A Series of Discussions on Conducting Better Meetings

What Makes a Good Meeting?

There is probably no one reading this discussion that has not complained about going to poorly run, time wasting, and unproductive meetings.  It seems to many of us that too many meetings are unsuccessful, too long, unfocused, petty, unproductive, led by domineering or disagreeable individuals, meandering, time wasting, boring … the list goes on and on.  In our work with clients we often find that most companies conduct far too many poorly run and unproductive meetings.  Many executives and managers are aware of how expensive and time wasting such meetings are but seem at a loss to know what is required to make them more meaningful and productive.

This series of discussions is designed to help managers plan and run more effective meetings.

So, what makes a good meeting?

·     A strategic agenda with commonly understood goals and objectives that are meaningful and current to the success of the business

·     A clear, agreed process for reaching those goals and objectives that is reflected in the manner in which the meeting is conducted

·     Consistent and well-understood ground rules for conducting the meeting

·     A skilled meeting facilitator / leader / chairperson who conveys to those attending a sense of involvement and empowerment.  It is critically important that those who will carry out the decisions reached in the meeting feel ownership of the decisions and that they are able to do whatever needs doing to accomplish the stated goals and objectives

·     Proper preparation prior to the meeting to be certain

o   The right participants are attending

o   Participants come to the meeting properly prepared

o   The facilitator / chairperson / leader is properly prepared

These seem like quite simple rules.  When discussing them with our clients we seldom get any dispute on these critical elements to a successful meeting.  However, when we ask them to reflect on how often these are carefully observed in their own meetings we generally find that at least one and often many of these elements are missing.

Training an organization to run effective and productive meetings is in many respects analogous to preparing a sports team to excel in competition.  Most managers can be trained to develop a strategic agenda and facilitate or chair a good meeting, although it takes not only training, but also practice and repetition as well to become truly proficient.  However, the more people within a group who have good meeting process and communication skills, the easier will be the task of the chairperson and the more satisfactory the end results of the meeting.