Do you have time to waste? Neither do I, or at least I do not want my time consumed by things that do not produce results. If your experience is like mine there is no bigger waste of time in my personal and professional life than non-productive meetings. Somewhere along the line it became the norm that we need to get a group of people together to get something done and that by getting a group of people together something will get done.

It is my experience that unless there is a leader, a structure and purpose to the meeting it is really just a gathering and its only meaningful result will be to have another meeting. This happens all of the time in the business world at a significant price. The same thing can be observed in our private lives as well. I think some of the worst meetings I have ever been in were Home Owner Association or Church meetings where the bulk of the time is spent socializing and the meetings tend to lack leadership. The meetings took forever and nothing was really resolved.

As it turns out, a significant number of people agree that most of the meetings they attend are not effective. Per research published by Atlassian, they found the following:

1.     62 Meetings attended per month by most employees
2.     1/2 of the meetings were considered to be time wasted
3.     31 Hours spent in unproductive meetings over a month
4.     91% Reported daydreaming during the meeting
5.     73% Did other work in meetings
6.     47% Complained that meetings were the #1 time-waster at the office

Meetings are also expensive. Based on the average wage rate for Management across the US according to the US Department of Labor a 60 minute meeting for 10 people costs $470 in wages. A meeting of 100 people for 60 minutes costs $4,700 in wages. Most businesses have cost control measures in place for expenditures of these amounts and yet anyone can call a meeting. Do the meetings really return that amount to the bottom line? Well that is perhaps worthy of another blog discussion at another time.

So why have a meeting? That needs to be the very first question. Is it necessary to bring a group of people together at all? What is the purpose of the meeting, building consensus, making a decision, sharing information? Considering the findings and reputation of meetings, we really need to make sure there is not some other way to achieve our goal. If we conclude that a meeting is necessary, let’s at least make it as effective as possible.

So here are some tips for running an effective meeting:

Decide on the type of meeting:

1.     Brainstorming – to uncover fresh ideas on a topic
2.     Decision – to evaluate alternatives and come to a consensus or conclusion
3.     Announcement – to communicate news to a group of people

Keep in mind that all meetings need to be action oriented. If there is not a call to action as a result of the meeting then there was probably not a need for the meeting.

Meeting Structure:

1. What result do you want from this meeting? – We need to start with the end in mind. Clearly state what we want to decide, discover or communicate. Create a Purpose Statement such as: “The purpose of this meeting will be to decide when to release our new product”.

2. Who needs to provide input? – Identify who has the valuable information or ideas that are needed to allow the group to get to the desired outcome.

3. Who are the decision makers? – Identify the decision maker(s) that are required to get to the desired outcome and make sure they are in attendance.

4. What information do they need to prepare for the meeting? – Identify and publish any existing information that will help the participants come to the meeting prepared to participate rather than have to “get-up-to-speed” as part of the meeting.

5. Design the meeting with the results in mind – Knowing the purpose and desired outcome of the meeting, create a timetable that provides distinct partitions of the available time to contain discussion and provide time for decision making and/or consensus building.

6. Publish the Agenda with the pre-meeting materials – Send the Agenda and meeting material out in advance and reinforce the purpose and structure of the meeting. Clearly state that the purpose of the meeting is : XXXXX and a decision will be made by its conclusion or what ever outcome you identified in the Purpose Statement.

7. Set meeting norms at beginning of meeting – Establish the base rule of engagement for this meeting.

Things like:
1.     The timeline will be followed
2.     One conversation at a time
3.     All cell phones will be muted
4.     Electronics yes or no? (personally, I take my notes electronically so I encourage having laptops and tablets available)

8. Provide facilitation – Make sure there is someone providing the role of neutral facilitator to ensure balanced conversation and time management. If you are both the facilitator and leader, be careful not to bias the meeting. It will diminish the buy-in of the participants.

9. Arrange for note taking – It is imperative that there be a record of the key points of discussion and the agreed upon outcome and action steps as a result of the meeting. Either appoint someone to be notetaker or take them yourself.

10. Start the Meeting – It’s show time!

1.     Introduce the agenda
2.     State the purpose of the meeting
3.     Review the norms
4.     Balance the discussion
5.     Manage the time boundaries
6.     Force the issue
7.     Test for alignment
8.     Summarize the agreement (or result)
9.     End the meeting (on-time or before)

11. Post-meeting – This is the part that can make the difference. Send the notes and callout the action plans and next steps. This is where accountability starts so that the meeting produces results.

1.    Distribute the notes
2.    Identify the participants in the meeting
3.    Include key Points
4.    Summarize the agreement (or result)
5.    Follow-up on the commitments

Additionally, it is often helpful to have tools available to help structure and facilitate your meeting. I have found the book Meeting for Results Tool Kit: Make Your Meetings Work [Kindle Edition] by Richard M. Lent very helpful, loaded with great ideas and suggestions. You may want to add it to your toolbox.

In conclusion, only have a meeting if it is truly the best way to communicate or achieve a purpose. The history of meetings prove that they are not typically productive. To ensure that your meetings are productive, follow the general outline; 1) define the meeting purpose, 2) structure to produce the desired result, 3) engage full participation, and 4) provide documented outcomes.

I hope this has been helpful, it has at least been therapeutic. Enjoy your future meetings and I look forward to our next visit.

Thanks,

Skip Gilbert