Strategies For Effective Meetings

Richard StrandOlympic College

Fall 2010

Meeting Pros and Cons

+ -

Collaboration Social connection Shared commitment Spread the word Get buy-in Gage resistance Bridge gaps between

silos ??????

Consumes TIME Little accomplished Breeds more meetings One person dominates Personal agendas

drive discussion One-on-ones tend to

dominate conversation

??????

“If I didn’t have to go to meetings I’d like my job more.”

“If only I had nickel for every minute I’ve wasted in meetings _________________.”

According to Patrick Lencioni—Death by Meeting “For those of us who lead and manage organizations, meetings are pretty much all we do.”

Meeting Mediocrity

Why are we meeting?◦ Most meeting occur informally.◦ Wisdom of crowds.

Where are we meeting?◦ Most meetings occur in offices, hallways, by the

cooler.

What do we expect to accomplish?◦ And who gets to decide what we expect to

accomplish?◦ How will we know we’ve succeeded?

Three Guiding Questions to ASK

Sin #1—We don’t take meetings seriously—◦ Signals--arrive late, leave early, spend most of our◦ time doodling.◦ Salvation—Adopt the mind-set that meetings are

work, need to be disciplined, focused, hold people accountable.

Sin #2—Meetings are TOO long!◦ Signals—Meetings accomplish half as much in twice

the time.◦ Salvation—Consider time is money, track the cost of

your meeting—limit to 90 minutes.

Seven Sins of Deadly Meetings

Sin #3—People wander off the topic.◦ Signals—People spend more time digressing than

discussing.◦ Salvation—Get serious about agendas, store

distractions in the “parking lot.”

Sin #4—Nothing happens when meeting is over.◦ Signals—People don’t convert discussion into

decisions and decisions into ACTION.◦ Salvation—Convert from “meeting” to “doing.”

Seven Sins Continued . . . .

Sin#5—People don’t tell the truth.◦ Signals—Plenty of conversation, not much candor.◦ Salvation—Embrace Anonymity.

Sin #6—Postponing action.◦ Signals—Insufficient input, desire for better data.◦ Salvation—Don’t let perfection be the enemy of

good enough, plan ahead, do your homework.

Sin #7—Meetings NEVER get any better.◦ Signals—We accept bad meeting behavior, we keep

making the same mistakes.◦ Salvation—Practice, monitor, be accountable.

More of Seven Sins . . . . .

BE . . . . .

Punctual—Be on time, model the way, reward timeliness.

Prepared—BOTH the facilitator and the attendees need to be prepared, create agenda, follow the plan.

Participatory—Monitor interactions, assign duties (timekeeper, rotate facilitator), etc.

Positive—Keep conversations positive as ideas are being shared, opinions shaped.

Eight P’s of Meeting Protocol

BE . . . . Productive—Have a goal, work to achieve it. Polite—Turn off phones, limit electronic

distractions, take turns speaking, listen. Proactive—Review agenda, focus conversation,

assign tasks, track time, reward progress. Professional—Your conduct is on display for

ALL to judge—it will either serve to encourage or discourage REAL progress.

More of the Eight Ps . . . .

How to Kill a Brainstorm—by saying . . . .

90+% of Communication IS NON VERBAL

We don’t have time for that.

Don’t be ridiculous. We tried that before. We’ve never done that

before. It costs too much. That’s beyond our

responsibility. That will take too long.

Not our problem. If it ain’t broke, why

bother . . . . Let’s form a committee. That’s years away. We’re not equipped to

do that. The rules won’t allow

for that. But the President (boss)

wants this . . .

List the options Assign point values Rate options by preference

◦ Anonymous Votes◦ Discuss most favored choices◦ What led to lowest scores?

Tally points and eliminate low scores Focus conversation on the remaining

choices Take another vote to finalize choice.

Reaching Consensus

The Problem The Solution

Timeliness Appoint a timekeeper, stick to agenda

Right people aren’t there Formal invites, reminders, homework

Conversation wanders Have an agenda, time discussion, call for the question

Participants don’t listen, participate, or talk too much

Establish ground rules, review them periodically, assess expectations

Participants don’t follow thru on assignments

Recorder reviews assignments as meeting closes, document in minutes/notes, remind those assigned, request interim progress reports

Every Problem has a Solution

Team leader◦ Manages and coordinates team activity, provides

resources, oversees activities Facilitator

◦ Prepares agenda, facilitates discussion, listens Recorder

◦ Captures key points, provides working documents Timekeeper

◦ Keeps us on track, moves agenda forward Team Member

◦ Contributes to meeting discussion, shares burden

Member Roles

Behaviors to celebrate—◦ Timeliness, participation, confidentiality,

language, interruptions.

Shared responsibility for success—◦ Attendance, wandering discussions, rotation of

roles.

Framework for progress—◦ Agendas, minutes, formalities, reaching

consensus, closure, plan to CELEBRATE progress.

Ground Rules