Running an Effective Meeting: 5 Tips That Will Maximize Your Meeting Effectiveness



Posted: Wednesday, January 21, 2009

by
Greater Impact Course

Have you ever been to a meeting and felt like saying afterwards "What was that all about" or "What a waste of time"?  We'll I have.  Fortunately, though, most of the meetings that I have attended during my career in business have been well-organized and productive.  This is mainly due to the fact that my employer spends a lot of time making sure meetings are not wasting people's valuable time.  However, every once in a while I have found myself in a meeting that is not well-organized and not very productive.  This is very frustrating knowing that, with a little bit of knowledge of a few basic principles, the meeting leader could have had their attendees walk away feeling that something was accomplished and their time was not spent in vain.  Here are 5 basic tips to consider as you begin planning your next meeting:
  1. State the Objective or Purpose for the Meeting – this grounds everyone on why they are at the meeting  and what they should expect to accomplish during this time.  It's ok if the meeting has multiple objectives – it is simply important to state these objectives right up front.
  2. Create an Agenda – this will help steer the discussion and keep you on track to meet your objective(s).  A good idea is to note how much time you want to allot to each agenda point.  This will allow you to gauge your time.
  3. Control the Discussion – as meeting leader or facilitator you need to control the discussion.  Make sure the conversation is not dominated by one or two individuals by prompting those attendees who have not been able to contribute.  If a discussion point goes on and on you may want to cut off the discussion and handle the item further "off-line".  Be careful not to "work the issues" during the meeting if that is not what you intended to accomplish as you compiled the agenda.  In any event, attendees appreciate when someone guides the discussion and the time.
  4. Summarize Decisions and Create Next Steps -  this holds people accountable for the decisions that were made and any action items they are responsible for after the meeting is over.  These should be very specific and names attached to either the decision or the next step.
  5. End on Time – you will begin losing people mentally as soon as you go over the stated meeting time.  If your agenda has not been fully discussed set up time for another meeting to complete it.  Going over the stated meeting time shows poor time management skills and lack of appreciation for other people's time.  If you're "the boss" going overtime may not be an issue.  However, if you're not "the boss" ending on time will be recognized and appreciated by your peers in attendance.
Bottom Line – State the objective; create a plan (agenda); execute and control the plan; summarize key decisions and actions; end on time.

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