Do your meetings work? Do you find your working existence filled with endless meetings with no real results? Do people in other organisations seem to get worthwhile outcomes whilst you seem to paddle furiously but never achieve? Use the tips in this article to make sure your meetings achieve maximum results.
Throughout my career, I've looked at how my department can integrate with and support other business functions. Because of this, I've worked in many working environments and across many different levels and functions, often attempting to provoke change or implement new working processes.
There are always various types of people you come across with differing perspectives on their role in whatever the subject at hand. These can vary massively from those eager to get involved and build a power base by increasing their activity across the organisation through to those who are consistently too busy, often because they either don't want to rock the status quo, don't want the extra workload or sometimes genuinely have enough to do.
How do you get effective results from your meetings? I try to handle all the possible problems in advance of the meetings with effective preparation and approach, then enact prepared solutions during the meeting and afterwards to ensure I get the most from both my time and the time of the others involved. Ask yourself the following questions and use the results effectively to get the most from your interactions, whether you're running the meeting or (for some points) attending as a delegate.
1. Who really needs to be there?
We've all been to meetings where a meting leader has invited all and sundry to their meeting, from the top of their organisational tree to the bottom regardless of their impact. As far as I can gather, this seems to stem from a personal need of the organiser to feel like the task is more important but often ends up backfiring.
As a manager, incessant time demands to attend subordinate meetings to which you probably do not need to attend can be tiring. Often, these requests will end in one or more of the following unfavourable scenarios for the requesting subordinate:
(a) a poor manager will attend from a sense of duty but run ruff shod over the meeting in order to get through as quickly as possible, which lowers the standing of the meeting organiser in the eyes of the colleagues present and causes the meeting to fail to achieve objectives
(b) a manager will begin to comprehend all requests from the subordinate as time wasting and be inclined to deny all requests from the subordinate for their time
(c) the manager will not accept and office "scuttlebutt" will make sure everyone knows that the manager doesn't see value in the interaction
Another point I mentioned previously in an article on Task Management, Scott Adams wrote in a Dilbert comic strip that people "want to have input because input is much easier than doing real work". Ending up with a large number of unnecessary people in a meeting can often mean that everyone wants input and you actually don't achieve your objectives. Some of these meetings can go so badly wrong that they end up more reminiscent of a circus than an office setting.
Conversely, this is a great time to point out from the same article mentioned above, that if you're invited to a meeting and you don't need to be present for any viable reason, you should not attend. Attending meetings as a 'jolly' not only wastes your time but wastes the time of those present. Perhaps most importantly, consistently attending these meetings will devalue the perception others hold of you as they recognise that you are not being effective in your role.
Remember: whilst colleagues may feel some sort of social convention dictates they should attend, it is crucial that you invite and conversely attend as is necessary. Social convention won't help increase key attendance for long and won't help interactivity at your meetings, but continued belief from a delegate that their presence is of value will ensure their participation as required.
2. Meeting objectives
The worst meetings you'll go to are those where people amble aimlessly, with no real direction and no lead. These meetings, like those with huge numbers of unnecessary attendees, appear to go on forever and everyone leaves frustrated and demotivated.
In preparation for a meeting, you should always ask yourself "what objectives do I want to achieve during the meeting?". This can be as passive as "introducing stakeholders to a concept", "sharing progress throughout a team", more active such as "achieving consensus on project approach" or similarly driven by the need to "decide on processes and specific task information". If you can't come up with at least one good meeting objective, not only is there no need to have a meeting, but holding one will undoubtedly turn farcical and be damaging to your image and your cause.
Remember: pointless meetings harm morale and image. Propose a meeting when it's necessary.
3. Leading the meeting
Whatever your need, make sure that at the start of the meeting, everyone present understands the meeting objectives in clear and concise language. If people attend late, recite the meeting objectives to ensure that they are also aware of them.
Some "best practice" practitioners advocate ensuring that all attendees are presented with a printed agenda either in advance, or at the very latest at the start of the meetings to remind them of the objectives. In line with the average human ability to remember things best in groups of 3, 5 or 7, this is advised to contain 3-7 bullet points of objectives (where appropriate) of the outcomes you're looking to achieve from the meeting. Other good suggestions around this document are that it contains the name of either all or key attendees (depending on the number of attendees), consists of a single sheet and includes plenty of blank space for notes.
