How to Make Meetings Work

By: Meryl K. Evans
Submitted: 2007-01-17 11:58:15
Print this article | For publisher | Social Bookmarking
Rating:
 

Meetings are out of control. They've been that way since my first job out of college when someone gave me a book called How to Make Meetings Work. When I could control it, I stuck to the following rules to ensure the meetings were effective.

Have a good reason for the meeting

Sounds obvious, but often overlooked especially where recurring meetings are concerned. Recurring meetings are taken for granted and no one bothers to revisit if there is a need to continue the meetings or to simply cancel a meeting when there is no need for it.

Franklin Roosevelt started many programs to help America recover from the depression. Some of those programs still existed many years after the fact when they're no longer needed or fit the current economic environment. Some programs didn't get cut until the 1980s through today.

Limit attendees

This good general management common sense. The more people you have, the longer it takes to come to a consensus on the action items, problems, and solutions.

For several years, I worked on a management team and it worked well as attendance was limited to specific managers. Then, two other groups joined our organization and we almost doubled our meeting participants. We fought to limit attendance for this specific meeting and lost. We didn't accomplish as much as the smaller team and it took longer to get results.

I've seen managers and team leads attend every meeting there is known to the department even if one of their direct reports already attends. Delegate and trust. Let the direct report attend the meeting and report back. Use the freed up time for something else. It's not a crime for a manager to attend less than 40 hours of meetings per week.

Imagine what would've happened to the Declaration of Independence had more than five people had sat on the committee? A committee of five drafted it with Thomas Jefferson doing most of the writing and presented to Continental Congress for approval.

Create an agenda and stick to it

Even if you have an impromptu meeting, quickly jot down the agenda so you can stay on track. It doesn't have to be fancy or formal. Just list what you're going to talk about and if possible, list how much time is available for each topic.

When a discussion gets lengthy, do what it takes to put an end to it otherwise the meeting runs over or the people who have the conference room reserved kick you out and your last agenda items get sacrificed. Typically lengthy discussions impact only some of the attendees. So agree to take the discussion offline (outside of the meeting). Make it an action item for them to meet and report the final decision.

Steer irrelevant discussions back on track

Enforce the previous rule and stick to the agenda. As a compromise, table the discussion for after all of the agenda items are covered. Make the last agenda item a free for all so attendees aren't tempted to break the rhythm of the meeting with something not on the agenda.

Let's get those meetings back in control and reclaim the extra time for other work.

Meryl K. Evans is the Content Maven behind meryl's notes, eNewsletter Journal, and The Remediator Security Digest. She is also a PC Today columnist and a tour guide at InformIT. She is geared to tackle your editing, writing, content, and process needs. The native Texan resides in Plano, Texas, a heartbeat north of Dallas, and doesn't wear a 10-gallon hat or cowboy boots.

Article source: Expert Articles

Most Recent Articles in Management category

  • Management Consulting: New Horizons - By: Taylor Hernandez
    Consultancy is all about using the knowledge, expertise and experience to guide others to achieve their goals. Management consulting is about guiding the management of an organization on the current and future problems and opportunities related to its structural and functional aspects.
  • Reading A Management Blog - By: Marcia Gutierrez
    Experts always say that your business-management skills are the nub between success and mediocrity. To have a business up and running, you will have to think of practical and effective business management plans
  • Wealth Management Services And Benefits - By: Johnson Robeson
    Wealth management is the process of managing an individual's financial, investment, tax, legal and estate planning. A comprehensive process manages more than just investments.
  • Accountants for Retirement Planning - By: Michiel Van Kets
    You may think that you are far too young to be worrying about your retirement years, however, time goes by quickly and if you have a family to consider then it can never be soon enough. Making plans to secure your families future, and be independent when you're older is something we should all be taking care of. Accountants can help you with your life now, whether it is setting up your own business or getting help with your book keeping, and also advice you on retirement.
  • Innovative Packaging Machines - By: Michiel Van Kets
    Whether you are looking for a hand load, semi-automatic or fully-automatic bagging system option, high-tech packaging machines can offer the latest for optimum productivity. They either feature an inbuilt imprinter or can easily be combined with an inline imprinter for a total Print-n-Pack system. Whatever kind of business you are in there is plenty of information and advice online to help with your packaging solutions.
  • Outsourcing supports fast and effective all matters regarding marketing and sales - here: Europe - By: Michael Richter
    Every company needs permanently fresh and comprehensive information regarding markets, market segments, clients, trends and more - an ideal basis for outsourcing and its possibilities.
  • Automatic Packaging Systems Can Save You Time and Money - By: Michiel Van Kets
    If you are still using employees to pack your products then it might be time for a fresh look at how you run your business and make it more professional and efficient. Opting for automated packaging equipment will help you to help save both time and money, goals that all companies want to achieve. Companies that have updated their packaging procedures to automated processes report a large increase in productivity, more than 50% reduction in labour costs, and a considerable drop in the start-to-finish process time.
  • Service Management Software - Defining Your Service Levels - By: Antony Dutton
    To effectively implement service management software and ITIL service desk, communication between IT and its customers is vital. Merely looking at the business / IT interfaces without going back through the components of the service chain (agreements with Suppliers and other departments that support the services) is not good practice. Today, as businesses evolve and more stringent needs are required, process reviews are taking place and agreements renegotiated with customers.
  • Lucrative Opportunities in China - By: Rett Tan
    China is the biggest economic success story of the last twenty-five years. GDP growth has averaged at around 10% annually during this time frame with an estimated record of 10.5 percent in 2007. Despite slackening in 2008, China's economy persists in enlarging and developing, and the demand for energy sources, infrastructure, technology and products and services is increasing exponentially.
  • Business Energy Management Solutions - By: Felipe Bazon
    Energy costs represent one of the biggest slices in the expenditures pie of any given business, be it small, medium or large sized companies, a well planed energy management plan can help save money and reduce end costs.