Meeting Aren't Bad - Bad Meetings Are Bad
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The document discusses best practices for effective meetings. It provides 7 questions leaders should ask before planning a meeting to determine if the meeting is necessary, define its purpose, invite the right attendees, and ensure proper preparation. It also discusses best practices for the meeting such as using an agenda, parking lot for off-topic items, assigning action items, and distributing minutes. The overall message is that meetings should be planned and executed carefully following these best practices to avoid ineffective meetings and respect people's time.
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Meeting Aren't Bad - Bad Meetings Are Bad
- 1. Bad Meetings Are Bad Meetings Aren’t Bad
- 2. 6/23/2016 2:09 PM - Screen Clipping Meetings Aren’t Bad PURPOSE: Introduce the learner to the best practices of effective meeting management. SCOPE: Best Practices for Leaders / Facilitators – “7 Questions” format. Best Practice for Members / Attendees DELIVERABLES: Competency to plan and execute effective meetings. Sample meeting agenda. Bad Meetings Are Bad 1
- 3. 6/23/2016 2:09 PM - Screen Clipping Meetings Aren’t Bad Best Practices for Leaders 7 Questions to Answer Before You Plan Your Next Meeting 1. Is it necessary? • If there is any other way to get or give the information, then do it that way. • Avoid using the term “meeting” for a work session. Bad Meetings Are Bad 2
- 4. 6/23/2016 2:09 PM - Screen Clipping Meetings Aren’t Bad Best Practices for Leaders 7 Questions to Answer Before You Plan Your Next Meeting 1. Is it necessary? • If there is any other way to get or give the information, then do it that way. • Avoid using the term “meeting” for a work session. 2. What is the purpose? • Every meeting is a transaction; a value proposition. • Consensus vote, input for a decision, feedback for escalation. Bad Meetings Are Bad 3
- 5. 6/23/2016 2:09 PM - Screen Clipping Meetings Aren’t Bad Best Practices for Leaders 7 Questions to Answer Before You Plan Your Next Meeting 3. Have you invited the right people? • Respect for peoples’ time is the key. • Less is more. • 7-12 optimal. • Ask yourself "how valuable is this person's contribution to the meeting purpose?“ • If only informational - send meeting notes. Bad Meetings Are Bad 4
- 6. 6/23/2016 2:09 PM - Screen Clipping Meetings Aren’t Bad Best Practices for Leaders 7 Questions to Answer Before You Plan Your Next Meeting 4. Are you prepared? • Pre-reads - send them out early and give them plenty of time to get through the material. Opinions and feedback can be prepared and even forwarded prior to the meeting increasing the meeting efficiency. • Agenda - Only items that add value and contribute to the meeting purpose should be added. Anything else will reduce the value proposition each members time. State them clearly and completely. Format your agenda items in a way that will ensure your ability to accomplish your purpose within the established meeting time frame. This should include a "What," a "Who," and a "How Long." Bad Meetings Are Bad 5
- 7. 6/23/2016 2:09 PM - Screen Clipping Meetings Aren’t Bad Best Practices for Leaders 7 Questions to Answer Before You Plan Your Next Meeting 4. Are you prepared? • Example: (A) Fixed Cost Improvement Recommendation - John Doe - 10 min. • Allows people to come to the meeting prepared • Let's them know the time frame they will be allowed. Bad Meetings Are Bad 6
- 8. 6/23/2016 2:09 PM - Screen Clipping Meetings Aren’t Bad Best Practices for Leaders 7 Questions to Answer Before You Plan Your Next Meeting 4. Are you prepared? - Sample Agenda 1. Team Roster 2. Meeting Expectations 3. Deliverables 4. Pre-reads 5. Issues / Topics 6. Open Actions 7. Escalation Items 8. Closed Actions 9. Parking Lot Bad Meetings Are Bad 7
- 9. 6/23/2016 2:09 PM - Screen Clipping Meetings Aren’t Bad Best Practices for Leaders 7 Questions to Answer Before You Plan Your Next Meeting 5. Do you have a way of handling off topic issues? (Parking Lot) • Steer the meeting to stay on the agenda. • Value the “out of scope” issues raised. • Treat parking lot items just like the action register. Bad Meetings Are Bad 8
- 10. 6/23/2016 2:09 PM - Screen Clipping Meetings Aren’t Bad Best Practices for Leaders 7 Questions to Answer Before You Plan Your Next Meeting 6. Will there be action items? – Register • If there are not action items – question the value of the meeting • All “meetings” should result in action items. • Describe, assign an owner, establish a due date. • Follow up at the next meeting. Bad Meetings Are Bad 9
