JF Guest Post

Everyone hates meetings, don’t they? They take up so much time and when you are already struggling to clear your ‘to do’ list every day, an invitation to yet another meeting can make your heart sink.

And yet meetings are an accepted and essential element of business life. Statistics suggest that managers spend about half of their time in meetings. So what’s the problem? In many cases, the problem seems to be that the meetings people attend are not much more than talking shops, with little or nothing achieved as a result.

Luckily, it doesn’t have to be like that.

A structure for success …

Following this simple three stage structure will get results:

• Stage 1: Actions before the meeting;
• Stage 2: Actions during the meeting; and,
• Stage 3: Actions after the meeting.

Stage 1: Actions before the meeting
The process of making meetings work begins well in advance. The following should make your meetings more focused, more effective, and therefore more satisfactory for everyone involved:

• clearly define the purpose of the meeting;
• identify who should attend;
• create an agenda, with timings;
• send out all relevant information to invitees beforehand; and,
• organise the venue.

Remember that meeting rooms need to be appropriate. Having three people around a table the size of a rugby pitch can feel as uncomfortable as cramming ten people into a broom cupboard. It is a good idea to research conference venues, as using a good one will free you from the drudgery of meeting everyone individually at reception, organising refreshments, and worrying about audio-visual equipment: all of that will be taken care of for you by the conference venue.

Stage 2: Actions during the meeting
Whenever you attend a meeting, you should be consciously and actively involved and engaged. You have been invited and have chosen to attend because you have something worthwhile to contribute, so make sure you do your best to help the group meet their objectives.

Chairing a meeting
The chair has a number of functions to fulfil, including:
• keeping to time and managing the agenda;
• involving everyone;
• keeping the discussion on track;
• facilitating, not dominating; and,
• ensuring notes are taken and disseminated.

Meetings can be minefields, but by following a basic formula and having a few simple rules, the ones you chair should run according to plan.

First and foremost, always start your meetings on time.

Make introductions: first the topic, to emphasise the objective of the meeting, then the people.

Initiate the business of the meeting. This should be agenda-driven and controlled. Use tactics to keep people to the point and, if you feel a discussion is descending into waffle, try giving each person two minutes or one statement in which they must express their opinion.

Close by summing up. Tell people when to expect meeting notes, and set a time for the next meeting if there is to be one. Always end on schedule. People have allocated an amount of time for the meeting and may well have further appointments to attend. If they are thinking about how far behind schedule they are, then they aren’t concentrating on what you are saying.

Stage 3: Actions after the meeting
The next stage of the process of making meetings work is producing accurate and effective records.

Every meeting should be recorded in some way. Different organisations will have their own requirements, but as a general guide the following should be put on record:

• when and where the meeting took place;
• what it was about;
• who attended, and who was invited but did not attend;
• what happened, with initials to show who did or said what;
• what actions were agreed, with initials and deadlines; and,
• what will happen next.

It is important that these are created and distributed as quickly as possible; if a group of people leave a conference venue all fired up to get on with a project, you need to give them the impetus to continue. They, like you, very probably have many things competing for their attention; make sure your project is at the forefront of everyone’s mind.

Last words
If you spend two days a week travelling to and attending meetings, then after just two and a half years you have devoted a whole year of your working life to them. The three stage approach outlined here will help you to achieve your objectives and make it a year well spent.

This article was brought to you by Holiday Inn Meetings, the provider of hotel meeting rooms and conference facilities for your meetings and events.

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