Introduction

Many people spend a considerable portion of their business day in meetings. This article is written to provide you with a few ideas to help you run your meetings more effectively.

The benefits of meetings

Meetings can have several key benefits that include:

• Allow individuals to share ideas and information.
• Enable individuals to share their preferences.
• Provide opportunity for individuals to provide input to a decision.
• When decisions are made it allows identification of those individuals who may be able/willing to “champion” the decision.
• Give members of specific groups the opportunity to reaffirm that they are part of a larger whole.

The problem with meetings

While meetings have a variety of potential benefits (not all of which are listed above) there are many common complaints regarding meetings. These include:

• Too long.
• Not well organized.
• Too frequent.
• Never actually accomplish anything.
• Dominated by a few people.
• Doesn’t deal with the important issues.

Preparing for a meeting

Proper planning can avert many of the problems associated with a poor meeting. To prepare for a meeting you should:

• Define the purpose of the meeting. It is important before you initiate a meeting to know exactly what you want to accomplish from this meeting (i.e. your goal) and that having this meeting is actually necessary to achieve your goal.
• Develop objectives for the meeting. The purpose often gives a high-level reason for the meeting while the meeting objectives more specifically and clearly define what it is you are trying to achieve during this meeting. This also helps set the boundaries regarding what is within the scope of the meeting and what’s outside the scope of the meeting.
• Develop an agenda. Knowing what you want to achieve significantly streamlines the areas that need to be addressed throughout the meeting. Writing these down in a logical format helps develop the process for the meeting. The agenda should estimate the time for each item. Allow time for an introduction and review of the agenda at the start and a summary of the session at the end of the meeting.
• Determine who needs to attend the meeting. Many of us have been “dragged” into meetings that weren’t necessary for us to attend. Look at the objectives for the meeting and determine who “needs” to be there. Who will need to be there depends on whether the meeting is to inform, gather input or make decisions. Think about this before inviting everyone in your e-mail address book.
• Distribute the agenda before the meeting. This allows those who will be participating in the meeting to review the purpose, objectives and process for the meeting. It also gives them the opportunity to ask questions or raise concerns before the meeting. In conjunction with the agenda all background materials that will be required for the meeting should also be distributed.

Conducting the meeting

Being prepared is half the battle. However, conducting the meeting can be equally challenging. Some rules to keep in mind when conducting a meeting include:

• Ensure that you have adequate facilities for the meeting. Which would also include necessary equipment, appropriate location and refreshments if appropriate.
• Start on time. Unless the majority of the meeting participants are delayed start the meeting on time. If you are going to delay the start time for a short period, then ask those that are already there if this would be acceptable.
• Review meeting logistics. At the start of the meeting review the essential logistics, which include the ground rules, roles of participants, how decisions will be made and agenda.
• Stick to the agenda. During meetings there are often ideas that come up that are important and need to be addressed. However, if they are not included in the agenda put them in a “parking lot”. This allows the group to see that the idea is important and will be addressed but that it’s not within the scope of this meeting.
• Develop action steps. There is nothing more frustrating to people to go to a meeting, have a discussion and then nothing happens. Develop action steps which clearly set out the task, timeframe for its completion, individual who will take responsibility for ensuring the task is completed (this person doesn’t necessarily have to do all the work themselves) and to whom and how the accomplishment of that task will be reported.
• Summarize the outcomes from the meeting. Prior to concluding the meeting review the decisions made and action steps to be taken.
• Document the meeting outcomes. The individual who called the meeting and distributed the agenda should also take responsibility for documenting the meeting and forwarding the notes (including the action steps) to all participants.
• Finish on time. People are busy and have given up time from something else to attend the meeting so be respectful of their time. If at the conclusion of the time allotted for the meeting, there is still a considerable amount of work to be done then arrange with the group for another meeting. If there is only a small amount of work left and you wish to continue, get agreement from the group to extend the meeting before doing so. If you do extend the meeting, agree on the time allotted and stick to it.

Dealing with difficult people

While many people who attend meetings work well in groups there always seems to be one individual that is difficult to deal with or has a reputation of hijacking the process or making participation difficult for others. Some typical behaviours of difficult people include:

• Carrying on side conversations.
• Consistently trying to inhibit the group from reaching a decision.
• Taking criticisms of their ideas as personal attacks against them.
• Diminishing the perspectives and ideas of others.
• Wanting to finalize the decision before the group has defined the problem.
• Bogging the group down with an unnecessary level of detail.

Many of these types of behaviours can be addressed through adequate preparation. However, there may still be occasions when an individual is disrupting the meeting. When dealing with these types of behaviour there are a few simple rules to keep in mind: Use active listening techniques with this individual but don’t agree or engage in debate.

Don’t single the individual out. Talk privately to them and explain what their behaviour is doing to the group and ask what you can do to help meet their needs.

Reframe comments. If a negative comment is made, reframe so that it provides a positive contribution to the discussion. For example, if a group was discussing the development of a new mission statement and a participant said, “I don’t like the current one, it’s a complete waste of time, and its way too long and I just can’t remember it.” This could be reframed, as “Long statements are more difficult to remember so we may want to consider a shorter more memorable way of writing the mission statement.”

Summary

Meetings can be an effective way to help your organization move forward. Following these basic guidelines may assist you in making your meetings more successful.

Ron Robinson is the president of ABARIS Consulting Inc. He can be reached at (519) 472-9788 or rrobinson@abarisconsulting.com. This article is provided free of charge, for information purposes only and is not intended, represented or to be inferred as providing advice. ABARIS Consulting Inc. makes no warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability for accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided in whole or in part within this article.

ABARIS Consulting Inc. is credited as the source on all copies, reproductions and distributions, and CharityVillage.com is credited as the original publisher.