Perhaps the most important thing as meeting organiser is that you are likely to be the person best suited to leading the meeting. This in turn means that it is your responsibility to ensure that the meeting progresses as needed. Whilst it is critical that you do not cut off delegates whilst important input is being provided, you must keep the meeting flowing, on topic and ensure that the objectives are achieved. Sometimes this requires that you clarify or restate an objective and ensure that consensus is achieved in plain language from those involved. Other times, this necessitates that you declare a subject closed and introduce the next topic. Done skilfully and correctly, a meeting leader can progress the meeting to a successful close in the most effective manner and with minimal frustration for those involved.
Remember: leading a meeting means just that, you're there to make sure the meeting is led rather than sitting and viewing.
4. Tasks going forward
This is one of the most critical functions of a meeting. The meeting leader needs to make sure that before a meeting is broken up that all tasks going forward are clearly labelled with timescales and taken on by someone. Doing so in the flow of the meeting will ensure that all delegates are aware to whom responsibilities lie and that they cannot feign ignorance or "pass the buck". Doing so ensures all objectives are achieved in a timely manner and those present are certain that the meeting was not fruitless.
On a similar matter, I was once told by a business mentor to "listen to what they say but watch carefully what they do". To this end, make sure that if you are holding a meeting to obtain "buy-in", that you give a small task to those involved who appear to be behind the concepts involved and watch carefully how they manage it. If they're proactive and achieve quickly, take it as a good sign that they are genuinely interested and going to help with your endeavours. If you're chasing them incessantly and they're reluctant to start, assume they're not going to be much help with the process and act accordingly.
Remember: make sure that people understand what they need to achieve going forward. Make sure they're invested
5. Honourable Mention: Death by PowerPoint
Whilst not an exhaustive guide on the use of PowerPoint, it is critical to recognise that poor PowerPoint practice can lead to terrible meetings, stifle creativity and infuriate delegates. Steve Jobs was famous for stating you should "Get your story together before you start on the PowerPoint". Good practice from various points suggests you should "average 40 words per slide" and "challenge yourself to use less words and more visuals".
Unless you really want people to copy or see a phrase in the case of something like a mission statement, you should never, ever put chunks of text or full bullet points on the screen and read them parrot fashion.
Remember: PowerPoint is there for talking points and related visuals, not as a script.
6. Appearances
Remember, whether its a hand out agenda or a PowerPoint, people will at the very least subconsciously look at the design and decide how much time you've spent on either, and thus how much importance you assign to the meeting, and thus the meeting subject and them as delegates. This applies to your appearance and the level to which you've prepared.
Nancy Duarte of Duarte (presentation design and training) suggests that for an hour long PowerPoint, a presenter should spend 90hrs creating it (not just the physical slides but the whole presentation as a package) and stick to around 30 slides. Whilst this could seem excessive, and unobtainable to most, consider the amount of time you've thought about the main points you want to get across, the relevant people and your approach. The time racks up quickly! Remember the main purpose of this time is to ensure that you appear comfortable, confident and competent, in turn making your proposals carry considerably more weight.
Remember: your appearance, both physical and perceived is critically important
Conclusion
Prepare well, appear well and ensure the meeting runs smoothly and people will assume you care about the subject and them. Invite those that matter, don't invite others and ensure your meetings have a successful objective and progress at a reasonable pace, and those around you will come to your meetings and participate effectively giving you the objectives that you need and contributing to your appearance as a successful manager.
Similarly, ensuring your subordinates know how to run a meeting effectively will save you time in the long run and again contribute to their effectiveness, making you look more effective!
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So to recap, what do I do?
If you're running a meeting, make sure you've handled the following points. Similarly, next time you're in a meeting that you've not arranged, look for the following points and see how effectively they've been handled.
1. Are the relevant people there? Did some not attend? Are there other people present that shouldn't be there?
2. Is there a solid objective provided or an obvious objective? Is everyone aware of this in advance of the start of the meeting?
3. Did you get an agenda in advance? Does the meeting lead progress the meeting when required and stay quiet when best appropriate?
4. Did objectives get set at the end of the meeting (if appropriate)? Did they get achieved in a timely fashion?
5. Was there a PowerPoint used? Was it effective or simply embarrassing?
6. Look at the appearances of those present. Who has made an effort and who hasn't, and what in turn does that say about their interest in the task at hand? Was the PowerPoint/agenda formatted carefully?
Follow these points carefully and watch as your meetings become dramatically more effective!
