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Meeting Tips |
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Meeting Tips: 3 Stages to
Effective Meetings
Before
Good
preparation before a meeting
helps ensure that participants
attend, and come prepared.
It can also help keep the
meetings short and productive.
Logistics:
Be clear on beginning and
ending time (although you
can end early!). If no ending
time is indicated participants
may just choose not to attend
rather than wonder whether
they can afford the time
to participate. Meeting
room should be indicated,
even if you “always” meet
in a certain room. Be explicit.
Be clear about participants.
Let everyone know who else
is invited. It helps define
the meeting. Also double
check if there are new people
who should be included,
whether because they are
providing important information
just this once, or because
there are new hires who
should be included. (They
are so often overlooked!)
Preparation:
Send out an agenda in advance.
Even if you are inviting
participants to add to the
agenda, give an idea about
the main content of the
meeting. If there are related
documents, give them out
in advance. (At least half
of your participants prefer
advance notice and time
to review material)*. Let
people know in advance what
you will be asking of them.
For example, “Come prepared
to indicate your preference
and reasons for choosing
X.”
Purpose:
Why is the meeting occurring?
Even if this is a standing,
regularly scheduled meeting,
indicate the purpose. “We
will be updating each other
on our piece in the ABC
project.” Also see outcomes,
below. How will you know
it was a success?
During
Manage
the meeting for maximum
attention and successful
sharing of information.
Let people know what you
want.
Participation:
Do you want listening? Is
this a discussion type of
meeting? Are you passing
along mandates from above?
Is this a creative brainstorming
kind of session? If you
let people know what you
expect, you’re more likely
to get it. Are you a collaborative
manager seeking consensus
on a pending decision? Or
perhaps you’ve made a decision
and you want a constructive
devil’s advocate discussion,
to help anticipate and avoid
what could go wrong.
Format:
Meeting formats should match
the purpose and content.
Be clear about which of
these three formats you
intend to create; it helps
people know how you want
them to participate.
An
announcement
format
lets people know in advance
that you’re not in a position
to entertain changes. “We’re
here to discuss the new
requirements that our client
has defined.” If you have
in mind a discussion format,
let people know. Perhaps
it’s a post-mortem following
a new product release or
client engagement. Based
on the group, you’ll know
whether this is a rarely-speaks-up
group or rarely-quiets-down
group and you can manage
your request appropriately.
Brainstorming
or other kinds of creative
ideas meetings are most
successful when people know
the parameters ahead of
time. (Contrary to popular
myth, successful brainstorming
often is not an “all ideas
are great” forum. Your company
has a focused strategy,
resource constraints, a
defined market, and certain
kinds of talent. Be clear
about the fixed factors,
and the open-for-discussion
factors).
If
you’ve already had an ideas
meeting, and this meeting
is to choose from among
the options, let people
know that ahead of time
that this is a
deciding
meeting.
How much participation do
you want during the meeting?
Will you be deciding based
on input, data, and recommendations,
or will it be a group decision?
Being clear about this in
advance keeps people engaged
and enrolled. If you are
accountable, let people
know, “I will be making
the final decision.” In
other words, if you are
going to make the call,
do not indicate that it
will be a consensus.
Ending
Since
the meeting had a purpose,
the ending should clarify
how well that purpose was
met, and ensure that some
actions occur as a result.
Actions:
What will happen as a result
of this meeting?
By whom? By when?
Decisions: What decisions
were made? What decisions
were deferred pending additional
data, or a higher level
of authority? Who needs
to be notified about these
decisions? What are next
steps for those decisions
which were deferred?
Outcomes:
Review your stated outcomes.
Was the meeting a success?
Did it meet the needs for
information sharing or decision
making? If not, how will
you improve for next time?
What was accomplished?
Check-in:
Ask the participants what
was accomplished, as their
experience may be different
than the meeting manager.
What would help it be time
well spent for them?
by Janet Britcher
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