Managing a meeting
is a very important skills.
Meetings can either
be a huge drain on time and resources or a huge benefit to both those involved
and the organization as a whole. If you are reluctant to attend regular
scheduled meetings, or feel they are a waste of time the meeting is likely not
being run effectively.
How effective a
meeting is can depend upon who, and how the meeting is managed. The benefits of
a well run meeting can be priceless, whether it be a short 10 min meeting or
a multi day summit, you want people to
walk away from a meeting with the feeling of accomplishment and a sense of time spent.
If you are the
organizer of a meeting, you are basically demanding an investment of time and
knowledge from your participants, whether they are from within your
organization or outside your organization there is a significant investment in
cost and resources associated with holding a meeting.
The time spent during
this gathering can be an invaluable investment that will have a positive impact
on your project.
I’ve attended many
meetings… meetings dealing with complex issues that have brought together
people from around the world with considerable investment in time and
money. I’ve been fortunate to
observe a number of very well organised people who are able to run a well
thought out, successful meeting.
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| Taya Photography |
Here is an
amalgamation of tips and notes I’ve gathered from observing how successful
meetings is organized.
Why: Firstly why are you having a meeting, is it
absolutely necessary?
Consider the return on investment and what
alternate options do you have to deal with the issues. If the meeting is just
to inform take a look at other mediums that can be use to share the
information, such as email, posting on a project forum, chat room or website.
There are a number of great online platforms that allow for collaboration and
sharing of documents and information where multiple people can add their
thoughts and comments at their convenience.
Who: Who needs to attend?
Consider each individual's involvement on the
issues and their ability to address or participate in finding solutions. Only
involve those who are able to provide solutions, select people who have the
ability to communicate effectively, avoid inviting people who are typically
reluctant to contribute or who are dogmatic in their opinion, you
want to create an environment of collaboration and solutions.
Agenda: Have a well organised agenda that covers
the topics needed to be discussed during the meeting. This means doing some
preparation, find out prior to the meeting what the issues are which will define your objectives. From this you
will be in a better position to invite the right people to the meeting in an
effort to find the best possible solutions.
Stick to the agenda… but,
don’t be afraid to veer off track to address issues that may arise. A good
way to manage any "side" issues that come up is
to place them in a “cage” which can be addressed later allowing you to get back on
the immediate topic. A “cage” is an area on a whiteboard or flip chart where
you can list topics that need to be addressed at the end of a meeting. Before the
end of a meeting these “caged” items should be assigned to an individual who can briefly give a 10 minute summary
addressing exactly what the issue is and what possible solutions may be
available, if no solutions are available this then becomes a action item
delegating responsibility.
Meeting Summary: After the meeting, go over the objectives and outcome of the
meeting, recognise people’s contributions and their participation. Summarize
the challenges, solutions, plans and resolutions that have been addressed and
those that require additional attention. Keep it simple, concise and brief. (something I find challenging...)
Action Items: Delegate responsibility of items that need
to be addressed resulting from the meeting. You may have run a productive
meeting but if there are no action items resulting from the meeting issues may
not get resolved outside of the board room. Assign action items to those who
are best suited to deal with the item as action items will hold people accountable.
Hope these tips help you manage your next meeting. Whether it's between two people or twenty, I have found these tips invaluable in holding a productive meeting.
