Meetings are the bane of employees in corporate America. Very few will
dispute that they are a colossal waste of time. Most will admit to
doing other work while in meetings to take advantage of the "down
time." Many managers go from meeting to meeting in a zombie-like daze.
What can be done to break this spell and ease the pain? Here are a few
tips for making meetings more effective. 1) Only Meet if You Must - If you can accomplish your goal without a
meeting don't have one. Why spend the time scheduling something if
it's not necessary? 2) Limit Attendance - The more people in a meeting the longer it tends
to take. So, invite only those that need to attend. Additional parties
can be included in the distribution of minutes or can be contacted as
needed before or after the meeting. 3) Be Prepared - This usually gets a chuckle of disbelief. People
can't imagine finding the time to actually prepare for meetings since
all their time is taken up attending them. The fact is that lack of
attendee preparation just feeds the insatiable meeting monster. Things
don't get accomplished, so additional ineffective meetings are
spawned, and the cycle repeats. Prepare your schedule a week in advance and block off time, even if
it's ten to fifteen minutes, to prepare for upcoming meetings. It will
be time well spent. 4) Send Out an Agenda - If people are to prepare for a meeting, they
need to know what it is about. Let them know. Send out an agenda a few
days in advance. 5) Arrive on Time - Meetings take up valuable time of multiple people,
so they must be important, right? If that's the case, showing up on
time is not only the courteous thing to do, but it also necessary to
maximize the time investment of the participants. Oh, and dropping off
some of you personal possessions on the conference table to save a
seat doesn't count as being on time! You need to be in the chair as
well. 6) Start on Time - A nine O'clock start means a nine O'clock start.
Facilitators, don't start a minute later. If you start on time
habitually, people will get the message that they must be punctual as
well. Don't repeat things for those that arrive late. No need to
penalize the many for the tardiness of an attendee or two. Latecomers
can pick up what they missed from someone after the meeting, or from
the meeting minutes. 7) Keep to Topic - Facilitation is improved with practice. The
facilitator must learn to tactfully cut off the ramblers and remain on
task. "That's a very good point John. Can we take that up later or
schedule another meeting to discuss it? We really need to get through
a couple more items." People invest their valuable time in meetings.
The facilitator must ensure that he/she accomplishes what was set out
to be accomplished in order to justify the time investment. 8) If it's Worth Having, It's Worth Recording - Take minutes. They
don't have to be extravagant. Keep it simple. While it is best to have
an experienced minute taker at each meeting, it is typically a luxury,
so more often than not, the responsibility falls on the facilitator.
It's not easy for the facilitator to be effective in both roles, but
it can be done. Rotating meeting minute responsibilities among
attendees for regularly scheduled meetings can ease the burden on the
facilitator. One of the most important things about the minutes is the action
items. They must have completion dates and the dates must be honored. 9) No Grandstanding Please! - Some (typically manager types), use
meetings to show that they are on top of things. They feel absolutely
obligated to pipe up to show that they are the boss. Bosses, there is
really no need to do this. These attempts to impress typically
backfire and actually demonstrate a lack of knowledge. Others use valuable meeting time to try to impress the boss. Try to
refrain from doing this as well. The meeting is about getting things
done, not about brown-nosing. Offer up your opinions when you think
they will truly help accomplish something. Spend the rest of the time
listening. 10) Be Present - Give your undivided attention to the meeting. Shut
off the cell phone. Put away the PDA. The fewer interruptions and the
more attention paid, the quicker you can accomplish the meeting
objectives and be on your way. This is also the courteous thing to do.
You wouldn't want someone reading e-mail during one of your meetings,
would you? 11) Plan Your Week - Plan your week to include time for you own tasks.
Block items off on your schedule. People will then need to work around
it. If you are attending more than 4 hours of meetings a day, odds are
very good that you are not being effective. Don't let people cram your
schedule with meetings. On occasion, some will disregard your schedule when setting up a
meeting. If this is the case, delegate attendance to a surrogate. Go
back to the meeting requester and explain that you can not attend. If
the meeting can't be rearranged, a surrogate will usually be an
acceptable option. 12) Keep it short - Keep the meeting to an hour or less if at all
possible. People just don't have the attention span to go much longer. If you execute the suggestions above, you will quickly discover that
meetings will no longer be the horror that they have been in the past.
