Effective meetings are the by-product of excellent planning. Once you know what has to be accomplished, with whom, how, when, and where, it's time for execution.
Following are some tried-and-true prescriptions for successfully executing each phase of a meeting. These formulae assume that the person who called the meeting is responsible for both the meeting content and process. Note that some meetings are co-conducted, with one person as content leader and another as process facilitator.
Start your meeting off right by having the room ready for business by the time the first participant arrives. Get in early enough to take the following preparation steps, and allow enough time to call for assistance if you have any preparation problems.
Check the seating arrangements. Are the chairs and tables set up the way you want them?
Adjust the lighting to your needs.
Check audiovisual and computer equipment you plan to use. Be sure you know how to operate the equipment and that it's working properly.
Arrange visual aids, such as a flipchart for documenting the meeting, so everyone can see it.
Check that you have all the materials you planned: enough handouts for everyone, any materials you need for the planned activities, and so forth.
Display meeting objectives and agenda. Have them visible on a flipchart, blackboard, or posted on a wall.
A productive meeting does not necessarily begin once everyone invited arrives; it begins at the time planned. Use the following checklist to get you through the first minutes:
Do not stop and restart the meeting. Your ontime participants will recognize that you were ready for them and that you don't intend to waste their time. This recognition helps set the climate for a productive meeting.
Display enthusiasm. Be energetic and upbeat from the start, and maintain your enthusiasm throughout the meeting.
Make sure everyone knows each other. Introduce any participants who are new to the group.
Review the meeting objectives and agenda. Make any appropriate changes suggested for the agenda.
As necessary, review rules for any activities. Consider the professional level of the participants and the success of their past experiences working together, then determine whether it's necessary to review such rules as:
allow everyone the opportunity to speak
show respect for everyone's opinions
give constructive, not destructive, feedback
accept feedback professionally
Appoint a participant for the following tasks: keeping track of time, recording meeting data, and taking meeting minutes. (See the box “Special Meeting Roles” for a full description of each of these tasks.)
Meeting effectiveness relies heavily on excellent leadership techniques with the meeting in general and with individual activities. Following are overall leader guidelines, activity descriptions, and tips for success. Additional material to assist meeting leaders is provided in Info-lines No. 8606, “Make Every Presentation a Winner”; No. 9409, “Improve Your Communication Skills”; and No. 8806, “Listening to Learn; Learning to Listen.”
Stick to the agenda. You've put a lot of effort into constructing your road map of meeting content, now follow it.
Maintain a productive climate. Demonstrate by your own behavior the standards participants should follow. Listen closely. Speak frankly. Encourage feedback and accept criticism professionally. Keep an open mind. Evaluate ideas, not people. Positively reinforce creative thinking. Do not dominate the meeting.
Encourage and structure participation. Call on participants for input and ensure only one person talks at a time. (See the sidebar on this page for phrases that encourage and discourage participation.)
Ask good questions. Use open-ended, rather than “yes” or “no” questions as much as possible to allow the most accurate answers. Do not ask leading questions. Do not ask trick or unanswerable questions. Do not ask personal questions.
Provide constructive feedback. Make sure your words are useful. Use positive or neutral, not derogatory, statements. Use a neutral, not accusatory or ridiculing, tone of voice.
Give or get clarification of vague statements. Persist until the intended meaning is clear. Participants will otherwise interpret according to their individual experiences, sparking later disagreements and time-wasting backtracking to figure out what was meant.
Discourage generalizations. Ask participants who generalize and stereotype to evaluate the accuracy of their statements. Query these individuals for specific examples to help direct responses.
Protect minority opinions. Make sure the least popular opinions get a full hearing and respect.
Keep participants on track. Intervene if any participants get off the subject for more than a few seconds. Make sure they don't use the meeting as a soapbox to vent frustrations about unrelated matters.
Reduce tensions. Intervene if conflicts between participants get out of hand and threaten to destroy meeting effectiveness. Do not deny or bury conflict, but try to help participants sort out their differences professionally.
