Thomas Sowell
I just heard about a new toy we’ll be getting at work. It’s a videoconferencing system that will “allow for virtual meetings that look, sound, and feel as if colleagues are just across the table.”
That sounds interesting.
“The pilot project aims to reduce travel costs, improve work-life balance, and lessen
That’s all well and good, but can it accelerate the speed of business?
“It accelerates the speed of business, letting you connect at a moment's notice when you have to meet eyeball to eyeball. I think what we'll find is that it will be justified if for no other reason than that."
If your organization is like mine you live and die by meetings, and anything that makes that process more effective is welcome. But getting people together is only the first step towards a successful meeting. Many people think of meetings as a necessary evil. There are too many of them, they’re too long, they don’t get to the point, there are too many of the wrong people in them, there are too few of the right people in them, somebody always does all the talking, the donuts are stale. The donut problem is beyond the scope of this post, but the rest of these complaints are easily fixable with a few helpful tips. Apply these basic principles and you may even start to find meetings… valuable!
The 6 fundamentals for a successful meeting
1. Arrive on time
This seems so obvious but it happens so rarely. If everyone showed up on time the meeting could start on time which would make for a shorter and more productive session.
2. Understand your role before you get there
If you do not know how you are expected to participate you run the risk of wasting your time. Your role should be explicitly stated and you should be prepared to lead, add technical input, capture information for your use or for others who are not attending or facilitate, depending on what you have been asked to do. If you have not been asked to do anything you may just be filling a seat.
3. Understand the audience
I have seen way too many meetings derailed because a decision-maker was not in the room. Or the decision-maker’s boss’s boss was in the room and we didn’t realize it. Just as your communication style is different when talking to your peer and a Vice President (unless your peer is a Vice President), so the tone you take in a meeting should change as well. Make sure you know what level of the organization is represented in your meeting and what they expect to get out of it.
4. Follow a good agenda
Without an agenda the meeting can wander and there is a risk of getting to the end without having accomplished the stated purpose of the meeting. I was in a meeting a couple of weeks ago that had an agenda but it was the wrong agenda for what the organizer wanted to get done. We met for an hour and then agreed to meet again later to discuss the same topic. Experiences like that give meetings a bad name.
5. Stay focused and avoid multiple conversations
Even with the best agenda, meetings can sometimes wander. Keeping on topic is the best way to ensure that your meeting finishes on time and accomplishes everything you intend. One clear sign of wandering is more than one conversation happening at the same time. This is a very easy behavior to manage, simply by stopping all discussions and restarting them one by one. Doing this will ensure that everyone gets heard and that no good ideas get lost.
6. Take good notes
Notes should become the official record of the meeting, documenting what was agreed to and assigning action items. Meeting minutes also give all participants a chance to verify that their understanding of what happened is accurate. This written record can be invaluable when disputes arise later about what was said or not said in the meeting.
The 5 essential principles for a meeting organizer
1. Format your meeting invitation with agenda and roles
Don’t let people guess what the meeting is about, what to expect as an outcome, or how they are supposed to participate. If you leave any of these items vague (and if your participants read The 4 Basic Rules for a Meeting Invitee below) they may decline your invitation.
2. Schedule for ½ hour if possible
Seriously. Sometimes this will not be possible, but when everyone in the room tries to get through an agenda in 30 minutes, magic happens. A more general rule would be to schedule your meeting for ½ hour less than you think you really need.
3. Only invite yourself
Well, not literally, but keep your invite list as small as possible. Do not invite even one extraneous person who “might” need to hear what you are discussing.
4. Start on time
As the organizer, you control the clock. Unless there is a compelling reason to delay, start the meeting on time and do not pause to recap for latecomers. If your organization is lackadaisical about meeting start times generally, this simple step will help change the culture.
5. Do not deviate from the agenda
The agenda is yours, so it is up to you to stick to it. Keeping others in the meeting on track is part of your job as organizer, but if you begin to wander yourself, all is lost. Use what is commonly called a “parking lot” to capture any important items that need to be discussed but are outside the scope of your agenda.
The 4 basic rules for a meeting invitee
1. The meeting invite should include agenda and participation details. If it doesn’t, politely decline.
Just as you don’t want to waste the organizer’s time, the organizer should not waste your time either. Unless the meeting organizer is your boss (or your boss’s boss, etc.), it is well within your rights to ask why you need to be there.
2. Arrive on time
3. Don’t wait around for a late starting meeting
The easiest situation to handle is one where you are on time but the organizer is not. In this case the old college rule applies - If it’s an associate professor, leave after five minutes; if it’s a full professor, leave after ten; if it’s a PhD, wait for fifteen. By not tolerating meetings that habitually start late you can begin to change your organizations meeting culture in a positive way.
4. Defer to the organizer (don’t hijack the meeting)
When you set the agenda you can run the meeting. If you agree to attend as a participant, remember that you are but dust.
Finally, there are times when we just can’t get along. If you know the meeting is going to be one where temperatures will rise and fingers will point the answer may be to invite a facilitator. The facilitator’s role is like an umpire, to make sure the rules are followed and to act as an honest broker during disagreements. Note that there are also facilitators who are called in to help organize a group’s thoughts into a coherent plan or outcome, but that is not this role.
The facilitator role will be discussed in a future post.
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