The document outlines effective meeting management strategies, emphasizing the importance of planning, setting clear objectives, and following a structured agenda. It identifies common meeting problems, provides fundamental principles of parliamentary procedures, and suggests techniques for dealing with difficult situations during meetings. The presentation also highlights the roles of meeting participants and stresses that successful meetings require active participation and follow-up actions.

1. Florida Public Works Institute
APWA Florida Chapter
Charles R. (Chas) Jordan
M.P.A., P.W.E., F.M.P., ENV SP, LEED GA
President, Radiant Training & Consulting
Technical Representative, Pavement Technology Inc.
Conducting Effective Meetings

2. Core Competency: Leading an Organization
• In this Competency –
• In your role, or future role, of leading an organization,
running meetings is essential to being an effective crew
leader, manager or director
• Anyone can hold a meeting
• Can you run an effective meeting?

3. Learning Objectives
•Understand the basics of meeting
management
•Understand the sources of difficult meeting
•Understand how to manage difficult
meetings

4. Video

5. Why Have a Meeting?
• Have a meeting when absolutely necessary
• Before you have a meeting ask yourself
• Can you achieve your goal in some other way
• Will a phone call take care of it
• Will a face to face conversation take care of it
• Can I accomplish it with an email
• Staff Meetings
• Project Milestones

6. Top Ten Problems with a Meeting
1. No Agenda or Purpose
2. Starting Late
3. Wandering – Can’t Find The Point
4. Length
5. Who is in the Room? – Wrong Folks
6. Meeting Overtakers
7. No follow up
8. Wrong Location
9. Another Meeting is Called to Finish
10. Leaving with the thought “What did we accomplish?”

7. Parliamentary Procedures – What
are they?
• Roberts Rules of Order
• Basic Structure created for the purpose of managing
a difficult agenda or meeting
• Designates a “Chair” and the “Body” as separate
entities to moderate the meeting
• Chair –
• Person responsible for order, manages the meeting,
sets and holds to an agenda
• Body –
• Individuals in the meeting to provide input and to
assist in the decision making process
• May be official members or “Ex-Officio”
• Members must have clear responsibilities (i.e. right to
vote, right to speak, right to be heard)
• Primarily used for large or formal meetings (like a
commission, council or board)

8. Parliamentary Procedure Fundamentals
Fundamentals:
1. Order
2. Speed
3. Fairness (Courtesy and Respect –
ESSENTIAL)

9. Parliamentary Procedure Fundamentals
Basic Principles
• Quorum (50%+) must be present to act (May be designated
otherwise)
• Majority has the right to decide an action
• The rights of the Minority must also be protected
• Full and free discussion is a basic right of all members
• Only one question on the table at a time
• Member must be recognized by the Chair
• Speak once, wait, speak twice
• No personal attacks or questioning of the motives of a member

10. Meeting Size Considerations (SMALL or LARGE)
Small
• Generally 3 to 5 individuals
• Allows for good communication between
individuals
• Eliminates side conversations among individuals
• Good Chance for problem solving
• Provides for good feedback
• All participants are active

11. Meeting Size Considerations (SMALL or LARGE)
Large
• Generally 10 or more
• Provides for greater diversity
• Does not always allow participation from the entire group
• Often individuals will be silent letting a small number
dominate the conversation
• Side conversations tend to occur more often
• All participants need to take turns speaking and when not
speaking, actively listen to the one speaking

12. Conducting an Effective Meeting
Four Phases of a Meeting–
1. Plan the Meeting
2. Setting up the Meeting
3. Running the Meeting
4. Following up on the Meeting

13. Phase 1: Planning the Meeting
• Determine the Goals of the Meeting
• Decide who needs to be there
• Do your homework
• Plan with others
• Good Agenda counts. Keeps you on track
• Length of meeting is appropriate

14. Phase 2: Setting up the Meeting
• Set a Start and End Time and follow it
• Send material out in advance to all those
attending
• If someone is presenting make sure they know it
in advance – include in agenda
• Proper meeting space
• Have informal time before/after the meeting

15. Phase 3: Running the Meeting
• Do introductions
• Go though the agenda
• Encourage participation
• Keep the discussion on track
• Provide open and free conversation
• If there is conflict - focus on the issue
• Make assignments with due dates
• Summarize what has been discussed
• Follow up

16. Phase 4: Following Up on the Meeting
• Get feedback from members on the meeting
• Make follow up calls or follow up actions
• Summarize the meeting
• Make sure action items are listed and who is responsible
• Send out to all those in attendance

17. Conference Calls
• Designate note taker
• Identify yourself when you speak
• Call on those that are silent
• Poll all to get agreement
• Solicit feedback
• Finish with assignment review and TO
DO LIST

18. How Can You Help Make a Meeting Effective?
• Be an active participant
• In the Agenda Development and in the Running of the Meeting
• Pick a topic and provide input
• If you are there, what can you provide?
• Procedural Suggestions
• Points of Order, Helping the Chair keep Decorum
• Content Suggestions
• Prior to the meeting, ask the planner “How can I Contribute?”

19. What does a Good Meeting look like?
• Organized / Structured
• There is preparation
• Advance information sent out
• Start on time
• Length of meeting is appropriate
• Conversation free & open
• Follow up
Everyone at the meeting is responsible for making
the meeting a success.

20. What makes a Difficult Meeting?
• Failure to employ basic meeting management
• Schemes and hidden objectives
• Conflicting personalities in the meeting
• Political agendas and outside influences from superiors
of those at the meeting

21. Schemes and Hidden Agendas – What can I do?
• Preparation
• Try not to pick sides
• Involve the group
• If its not related to the Mission, understand the concern
and defer to another time
• Integrity vs. reality

22. Conflicting Personalities
• Stay focused on issues not personalities
• Follow Rules of Order
• Follow the Agenda
• Keep Time
• Confront the conflict
• If needed, end the meeting and reschedule
• Get participation from others

23. Political Agendas – Public Sector
• Have your ear to the ground ahead of time
• Know how much power you have and don’t have
• Try not to burn bridges
• Stay legal
• Limit Political Influence by:
• Limiting the Politicians
• Focus on the Goal
• Reminding the Participants of the Objective

24. Final Thoughts
• Use the agenda as ground rules
• Have the group decide
• Be honest
• Courage and Good Humor – You are running it
• Focus on the objective or purpose
• Accept, deal, or defer to the group
• Take a break
• End the meeting
• Invite those who were participants

25. Final Group Exercise
•Around the Room:
•One Example of a Bad Meeting You have
Attended
•What do you think the issue was?
•What did you learn from it?
•What will you do next time?