Observe participants. Besides listening to participants, observe their behavior. Watch for signs of boredom, frustration, and other productivity reducers; then deal promptly with the problem. Energize the group with an activity or challenging questions; address causes of frustration, and so forth.
Provide necessary breaks. Don't wait for signs of restlessness by participants; call a short break once a meeting runs over 90 minutes.
Maintain professionalism and enthusiasm. Show interest in activities and display patience with participants throughout. Set the upbeat, productive example for participants whose energy may wane.
Maintain control of the meeting. All these guidelines point to the major task of the leader: maintaining control of the meeting. Even as meeting leadership is shared with participants, someone must be in charge and must take responsibility for meeting control to ensure order and productivity. And that someone is you.
Discussion. Use discussions to gather information and opinions from participants. The following guidelines will help you maintain successful discussion groups:
Plan discussions for groups of up to 15 participants. Break up larger groups for small-group discussions.
Moderate, don't dominate. Open the discussion, then invite participation by the group.
Intervene only to interpret points, to handle disruptive or dominating participants, to encourage quiet participants, and to get a stalled discussion rolling again.
When appropriate, summarize the points made. Restate major points.
For additional tips, refer to Info-lines No. 8602, “Alternatives to Lecture”; No. 8411, “10 Great Games”; No. 9106, “More Great Games”; No. 8412, “Simulation & Role Play”; No. 8911, “Ice Breakers”; and No. 9411, “Theater-based Training.”
Brainstorming. Use brainstorming sessions to generate new ideas.
Be sure all participants are knowledgeable in the subject area before starting a session.
Plan sessions for groups no larger than 10.
Ask participants to unleash their creativity while keeping in mind that the major rule of brainstorming: to generate new ideas. All ideas—no matter how crazy—should be expressed, and no criticism or evaluation of ideas is allowed until the session is over.
Be prepared for a barrage of ideas. Appoint two or three participants to take turns recording the ideas stated.
Set an achievable goal (such as 30 ideas) and a time limit (30 minutes maximum).
Create a productive atmosphere. Promote an informal, accepting climate.
Problem solving. Use the following six steps for conducting successful problem-solving sessions:
Clearly state the problem.
State the reasons why the problem must be solved.
Ask participants to state causes of the problem.
Ask participants to offer possible solutions.
Ask participants to determine the best solution. “Best” should be based on such criteria as whether the solution is within the budget, within time constraints, and within company policy.
Ask participants to determine an implementation approach for the solution. Plan action steps and make assignments.
Decision making. A group decision can be made by either the majority or the consensus of every participant. Before the meeting, decide which type of decision you'll ask participants to make. A majority decision is the quicker of the two types to make, but current thinking is that decision by consensus is best. Every participant agrees with what is to be done. But before you decide on this type of decision for your meeting, consider how time consuming the decision-making process can be.
It is the leader's responsibility to recognize when it's time to close the meeting and to do so formally. Otherwise, participants may begin drifting on to topics unrelated to the meeting, diminishing its effectiveness. Or they may drift out of the meeting room with an unsettling feeling that business was left unfinished. To avoid both of these situations, follow these four closing steps:
Bring the meeting to an end at the time you planned to do so, unless all participants involved agree to continue.
Summarize the major points of the meeting by stating what was accomplished and the action items agreed upon, and the persons responsible for actions and deadlines.
Decide when and where the group will next meet. Determine a preliminary agenda for that meeting.
Conclude the meeting crisply, positively, and on time.
Can you evaluate how productive your meeting has been once you leave the room? Not always. If action items were decided upon in the meeting, the proof of productivity is in participant followthrough. Be sure to check in with participants to ensure that they are carrying out the action steps. You may need to help them with any problems they have encountered.
You can evaluate how productive your meeting has been by measuring against the following criteria:
The meeting objectives were accomplished.
The meeting was held in a time-efficient manner.
The participants were satisfied with the results.