Running effective meetings
In my current project, we noticed our meetings were being non productive. There are many post around about running effective meetings. So I’ve adapted from most interesting sources this mini guide and I’ve post it in our Confluence space. I want to share with you in case you or your organisation are experiencing the same issue.
What is an effective meeting?
An efficient meeting starts promptly, stays on track due to good time management, includes as few people as possible, and achieves the stated objective. Job done, right? Wrong. Efficiency is a superficial quality. It says nothing about whether the right people were in the room for the right reason, or whether the meeting generated any value for the business.
An effective meeting brings a thoughtfully selected group of people together for a specific purpose, provides a forum for open discussion, and delivers a tangible result: a decision, a plan, a list of great ideas to pursue, a shared understanding of the work ahead. Not only that, but the result is then shared with others whose work may be affected.
Seven Steps to Running the Most Effective Meeting Possible
- Make your objective clear. A meeting must have a specific and defined purpose. Before you send that calendar invite, ask yourself: What do I seek to accomplish?
- Consider who is invited. When you’re calling a meeting, take time to think about who really needs to be there. Tip: Consider the two pizza rule — a meeting should never have so many attendees that they could not all be fed with two pizzas. Generally, this limits the number of attendees at a meeting to less than eight.
- Stick to your schedule. Create an agenda that lays out everything you plan to cover in the meeting, along with a timeline that allots a certain number of minutes to each item, and email it to people in advance. Tip: Include a 5-minute agenda item at the end to capture any open questions or follow-up tasks and assign owners for them.
- Make meetings more inclusive. Being inclusive doesn’t mean putting everyone in the company on the invite. Instead, think of inclusivity as a mindset. When you create a safe space for people to express opinions — a place where people’s ideas matter more than their titles
- Start on time, end on time. People appreciate it when you understand that their time is valuable.
- Ban technology. The reality is that if people are allowed to bring iPads or mobile phones into the room, they won’t be focusing on the meeting or contributing to it.
- Follow up. Document the responsibilities given, tasks delegated, and any assigned deadlines. That way, everyone will be on the same page.
Meetings truly can be valuable and productive. You just have to take the steps to make them that way.
Here’s a handy “effective meetings” cheat-sheet you can download and use to help keep you focused on the stuff that matters.
Content adapted from this sources:
