Think of all the meetings which volunteers and staff in the nonprofit sector have attended since CharityVillage® was born 15 years ago. They probably number in the hundreds-of-thousands, if not over one million meetings, and a lot of them not very productive or stimulating. For CV’s anniversary, I wanted to share 15 key actions for successful meetings. As nonprofits head into an active season of meetings, share this article with members and staff who are involved in meetings.

There is an old poem that starts, “pity, pity, I’m on a committee“. Effective meeting practices should put to rest all concerns about wasting time and energy in unproductive meetings.

There is one insight I must emphasize because the 15 actions are pointless if you don’t do this first: have the right people in the meeting — the ones who are smart, creative, positive, and committed. If those are the people you have invited to the meeting, now you just need to make sure their talents are utilized.

1. Set the agenda

It is good practice to agree on the meeting goal and to communicate the goal to participants when issuing the meeting notice. Participants can be canvassed by e-mail prior to the meeting to create consensus on the agenda by asking “what would you like to see accomplished by the end of the meeting?”

2. State the purpose/goal

There is wisdom in the saying “start with the end in mind”. Start each meeting by articulating a mini-mission statement about the meeting’s purpose. For example, “our meeting purpose for today is to identify the keynote speakers for the annual conference” or “the outcome to be achieved at this meeting is to finalize the annual budget”.

3. Issue summaries

People are busy and the meeting organizer should prepare a short, maximum one page synopsis of the agenda item. This summary will cover: (1) What the Board or group is being asked to do; (2) A high level summary of the issue; (3) Options considered and implications (e.g. resource costs); and (4) The recommendation/resolution the group is asked to consider. Some nonprofit organizations have designed a template, and this is completed before the meeting by committee chairs, department managers, etc. The summary accompanies the pre-meeting materials, in front of the detailed documentation for the agenda item.

4. Stick to business

People often want to get “caught up” on each other’s news when they actually sit down face-to-face in the same room. Resist the temptation to talk about the kids’ recreational adventures or the concert you saw with your partner last weekend. Keep the personal stuff to the networking time before or after the meeting, or during a break.

5. Set and keep time

The best agendas will include not just what will be covered during the meeting but also the start and end time, and the time allocated for each component part, such as presentations. While there may have to be flexibility where an important agenda item requires fulsome discussion, all meetings should start and end at the agreed time. If more time is needed, the Chair – even in the most informal meetings – should ask the participants how much time they want to add for a given issue. For example, “I note we have allocated (or already spent) 20 minutes on this topic and we are scheduled to conclude the meeting in one hour. Can we agree that we will conclude discussion at 2:00 pm and then move to the next agenda item?”

6. Have the group set the rules

Rules of parliamentary procedure are available for formal meetings. There are many excellent resources available for nonprofits, including Herb Perry’s Call to Order. However, most meeting participants don’t want to be looking up rules of parliamentary procedure during a simple task force or committee meeting.

Understandably, people often resist having rules imposed in the middle of a meeting, so let the members take ownership of the values and rules which determine meeting content and conduct. In some cases these can be determined organizationally and distributed in advance so that participants, and the meeting chair, can refer to them prior to, and during, a meeting. Examples may include “engage the issue; respect the person” or “everyone will be asked to contribute/speak to the issue” or “start and end on schedule”. Where more formal meetings occur, or there is need to use a third-party source as a third-party authority on meeting conduct, make sure everyone knows which reference applies (e.g. Bourinot’s Rules of Order).

7. Be prepared

Among the most basic rules for good meetings, but the one typically not followed by everyone, is to come to the meeting prepared. There is nothing more frustrating for busy, committed people than finding some meeting participants have not read advance materials and therefore time is required as lazy colleagues catch up on information they have been provided and should know. A related insight for nonprofit leaders is to sanction individuals who take advantage of their colleagues by wasting everyone’s time. If an individual cannot fulfill his or her responsibilities to be prepared and informed, they should be asked to step aside.

8. Mix it up

There are so many ideas to innovate and motivate to keep meetings stimulating. The problem is that too many meetings are boring. Intelligent, engaged people are rendered unconscious or incoherent. They’d rather be having root canal surgery. So have some fun and think about how to mix it up. Make sure everyone has a role to play and the meeting doesn’t have the same format, speakers, etc. Meet outside on a pleasant day. Give a cookie, or high-five participants who come up with a great idea. Take the table away and place chairs in a semi-circle. If the meeting is going to run a few hours, don’t just have a break, but also do some physical exercise (there must be someone in the room who is reasonably fit and can lead the group in some stretching exercises and, if not, then do the wave). Canada’s First Nations have the tradition of the “talking stick” that is passed from one person to the next when it is the individual’s time to speak to the group — create your own talking stick with a coloured Nerf ball (which comes in handy when a colleague is gazing out the window). Be aware of those times when energy is low (e.g. after lunch) so you can avoid agenda items or activities that are less stimulating, and mitigate the energy valleys with activities requiring some energy peaks from the participants (e.g. group break-outs).

9. Bust hijackers

People may want to control the meeting for any number of reasons. Whether you are the meeting Chair or a fellow participant, do not abide disruptive behaviour. While it is always preferable to praise publicly and correct privately, the reality is that inappropriate behaviour requires immediate action. If someone is dominating and pushing their own agenda, consider saying “let’s hear from others who haven’t shared their views as yet” and then go around the table/room. If there are vocal critics, it’s usually because they are either not getting their way or disagree with the process. As meeting chair, present the group with the opportunity to get all of the issues and perspectives on the table; ask how an idea can be improved or made better so there can be group buy-in on the best options and the best solution.

10. Parking lots

Issues arise; but they are not on the agenda and/or there is no time at the meeting to address them. Do not leave issues orphaned. The parking lot – whether it is a flipchart, whiteboard, or section to the minutes – is a great tool to “park” the issue with a commitment it will come forward to the next meeting or otherwise be assigned for appropriate follow-up (e.g. staff will investigate the issue and report back).

11. What is owned gets done

When a decision is made and action is required, be sure the responsibility for the action is assigned so there is ownership of it. Assignment of the responsibility will best be made to an individual (e.g. the executive director) as this fosters accountability. Where there is a group responsibility, such as delegation to a committee, it is preferable to identify the head of the group (e.g. the committee chair). The problem with assigning broad accountability is that no one is certain who ultimately will be held responsible if the item isn’t addressed. The meeting chair should also summarize at the conclusion of every meeting the results the group achieved during the meeting, including the actions assigned to individuals.

12. Power of the pen

The person who writes the minutes is writing the official record and effectively determines what is fact and what becomes history. There is tremendous power in writing minutes so the lesson is to either be the person who has this responsibility or, for balance, share the responsibility from one meeting to the next (but agree on a template so minutes are presented in a consistent manner).

13. Minutes not minutiae

Minutes should reflect decisions, not reams of detail about who said what in a prolonged debate about options A through Z. Some context is helpful for people who read the minutes at a later date (perhaps reviewing the archives of the organization), so include appropriate information but do not be needlessly detailed. A wise association executive pointed out some years ago that when their organization was audited by the tax department, the inspectors’ priority interest was the minutes, not the financial records, because the minutes could reveal intent, rationale for decisions, dissenters in the debate (“the Board should have known better”), etc. Another wise association executive said “only put in writing what needs to be in writing”.

I also agree with the suggested form for resolutions of “M,S,C” [for moved, seconded, carried] rather than the traditional “Chris Martin moved, Pat Richard seconded, that the organization will (action)…” Remember, when the Board decides – regardless of who moved or seconded the resolution — the entire organization owns it.

14. Evaluate

The best run meetings will allow time for participants to self-evaluate the group’s performance and recommend how the next meeting could be even better. This can be done through a confidential survey/evaluation form (rank the meeting 1 through 6, with 6 representing excellence), or a 10-15 minute group discussion (“Did we achieve our objective? What did we do well today? What could we do better?”), or as a fixed agenda item before the meeting adjourns. The key is to be constructive in the spirit of continuous improvement.

15. Keep learning

There are some wonderful gems to be found through research. The key is to keep exploring and asking “how can we do better?” Here is one summary that pretty much says it all about effective meetings (source: Alexander Kjerulf at www.positivesharing.com).

So what is a good meeting? They are:

• Efficient — So stuff gets done!
• Positive and fun — So people enjoy themselves and look forward to the next meeting.
• Participative — So everyone participates equally, instead of just zoning out or faking agreement.
• Open — So people say what they really think.
• Creative — So the thinking goes beyond the usual and into new territory.

 

A resource I recommend is The Secrets to Masterful Meetings by Michael Wilkinson. Additional resources to keep meetings interesting and participants alert are publications such as Games Trainers Play by John Newstrom and Edward Scannell.

Content is © Jack Shand and is reprinted with permission.

Jack Shand, CMC, CAE, is president of Leader Quest, a management consulting firm providing expert advice to not-for-profit organizations since 1997. Leader Quest specializes in executive search/staff recruitment, strategic planning, governance, and organizational reviews. Jack can be reached at 905-842-3845 and 1-877-929-4473, or jack-at-leaderquest-dot-com.