When I started my own business and became an independent writer, speaker, and business consultant, I thought my days of boring, unproductive meetings were over. "Never again!", I said to myself as I sat in my last few meetings before my "corporate re-organization" resulted in my becoming independent. Was I wrong! Only now, I usually have little control over the meetings I attend as I attend them as a potential speaker or contractor, there to make a good impression on my hoped-for future client. I cannot - outright, anyway - tell a client how to run his or her meeting without serious jeopardy to their considering me for my fee and services.
And so I use this forum to communicate tips I give in my workshops on running productive meetings. My hope is that you, the readers of this forum, are my future clients and that YOUR meetings - when we do meet to work out my services and fees - are the most motivating, interesting, and productive meetings I will have the privilege of attending.
How to Have Productive Meetings
- Ask yourself if the meeting is really necessary. Do you need a face-to-face meeting? Would a better solution be a phone call, e-mail, or conference call?
- Invite as few people as possible. Only have the necessary participants attend.
- Have a written agenda with clear objectives. Make sure the agenda is circulated far enough in advance so that those who will attend can review the agenda and prepare for the meeting. Note time frames assigned for each item in the agenda.
- Be timely. Start and finish the meeting on time (or earlier). Respect your and everyone else´s time.
- Select someone other than you to serve as the scribe.
At the beginning of the meeting either ask for a volunteer or select a trusted participant. This person monitors the timing and takes appropriate notes. You have to concentrate on fulfilling the purpose of the meeting.
- If the meeting is longer than one hour -- which it should not be - allow everyone a stand-up-and-stretch
break. - Ask everyone to turn off mobile phones and other wireless devices. People have been known to survive without their devices for an hour and live to tell about it afterwards!
- Circulate the meeting minutes and action items within 2-to-3 days of the meeting. Make sure the action items
have responsible people and "by when" dates noted for each.
- And finally ... avoid calling meetings unless you absolutely must.
The following are FREE resources with articles, downloads, advice, humor, tips, and links to additional resources (some free; some fee) to help you host and run great meetings. I list these not to endorse specific products or manufacturers. I use these resources myself for the information they provide rather than any products or services they may promote.
- www.effectivemeetings.com - articles, downloads, advice. (Sponsored by InFocus, the projector people.)
- www.despair.com/meetings.html - humorous cards and other "anti-success" tongue-in-cheek products. (You
need a sense of irony to enjoy the humor at this site.) - www.3m.com/meetingnetwork/index.html - articles, advice, products. (Sponsored by 3M Corp.)
- www.fastcompany.com/online/02/meetings.html - article on seven sins and salvations of meetings. (From
FastCompany magazine.) - www.managementhelp.org/grp_skll/meetings/meetings.htm - text resource (no ads) on how to run effective
meetings. - Amazon.com - tons of books on running effective meetings and planning meetings and events. Search for "meetings" and you get more than you can possibly sort through.
- http://beginnersguide.com/management/meeting-facilitation/ - short articles on facilitating effective meetings.
- Suite101.com, About.com, and SelfGrowth.com (in addition to HR.com, of course!) - searchable libraries
of articles on any topic you wish. For this listing, search "meetings", "effective meetings", and "meeting resources" for a plethora (do people even use this word?) of information.
Now you can politely hint to others to refer to this resource when they are responsible for meetings that
YOU have to attend.
Sylvia