- 11. 6/23/2016 2:09 PM - Screen Clipping Meetings Aren’t Bad Best Practices for Leaders 7 Questions to Answer Before You Plan Your Next Meeting 7. How soon will you send out minutes? • Provide record of issues. • Opportunity for clarification. • Owners can review action items. Bad Meetings Are Bad 10
- 12. 6/23/2016 2:09 PM - Screen Clipping Meetings Aren’t Bad Best Practices for Leaders 7 Best Practices 1. Evaluate the need. 2. Define the purpose. 3. Invite the right people. 4. Be prepared. 5. Stick to the agenda. 6. Record action items. 7. Minutes available. Bad Meetings Are Bad 11
Editor's Notes
- Have you ever been a participant in a meeting and wondered to yourself "why am I here?" Or said "this is such a waste of time." Often times, we are subject to a habitual meeting scheduling. We have meetings just because we've always had meetings. Regularly scheduled meetings may be value-added. Most, in my experience, are not however. A good question to qualify the need for a single or recurring meeting is by asking “Is there any other way to exchange the information?” This could be via email, a corporate discussion board, or a simple memo. Beware of meetings that exist solely for the exchange of information. If there is any other way to get or give the information, then do it that way. Save yourself and others from the time wasting.
- Consider this idea before determining whether you should plan a meeting. Every meeting is a transaction; a value proposition. Though you may have stated expectations of engagement with group Codes of Conduct or meeting charters, we have all seen the gradual decline of engagement where cell phones are checked more frequently or the tapping of laptop keyboards can be heard around the table by people pretending to be there but are focused on more pressing issues. When people receive little to no value, they check out. You can force people to turn their communication devices or close laptops but you cannot force engagement. So before you send the meeting invitation, make sure you have a specific goal to be achieved by the adjournment. A big help is to prep the participants to your goal. Will there be a vote where consensus will decide or are you facing a tough decision and seeking the input value form the team members? Define the purpose, set the goal, and prep the team before they meet.
- This question is related to number 1 where necessity was discussed. While deciding who or how many people to invite, this is a case where "less is more." To be effective, a meeting group should be limited to around 7 - 12 people. You may consider having more but only if there is an explicit value of contribution by the team members. Any more than that and you can literally feel the stalling effect as too many voices and too many opinions steer the focus away from the meeting purpose. Remember, value is the important factor not diversity of inputs. During your meeting planning process ask yourself "how valuable is this person's contribution to the meeting purpose?" It is not mean to measure the value of someone's contribution. It is respectful. You are respecting the value of their time to be spent on other important things instead of wasting their time in your meeting. Develop your traditional attended list and then filter it through the lense of value contribution. If they need the information shared in the meeting they can be added to the meeting minutes distribution list mentioned later in question 7.
- Now we break from the things that make meetings mildly frustrating to those that cause them to be labelled cruel and unusual punishment. I am unable to quantify this but a casual guess of all the meetings I have participated in, around 80 percent should not have been called meetings but working sessions. A working session disguised as a meeting is where the meeting chair or facilitator has called a meeting to produce a deliverable for which they are accountable. During the meeting time, ideas are exchanged or discussed. Someone may even Google a topic for clarification. The meeting caller fills out the spreadsheet or report items on the screen with everyone watching. The meeting is over and the only value that can be ascribed is that the chairperson's report has been completed. During that process though, everyone else has heard the sucking sound as their valuable time has been stolen through the leader's lack of preparation. If you require a working session, hold a working session but be clear. It is not a meeting and you will undoubtedly waste someone else's time. Here are the minimum requirements that need to be part of your regular meeting structure to ensure that you are prepared and can capitalise on the value contribution of those attending.