Run meetings that drive results
Meetings fill our calendars, often with little thought given to their effectiveness. It’s just too easy to send out that invite. Meetings can create focus, action and coordination, but are frequently poorly executed and fail to meet their objectives. In my experience valuable meetings have the following best practices:
1. A declared topic and goal. Which is likely to be more successful – a meeting titled “Company X” or a meeting titled “prepare agenda for onsite at Company X”? Clarity of topic and goal stimulates attendees to reflect and prepare in advance. If you are invited to a meeting where the topic and expectation are unclear, then message the meeting owner requesting clarity.
2. Be clear on the outcomes. Let people know at the start of the meeting what the outcomes are – are you seeking ideas, decisions or feedback. If you are seeking ideas, then be curious and don’t filter or reject. If it’s a decision you need then be clear on who owns the decision and who is in the meeting to provide perspective and who is there to observe.
3. Ensure the leader speaks last. This is critically important. Once the leader speaks most dissenters will shut down and you will lose your opportunity for constructive debate. I once presented a strategy where the CEO spoke first and approved the plan. I knew from my preparation that multiple attendees had strong reservations. Not one of them spoke up in the meeting. The debate, whilst messy, would have helped create balanced expectations.
4. Ensure everyone contributes. There are 2 pieces to this
a. Those who need space. Track who has not yet input and declare that you value everyone’s input and specifically invite those people, one at a time, to provide their perspective.
b. Those who need to prepare. Many people need time to formulate their best response, so give them context in advance with the declared topic, goal, outcomes and if possible references to context.
5. Manage your meeting time. Don’t be afraid to push the meeting forward and to switch gears. Attendees will derail. go down rabbit holes, pile on, and debate endlessly if allowed. Plus, at least one person will be a talker that takes over the conversation. It’s your job to focus on the outcome and control the meeting. Let people know you need to move on through positive intent– e.g. you want to hear more perspectives, X hasn’t contributed yet, or its time to make the decision.
Read our other blogs to become a master of meetings:
