7 Keys to Planning Effective Meetings

There are two types of people in the world. People who love meetings and people who hate them. Much of this is due to the fact that people spend hours in meetings and very often have nothing to show for it.

Meetings come in all shapes and sizes but one thing is for sure, they are either a great experience for all attendees and perceived as time well spent, or they can be a mental drain and a complete waste of time. Much of this is due to training. The person who initiates the meeting needs to know how to plan for, and facilitate an effective meeting.

Effective meetings can energize a team so it is important for the meeting organizer to have a plan for a great outcome.

Let’s discuss some things you can do to make meetings more effective.

1. Prepare an Agenda

Every meeting needs to have an agenda. Even teams that meet on a regular basis need a structured format. If meetings don’t have structure and focus, they have the potential to go down endless rabbit trails that go nowhere.

The agenda should be realistic for the allotted amount of time for the meeting and the agenda needs to be followed.

2. Effective Meetings Require Leadership

It is the responsibility of the person who initiates the meeting to keep the group on track. Whether it is the senior executive meeting with his staff, a manager meeting with her employees or a team leader meeting with a work group, someone needs to take lead, keep the group on task and make sure all items on the agenda are addressed.

3. Meetings Need to Be Orderly

The facilitator of the meeting is responsible for keeping the meeting orderly. This includes starting and stopping on time, managing group dynamics and holding the group accountable for their time spent.

For instance, if a team member goes on an unrelated rabbit trail, the facilitator needs to intervene and get the group back on task.

4. Keep the Team Focused

Every meeting needs a focused agenda. Inevitable issues will come up in the course of the conversations that need to be tabled until the end of the meeting (if there is time) or until it can get added to an agenda for a future meeting.

It can be challenging to keep a group focused but it is crucial to keeping the group on task to accomplish what they set out to do.

5. Assign a Timekeeper

Each agenda item should be timed out so the group understands the amount of time allotted to discuss each agenda item and come to agreement on next steps.

The team should assign someone to watch the clock and remind the group when time has run out for agenda item discussions.

6. Assign a Note Taker

Another important team role is a note taker. This is a person who takes notes on everything discussed and documents who will be doing what and by when. It is amazing how easy it is to forget minor details as soon as the group leaves the room.

This is what I call the accountability document. It should be kept on file, either electronic or paper, for reference as reminders in preparation for the next meeting.

7. Establish Next Steps

Every meeting should end with next steps for the group and assignment of tasks with deadlines. This is a very important step to keep the ball moving forward. It is the meeting facilitators responsibility to ensure all assignments are completed.

Ok let’s look at a meeting agenda example

Facilities Committee
Wednesday, 8:00 am – 9:30 am
Team member names:   Joe Smith, Karen Jones, Diane Long, Steve Tucker, Gary Craig
Agenda
8:00                Review Last month’s meeting notes
8:20                New Furniture Purchase
8:35                Restroom Remodel
8:55                New Business
9:20 Next Steps
9:30 Meeting Adjourned

Here are some Helpful Tips

Send the agenda out ahead of time so everyone is prepared to discuss their action steps from the prior meeting;
Allow social time with the group. This is important so the group can bond and develop as a team .
Set meeting time aside to simply celebrate and have fun as a group. Effective teams work hard and need to have fun at the end of major accomplishments.
Don’t get lazy with the agendas or holding people accountable. This is an easy trap to fall into, especially for groups that go on for an extended period of time.

Finally

Organizations spend billions of dollars to pay people to sit in meetings. It is management’s responsibility to ensure that the time in meetings is well spent and moves the organization toward completion of organizational goals.