Effective Meetings

What are some of the reasons that people hate meetings?

• Unstructured
• Not Relevant
• Boring
• No Decisions
• Dominated by few
• No "Why"
• Too Much to Do
• No Value to Me
• Uncomfortable Speaking Up
• No Drama

Agenda

• Agendas are the key to a successful meeting
• Send out at least 24-hours prior to the meeting
• Include (frame the meeting)
  • Goal of the meeting
  • Desired outcome of the meeting
  • Time constraints
  • Intended items to be covered
• The most important items should be at the top of the agenda
  • Utilize a Hot List of 5-10 items.  (Hot lists items are items that must be resolved within the next week or two, otherwise project will be delayed.  We must push these items and hold due dates.)
• Do NOT use previous weeks meeting minutes or the weekly report as the agenda
• Include open/overdue hot items from previous meeting
• Be consistent.

Meeting Minutes

• Minutes must be distributed within 1 business day of the meeting No Exceptions
• Detailed documentation, especially of decisions made
• Assign action/responsibilities with due dates
• Tell the story and frame appropriately
• Include attendance

Fostering Conversation

• Healthy conflict is good and necessary
• The best thing that you can do as a leader is first hold your ideas back until the end.
• Too often leaders offer their ideas first, which often prevents others from sharing their ideas

What is a Meeting

• "Dynamic interactions involving groups of people discussing topics that are relevant to their livelihoods."
• For those organizations that can leap from painful meetings to productive ones, the rewards are enormous. Higher morale, faster and better decisions, and inevitably, greater results.

Death By Meetings

• The largest challenges around meetings are that they are boring and ineffective.
• Bad meetings start with attitudes and approaches of the people who lead and take part in them
• The solution to meetings is not to stop having them, but rather to make them better.  Because when properly utilized, meetings are actually time savers

To Improve Your Meetings

• Add Drama
  • The Hook - give your audience a reason to care
  • Mine for conflict (healthy)
• Add Structure
  • Avoid "Meeting Stew"

• Types of Meetings
• Separate:
  • Tactical
  • Working Session
  • Strategic Meetings