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Meetings with
Results
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Tired
of bad meetings? Everyone can learn to lead and participate effectively
in meetings.
By William Poe
Attended any bad meetings lately? Of course you have. In fact, experts
in the field of organizational effectiveness say the number of bad
meetings stubbornly remains at epidemic levels, even as more and
more organizations implement modern organizational concepts such
as project teams and team building.
“Meetings are much maligned and with some justification,” says Kenneth
Ball, Ph.D., president of Clayton-based Ken Ball Management Resources.
“People just don’t know how to run them effectively.”
“Poorly run meetings are a real problem,” agrees Nancy Cleve, a
senior management consultant to the AAIM Management Association.
“Most people end up in meetings in which they should not be attending
in the first place, and often there is no need for the meeting anyway.”
“No one says, ‘Oh, great!, we’re having another meeting,’” echoes
Karen O. Drake, president of Owens Drake Consulting Inc., an organizational
effectiveness consulting firm. “A lot of meetings are just tolerated.”
Experts say common meeting problems include poor meeting environments
(can’t hear, can’t see, can’t get comfortable), multiheaded animal
syndrome (everyone going off in different directions at the same
time), confusion between process and content (Are we talking about
“how” to discuss the topic or “what” topic to discuss?), confused
objectives and expectations, repetition and wheel spinning, data
overload, problem avoidance, and many others.
And, of course, we all have met the various meeting personalities
that hinder group progress: The Doubting Thomas, The Broken Record,
The Chronic Latecomer, the Chronic Early Leaver, Blabbermouth Bob,
Withdrawn Wanda, Arguing Annie, The Dropout, The Attacker, and The
Know-It-All to name a few.
Fortunately, the experts agree that we can learn to run better meetings
and we can be taught to participate effectively in meetings. “Meeting
leaders are trained, not born,” says Ball, who holds an advanced
degree in organizational psychology. Better yet, organizational
authorities concur on the basic ingredients of good meetings.
1. Common focus on content.
The best meeting, experts say, may be the meeting that never occurs.
“Do you need a meeting? What are the other alternatives?” asks Cleve
who teaches a course on conducting effective meetings. “You have
to know why you are meeting even if it is only to share information,”
Ball adds.
Once a decision has been made for a meeting, “clear objectives”
should be set, says Drake, who has 10 years of experience as an
organizational effectiveness consultant. “The group needs to come
to a shared understanding of the objectives,” Drake adds. “The objectives
drive the content.”
Ball, Cleve and Drake all agree that any good meeting begins with
an agenda outlining approximate starting and ending times, order
of agenda items and scheduled breaks, if any. Cleve suggests that
the agenda be distributed prior to the meeting and that participants
be advised what they should do to be prepared for the meeting.
2. Common focus on process.
The meeting process typically flows from the type of meeting to
be conducted. There are generally five meeting types:
a. Problem-solving
b. Decision-making
c. Feed forward (reports to be given)
d. Feedback
e. Brainstorming |
The particular meeting elements vary, Cleve says, by the type of
meeting. In the informational meeting, for instance, the communication
process is one-way from leader to participants, usually only with
the opportunity for questions from participants. A decision-making
meeting, by contrast, calls for an interactive discussion among
all attending with the leader acting as a facilitator.
Process inevitably leads to participation guidelines. Cleve says
groups that regularly meet should consider drawing up some “rules
to live by” to govern the group’s interactions. The rules, which
may be circulated among the group and/or posted in the meeting space,
might include: Begin and end on time; one person talks at a time;
stick to topic; everyone contributes; constructive criticism only;
conflict is OK; turn off cell phones, and others that may or may
not be unique to the group. MasterCard International Inc. has its
rules posted in all of its meeting rooms, Cleve says.
Drake says that in all but informational meetings “everyone should
participate. Otherwise, why are they there?” The facilitator can
be taught techniques to include all in the group discussion, she
adds.
3. Accomplishing consensus or shared understanding.
As Drake says, “worthwhile meetings accomplish something.”
In informational meetings, which include advisory or selling activities,
Cleve says the key to success is the planning and preparation of
information to be presented.
In decision-making meetings, complete group agreement is rarely
achieved and is not the goal, experts say. “But each individual
should be able to accept the group’s decision logically,” Cleve
says. “When all group members feel this way, you have reached a
consensus, and the decision can be recorded as the group’s decision.”
Sometimes, the discussion should be ended before a consensus or
shared understanding can be reached, Cleve says. She says the discussion
should be ended once it becomes clear that the group needs more
information; the group needs the input of someone who is not at
the meeting; events are going to change anyway; or there is not
enough time to cover the subject adequately.
Conversely, Cleve says discussion should not be postponed because
the decision is difficult; is likely to be disputed; or may make
someone unhappy.
4. Follow-up
Ball says you know you’ve had a good meeting “when you’ve seen the
results” but acknowledges that many groups may not see results right
away and must settle for “progress toward results.” The meeting
facilitator “must know what he or she considers to be progress,”
Ball says. Drake adds that project teams may work together on a
topic or problem for six or more months. That means that meeting
topics are carried over from one meeting to the next, sometimes
for weeks or months on end. Follow-up, then, is an essential part
of the meeting dynamic.
Ball warns, though, that people fear getting bogged down in meetings
made longer by detailed follow-up. He advises groups to assign someone
to take notes of group decisions, action items and action responsibilities—a
process that he says “provides continuity to the next meeting and
guides individual action between meetings.” He also suggests that
group leaders follow-up with individuals outside the meeting.
Although meetings are sometimes demanding in preparation, process
and outcome, Cleve says the guidelines to a good meeting are actually
very simple. A good meeting is one that achieves the objectives,
uses the minimum amount of time and satisfies the participants.
William V. Poe is principal of Poe Communications, a St. Louis
advertising and marketing communications firm. |
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