Productive Meetings

How to Conduct a Productive Meeting Leaders can either inspire people in meetings or drain their energy

Effective vs. Dysfunctional Meetings Purposes of Meetings Meeting Strategies History 3 2 1

Effective vs Dysfunctional Meetings
Effective Meetings
Dynamic
Passionate
Focused
Engaged
Productive
Energizing
Extract the collective wisdom of the team
Differentiate ourselves from our competitors
Low sneaker-to-meeting ratio
Dysfunctional Meetings
Waste time
Waste energy
Painful
Unproductive
Tedious
Bad meetings almost always lead to bad decisions
Results in mediocrity
High sneaker-to-meeting ratio

45 to 90 minutes
Lightning Round
Progress Review
Real-time agenda
2 hrs per topic
Analyze
Debate
Decide
1 to 2 days
Holistic
Long-term
Step away from routine issues
Different Meetings for Different Purposes
(Lencioni, 2004)
The Daily Check-In The Weekly Tactical The Monthly Strategic The Quarterly Off-site Review
5 minutes
Stand up
ACE status

Different Meetings for Different Purposes
The Daily Check-In
Five minutes
Stand up
ACE Status
The Weekly Tactical
Lasts forty-five to ninety minutes
Lightning Round – sixty seconds per team member, two or three priorities for the week
Progress Review – review progress of key metrics
Real-Time Agenda – tactical issues required to ensure the success of short-term objectives
(Lencioni, 2004)

Different Meetings for Different Purposes, cont.
The Monthly Strategic
Analyze, debate, and decide upon critical issues (but only a few) that will affect the business in fundamental ways
Two hours per topic
The Quarterly Off-Site Review
Opportunity to step away from daily, weekly, issues
Review the business in a more holistic, long-term manner
One to two days in length
(Lencioni, 2004)

Concept Meeting Strategies Facilitator Prepare Purpose Roadmap Time Mgmt Rules of Engmnt Discuss Decide Action

Meeting Strategies
Purpose - have a reason for the meeting
Facilitator – provide leadership and guidance
Prepare– build knowledge base prior to meeting
Roadmap – have a meeting agenda
Time management – start and end meetings on time
Rules of engagement – develop meeting norms
Discuss & decide – encourage participation and make decisions
Action – follow up on tasks assigned during the meeting

Purpose
Have a reason for the meeting
If the discussion involves only two participants don’t hold a meeting
Make sure there are decisions, issues, or such items to be discussed that cannot be handled effectively outside of the meeting.
Consider the hourly cost to your organization of the people attending your meeting. Calling a meeting is expensive, so it's important to ensure that every person attending and every minute of the meeting adds value.
Don't invite people who won't participate but will simply report back to their boss or team (sending a copy of the minutes will be a more effective way of achieving this).
Don't use meetings to tell people things that could be communicated just as effectively by email or memo.

Have a Facilitator
Facilitate discussion and don’t preside
The most effective facilitators bring lots of energy to the meeting, and a sense of humor
At the outset, let people know what you hope to accomplish in the allotted time
Use the first few minutes to jolt everyone in attending to the meeting.
As a facilitator limit people’s speaking to the topic
Guide the meeting so that there is a free flow of debate with no individual dominating and no extensive discussions between two people.
A well-run meeting leaves all those who attend with a sense of empowerment and control over their lives, and establishes you as a leader.

Prepare
Build knowledge base prior to meeting
Provide new information to attendees prior to meeting.
Attendees are expected to come prepared, having read what was sent out in advance.

Have an agenda Limit agenda items Deliver agenda in advance Roadmap “ If you don't know where you are going, any road will get you there.” Lewis Carroll

Roadmap
Have a meeting agenda
Deliver the agenda in advance so participants have time to plan and prepare for the meeting.
Limit the amount of items on the agenda

Time Management
Start and end meetings on time
Referring to the agenda as the reason to move on allows the facilitator to avoid hurt feelings.
Don't recap what you've covered if someone comes in late: doing so sends the message that it is OK to be late for meetings, and it wastes everyone else's valuable time.
To help stick to the stated finish time, arrange your agenda in order of importance so that if you have to omit or rush items at the end to make the finish time, you don't omit or skimp on important items.
It is better to continue a meeting to another mutually agreeable time and place than to go on and on.
Finish the meeting before the stated finish time if you have achieved everything you need to.

Rules of Engagement
Don’t let the process get bogged down
Keep the discussion on track by periodically summarizing where you are
Keep minutes they provide a record of the meeting and a review document for use at the next meeting so that progress can be measured - this makes them a useful disciplining technique as individuals' performance and non-performance of agreed actions is given high visibility.
Issue minutes within 24 hours of the end of the meeting - preferably on the same day to remind people in writing of what they are expected to do.
Do not name call or cut each other’s ideas down. Focus on the situation not on the person.
This is not a complaint session, but a problem solving session

Discuss & Decide
Encourage participation and make decisions
Explicitly invite everyone to participate
If someone is not participating directly ask for their view on the subject.
Thank each person orally for their input.
Say something about what each person has said, done, or contributed.

Action
Establish action items and assign responsibility.
Set goals to be accomplished before the next meeting with accountability.
Close the meeting by reviewing what was discussed and create a task list with responsible people and timelines.
Include the task of following up with people who were unable to attend the meeting.
Establish a parking lot list of items that were brought up and determined to be better handled at another time.

Thank You! “ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something.” Plato

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Productive Meetings

by Debby McNichols on Oct 14, 2008

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Productive Meetings — Presentation Transcript