CHAPTER 34
Make Little Meeting Matters a Big Deal
Effective meetings don’t happen by accident; they happen by design.
As with race cars, what’s “under the hood” drives a meeting’s overall success. Don’t be misled by the phrase “meeting details,” as in “Someone will get back to you with the meeting details.”
A key reason for so many nonproductive meetings is meeting leaders’ failure to understand the strategy behind the “details.” As a result, those same leaders turn the decisions about the “details” over to their administrative support staff. Big mistake!
Support staff can coordinate the meeting and implement the “details,” of course. But you as meeting leader need to make the strategic decisions that often determine what happens in the meeting. If your meeting creates frustration and accomplishes nothing, attendees will blame you, the leader—not the admin staff.
Consider the typical time wasters in those meetings you dread to attend and determine not to let these be said of your meetings:
• Meeting called at the last minute so people come unprepared
• Meeting canceled at the last minute (disrupted schedules)
• Meeting not canceled but should have been because key people failed to attend (must meet again)
• Late arrivers (have to recap for them)
• Early leavers (decisions postponed because key people leave early)
• Attendees know of meeting but didn’t bring appropriate information
• Group too large to have meaningful discussion
• Group too small to have fresh ideas or perspective
• Inappropriate attendees in the room (discussion complicated by need to backtrack and explain things)
• Weak facilitator (discussion often veers off topic)
• Dominating attendee(s) (broad input and real discussion get quashed)
• Meeting length inappropriate (too long or too short for the purpose)
• Venue inappropriate for the group size (some can’t see or hear; uncomfortable for other reasons, and participation suffers in an effort to “get it over with”)
• Venue inappropriate for the purpose (in formal venues, some attendees hesitate to speak up; in casual venues, some think serious objections won’t be taken seriously; attendees may feel “obligated” in a “host” environment)
Once again, strategic thinking prior to a meeting often determines the meeting’s success or failure concerning controversial or sensitive issues. Ask yourself the following key questions as you plan.
SHOULD YOU FACILITATE THE MEETING?
A facilitator should know how to make key decisions about logistics (venue, timing, duration, agenda, A-V support, confirmations, cancellations), structure, group dynamics, and problem participants.
Do you know how to prevent the above time wasters? If not, you definitely need a facilitator who does. And even if you’re an excellent facilitator, there are other reasons for choosing someone else to lead your meetings: 1) to allow you to participate as a team member rather than an objective facilitator; 2) to handle problem participants; 3) to bring an outside perspective on a controversial topic; and 4) to avoid the appearance of a “control-and-command” discussion and decision.
Arrange for an internal facilitator by offering to return the favor to facilitate for a colleague on another occasion. Or consider asking a skilled internal facilitator who enjoys the task and wants the visibility with higher-ups in the meeting. Although outside facilitators will expect to be paid, these professionals definitely add value in running an efficient meeting—particularly when you expect controversy, have problem participants, or face a lengthy agenda of strategic importance.
WHO SHOULD AND SHOULD NOT ATTEND?
Ask yourself who must sign off on key decisions. Who has veto power? Who has crucial input? Who can be a real champion for your cause in the rest of the organization? Whose support must you have if the project gets off the ground? Who are the naysayers who can doom your decision or work if their voices aren’t heard?
Who should not attend? Who will only complicate the process and discussion? Who will likely sidetrack the meeting onto personal agendas unrelated to the project or decision? If someone you invite can’t attend, do you want to allow them to send a representative—or maybe encourage them to send a representative? Think it over—before the meeting, not after the person shows up and complicates your meeting. State your “druthers” in the invitation.
WHAT’S THE PERMANENT SYSTEM TO CONFIRM OR CANCEL?
If you’re making a list and checking it twice, you’ll soon find out who’s naughty and nice. No need to wait for Santa. Double-check that list of time wasters above. How often have you arrived at a meeting only to discover that a key decision maker has canceled at the last minute—and made the entire meeting useless for everyone else? Or if you’ve hosted a meeting, have you invited attendees and failed to receive confirmations from some invitees until start time when they appeared at the door or called in to the conference line?
A system for emergency cancellations helps prevent those unpleasant surprises. So does building a culture in which all know and agree that commitments and proper cancellations show respect and protect everyone’s time.
Set up a system and a deadline by which all team members agree to either confirm or cancel attendance in advance. Agree that if all have not checked in to either confirm or cancel by this drop-dead deadline, the entire meeting will be canceled on their behalf. After a few such cancellations, peer pressure will remind slow or delinquent members to make a commitment for the sake of everyone’s time and schedule. (Of course, as meeting leader, you can always look at the list to see who has confirmed or canceled, make the decision to cancel the meeting, and send out a cancellation notice.)
As the communicator whose reputation rests on the meeting results, you have to determine the meeting strategy that marks the difference between frustration and success.