I’ve just been sitting in a meeting
for the past hour wondering what it’s all about, having been invited to a
meeting by a senior executive where a project he’s involved was being
discussed. Everyone in attendance was polite and acknowledged the importance of
the project, displaying levels of business protocol and no one wanted to be the
first to challenge why they were really there.
All the delegates (I was quiet, being
there by invitation) were making polite noises about the project being
discussed, fueling the importance of the project, and the importance of the
senior executive ‘hosting’ the meeting.
In reality I can imagine that most,
(including me) were working on exit plans out of the discussions and wishing
the fire alarm would go off in the full knowledge that the project in
discussion was doomed to fail!
Thinking about meetings, there is a
tremendous amount written about good and bad meeting practices and there are
some classic pieces of material available to help understand the
differentiation between the two. John Cleese, apart from being famous for Monty
Python, is equally revered for the business classic “Meetings Bloody Meetings”.
One of the learnings from the video, is the
meeting purpose. The dictionary describes it as ‘an assembly of people for a
particular purpose, especially for formal discussion’. The key word here is purpose
and all good meeting disciplines starts there.
In my mind, there are basically two types of
meetings, decision making and information sharing. If you look at other
material around meeting types, you will read some people suggesting that there
are production meetings, planning meetings, work meetings, team meetings, board
meeting etc, but strip down to their purpose - they are decision making,
information sharing or a blend of both.
Once you have a purpose, align the
content to the meeting purpose. Know who you need in the meeting and the
information to achieve the meeting outcomes. It’s pointless having people around
a table in a meeting when they have no contribution to make, no information to
share or contribute to the decision.
Each meeting delegate, has to know
not only the purpose of the meeting but what is expected of them, what
contribution they are required to make, what information they need to bring,
what decisions they are likely to be involved in. All this is the foundation of
being prepared.
Each meeting needs a chairperson or
lead, this person is critical for meetings to be effective. Not only to achieve
the meeting purpose but to ensure that all the delegates are effectively used,
being respectful of the delegate’s time.
Another key component is an agenda.
You will be surprised at how many meetings are run without agendas. An agenda
is not just a list of items to be covered, but includes an anticipated duration
for each item. It’s designed to keep the meeting focused, on time and should be
distributed in advance to the delegates to allow them to prepare effectively.
Don’t be overly ambitious either,
having a twenty point agenda for an hour’s meeting where you’re looking for a
decision on each point leaves three minutes per point!!
Equally important as preparing for a
meeting is closing one. While delegates are still in the room, recap agreements
and actions, to whom they are assigned and confirm dates. Finally, whoever is
the note taker, make sure that the minutes or actions are captured and
distributed after the meeting.
There is more that could be written
about meetings, by applying these basic principles correctly will make meetings
much more productive and you’ll learn to love them. If not, at least enjoy John
Cleese and “Meetings Bloody Meetings” – it’s on YouTube.
Contributed by Stan
Shaw, Senior Client Partner at Breakthrough Management Group
