2 Suggestions for Effective Meetings

We’ve all been in meetings that feel like a waste of time. But having effective meetings take some forethought and strategy. I had the privilege of working with a rising star in a large automotive company recently. He is probably going to lead the organization someday and is capable to do so. I have been very impressed with him in our interactions. One of the things I asked him to do was to allow me to come in and observe a staff meeting that he facilitated.

Here’s what I observed:

• The atmosphere and the attitudes of the people in the room
• What percentage of the time the facilitator talked
• Whether or not someone was taking notes
• If there was any agreed-upon accountability.

Afterward, I debriefed the facilitator on what I had observed. As a result, we discovered there were quite a few ways in which that meeting was not as effective as it could have been.

Structure for effective meetings

If your business life is anything like mine, you spend a lot of time in meetings. Let me encourage you to evaluate how you run those meetings. Here are a couple of suggestions:

1. Consider having an ongoing action list that has 3 components:

• What have we agreed to do
• Who is responsible
• What is the deadline

2. Challenge yourself as a facilitator.

• What percentage of the time are you talking?
• Are the meeting participants engaged?

Do you have effective meetings?

Meetings can be a terrible waste of time. Or they can be an excellent opportunity for synergy, teamwork, focus, and productivity. Next time you are in a meeting or facilitating one, make sure to ask yourself how effective this meeting is and what you can do to make it more productive. For more tips about meetings, see our blog post about proactive vs. reactive meetings.