Things will actually get accomplished, and interestingly enough,
overall time spent in meetings will actually decrease.
dispute that they are a colossal waste of time. Most will admit to
doing other work while in meetings to take advantage of the "down
time." Many managers go from meeting to meeting in a zombie-like daze.
What can be done to break this spell and ease the pain? Here are a few
tips for making meetings more effective. 1) Only Meet if You Must - If you can accomplish your goal without a
meeting don't have one. Why spend the time scheduling something if
it's not necessary? 2) Limit Attendance - The more people in a meeting the longer it tends
to take. So, invite only those that need to attend. Additional parties
can be included in the distribution of minutes or can be contacted as
needed before or after the meeting. 3) Be Prepared - This usually gets a chuckle of disbelief. People
can't imagine finding the time to actually prepare for meetings since
all their time is taken up attending them. The fact is that lack of
attendee preparation just feeds the insatiable meeting monster. Things
don't get accomplished, so additional ineffective meetings are
spawned, and the cycle repeats. Prepare your schedule a week in advance and block off time, even if
it's ten to fifteen minutes, to prepare for upcoming meetings. It will
be time well spent. 4) Send Out an Agenda - If people are to prepare for a meeting, they
need to know what it is about. Let them know. Send out an agenda a few
days in advance. 5) Arrive on Time - Meetings take up valuable time of multiple people,
so they must be important, right? If that's the case, showing up on
time is not only the courteous thing to do, but it also necessary to
maximize the time investment of the participants. Oh, and dropping off
some of you personal possessions on the conference table to save a
seat doesn't count as being on time! You need to be in the chair as
well. 6) Start on Time - A nine O'clock start means a nine O'clock start.
Facilitators, don't start a minute later. If you start on time
habitually, people will get the message that they must be punctual as
well. Don't repeat things for those that arrive late. No need to
penalize the many for the tardiness of an attendee or two. Latecomers
can pick up what they missed from someone after the meeting, or from
the meeting minutes. 7) Keep to Topic - Facilitation is improved with practice. The
facilitator must learn to tactfully cut off the ramblers and remain on
task. "That's a very good point John. Can we take that up later or
schedule another meeting to discuss it? We really need to get through
a couple more items." People invest their valuable time in meetings.
The facilitator must ensure that he/she accomplishes what was set out
to be accomplished in order to justify the time investment. 8) If it's Worth Having, It's Worth Recording - Take minutes. They
don't have to be extravagant. Keep it simple. While it is best to have
an experienced minute taker at each meeting, it is typically a luxury,
so more often than not, the responsibility falls on the facilitator.
It's not easy for the facilitator to be effective in both roles, but
it can be done. Rotating meeting minute responsibilities among
attendees for regularly scheduled meetings can ease the burden on the
facilitator. One of the most important things about the minutes is the action
items. They must have completion dates and the dates must be honored. 9) No Grandstanding Please! - Some (typically manager types), use
meetings to show that they are on top of things. They feel absolutely
obligated to pipe up to show that they are the boss. Bosses, there is
really no need to do this. These attempts to impress typically
backfire and actually demonstrate a lack of knowledge. Others use valuable meeting time to try to impress the boss. Try to
refrain from doing this as well. The meeting is about getting things
done, not about brown-nosing. Offer up your opinions when you think
they will truly help accomplish something. Spend the rest of the time
listening. 10) Be Present - Give your undivided attention to the meeting. Shut
off the cell phone. Put away the PDA. The fewer interruptions and the
more attention paid, the quicker you can accomplish the meeting
objectives and be on your way. This is also the courteous thing to do.
You wouldn't want someone reading e-mail during one of your meetings,
would you? 11) Plan Your Week - Plan your week to include time for you own tasks.
Block items off on your schedule. People will then need to work around
it. If you are attending more than 4 hours of meetings a day, odds are
very good that you are not being effective. Don't let people cram your
schedule with meetings. On occasion, some will disregard your schedule when setting up a
meeting. If this is the case, delegate attendance to a surrogate. Go
back to the meeting requester and explain that you can not attend. If
the meeting can't be rearranged, a surrogate will usually be an
acceptable option. 12) Keep it short - Keep the meeting to an hour or less if at all
possible. People just don't have the attention span to go much longer. If you execute the suggestions above, you will quickly discover that
meetings will no longer be the horror that they have been in the past.
Things will actually get accomplished, and interestingly enough,
overall time spent in meetings will actually decrease.
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