time.  It is rude to call a meeting that is ineffective and poorly facilitated.  So, as a reminder for all of us, I share with you meeting etiquette and best practices to maximize meeting effectiveness.  It’s important to note that much of the list applies to status meetings.

  1. Have an agenda. Everyone attending the meeting needs to know exactly what will be discussed.  The size of the meeting shouldn’t dictate whether or not an agenda is needed. Have one. And send it at least 24 hours before the meeting starts.
  2. Start on time. End on time or early. You’d think this would be a given.  If you wait for everyone to be at the meeting before starting, you’re saying it’s okay to be late.  Start on time.  It’s on the person to find out what he or she missed. Make sure this is known, however.  An unspoken expectation only frustrates people.
  3. Assign length of time to topics. When I meet with my partners, we discuss every aspect of the business in 1 hour.  Each area of the company is given 15 minutes.  And that includes updates on major projects, sales, financial update, people report, operations/IT, and marketing.
  4. Expect people to be prepared. Establish expectations that people giving status must have all data or information with them.  If they don’t, move on.
  5. Status meetings are NOT for problem solving. It’s so easy for me to get sucked into problem solving during status meetings.  This is where time-suck occurs. Anyone in meetings is empowered to call out that we’ve veered into problem solving, Table problem-solving for follow-up discussions or another meeting. This brings me to the next tip…
  6. Defend the purpose of the meeting. Inevitably the conversation in the meeting will veer away from the meeting’s purpose.  It happens. To honor people’s time, nicely bring the meeting back to its purpose.  Make note that further conversation is required. And move on.  Be sure to state the purpose of the meeting at the start of the meeting.  I like to ask if people thought the meeting was about something different.
  7. Know the type of meeting in advance. Peter Drucker wrote in The Effective Executive “The key to an effective meeting is to decide in advance what kind of meeting it will be.  Different kind of meetings require different forms of preparation and different results.”  This purposeful insight helps those attending what to expect and how to prepare.  It also shapes how you facilitate the meeting.  Read Drucker’s book for the five meeting types he defines.
  8. Take notes. Assign someone to take notes.  Ideally this person should not be the same person facilitating the meeting.  For my weekly partner meeting, I facilitate the meeting and have our assistant take notes.  Periodically I’ll check in with her by ensuring she captured an action item or an important point.
  9. Leverage humor. Status meetings can be tedious and serious. Lighten the tone by use of self-deprecating humor.   If I’m comfortable with the people in the meeting and they with one another, I’ll tease others. Be careful here, though.
  10. Follow-up same day.  Decisions and discussions must be captured and sent to all participants the same day. Attach to the email the notes.  BUT, be sure any action items are included in the email, along with due dates and the person assigned the item.  Don’t make people open the email attachment to read what they’ve been assigned.  Save them time.  Remember, we need to be ruthless with our time.

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7 Responses to “Effective Meetings”

  1. Tweets that mention Effective Meetings -- Topsy.com

    26. Jan, 2011

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mike Henry Sr., Peter Moreton and Russell Klosk, Geoff Snyder. Geoff Snyder said: #LeadChange Effective Meetings http://bit.ly/dQ1rfV via @shawmu [...]

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  2. Leslie Williams

    26. Jan, 2011

    Thank you Shawn for such meaningful post. Your timing was impecable as today was one of the days where a scheduled meeting spiraled out of control and “sucked” away everyone’s time. I strongly agree with you recommendations to 1. Have an Agenda and 2. Start on Time. End on time or early. It is so frustrating to have one’s time treated with disregard. I think I will share you suggestions with collegues. We can all benefit from your insight!

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    • Shawn Murphy

      26. Jan, 2011

      Hi Leslie,
      If more people realized how we waste people’s precious time with ineffective meetings, I can only hope we’d see more productive meetings. The best way I’ve seen to “right the ship” is to model the expectation when running my own meetings. It’s a slower way to get the message across that meetings aren’t social hours. HP actually had (not sure if they still do) 15 minute meetings. Everyone showed up, presented their info and on the next person. In our increasingly demanding business world, we’ve got to master the areas the “suck” away time. The impacts ripple beyond on professional world and into our personal world.

      Thank you for coming by, Leslie. Hope to see you here again in the future.
      Shawn

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  3. Connie Mcknight

    27. Jan, 2011

    Really liked your ideas. Follow-up the same is a great way to make sure people stay on task so they carry out the intentions of the meeting.

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  4. Steve G

    27. Jan, 2011

    Shawn –

    Great Topic and Really Meaningful Points! You were right on were various points (but you knew that already!) but my favorite one is… “It is rude to call a meeting that is ineffective and poorly facilitated.”

    Meetings can be an effective way not only to disseminate information (such as expectations, goals, standards of performance) and but more importantly, an opportunity for dialogue between team members where ideas and experiences are exchanged.

    I love your thoughts on starting on time. This might sound over the top, but I carry a small desk clock into the meeting and at the beginning of the meeting, I announce the start and end time. (I know, a little too much!)

    I also try to go beyond the basic “stuff” that everyone talks about and really challenge the audience to THINK how the topic/point/meeting can effect their lives.

    Finally, I like how you point out: “Know The Type of Meeting In Advance.” I often ask myself, why would the team care about (FILL IN THE BLANK TOPIC)

    Thanks for your thoughts Shawn – GREAT TOPIC!

    SPGonz

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    • Shawn Murphy

      28. Jan, 2011

      Steve,
      You are spot on with meetings serving as an opportunity for dialogue/people coming together to enrich how work gets done. When meetings are facilitated poorly we not only miss out on getting things done, but we lose the opportunity to connect in a meaningful way.

      Thank you for stopping by. I hope to see you back in the future.
      Shawn

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  5. Natalia

    29. Nov, 2011

    Great article! From my side, I’d like to recommend meeting organizers to use an appropriate software. In my company, we have been successfully using the yaM application and so far it has worked just perfect for us.

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