WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE MEETINGS?
Many people like meetings. It gets them away from their desk, and they have a chance to talk to people they might not otherwise spend time with. And since meetings frequently start late, there is time to chat about holidays, football or colleagues. Anything but work!
Here are a few key points to ensure you have good meetings. (And these points apply to all who attend – not just to the person organising the meeting.)
- Agree a mutually convenient time for the meeting
- Agree the agenda and the appropriate attendees
- Start on time
- Minute agreed actions– with timescales and who is responsible
- Review the previous minutes
- Don’t ramble on – listen, then leave
- AGREE A MUTUALLY CONVENIENT TIME FOR THE MEETING
- AGREE THE AGENDA AND ATTENDEES
The attendees should include only those to whom the agenda is relevant. You may want to tell other people the meeting is taking place, but don’t invite them if they don’t need to be there. You can always agree to send them a copy of the minutes. However, if this causes any issues then make sure you handle them face-to-face, not by e-mail!
- START ON TIME!
In order to start on time, handle this at a meeting which doesn’t start on time.
Before it gets going, when all the latecomers have arrived (and are still feeling a little guilty, or at least aware of the issue) say to everyone that you would like to ensure that future meetings start on time.
Ask them how they want to handle it. Should you take the chair if the chairman has not arrived? Should you handle minor agenda items until the key people arrive? No-one really feels it’s ok to waste others’ time, but most people will not speak out. If you do, you will find that your approach gets a lot of support.
And subsequently, when someone is late and finds the meeting has already started, you will find that they are better at turning up on time in future.
- MANAGE THE MINUTES
Minutes themselves are important. While not usually designed to record the discussion in full, they should cover the key items and record decisions taken.
Any actions to be carried out should be clearly allocated, with a timescale. In a perfect world actions should be allocated to only one person – having more than one name against an action ends up meaning that no-one is responsible. If more than one name is needed, clearly indicate the key person in charge.
If the person who should do the work is not at the meeting, make sure someone is delegated to inform them and get their agreement. (This itself becomes an action.)
- REVIEW THE MINUTES
Projects run late by people consistently not taking agreed action, and this costs companies millions.
Note – if an action has not been done, is it truly necessary? Is it being handled by the correct person?
- FINISH APPROPRIATELY
At the end, get up, thank the others, and leave.
And let me know how useful you find these points.