Starting Meetings

There have been many articles written about meeting management, mechanics and follow up.  That is all valuable information.  I find however that if I don’t start the meeting right it goes off the rails before it began e.g. it goes longer than planned and all feel it was another colossal waste of time. 

Starting it right has it ending right and participants joining the next meeting you call.

Before it starts:

1. Want to make a bad first impression?  Don’t send an agenda and show up late yourself.
   
2. Want to abdicate control of the meeting?  Restart the meeting for stragglers.

After it starts:

1. Make the meeting purpose clear.  Why are we here?  What do we want for an outcome and how will it be documented?  Differentiate between a tactical decision based meeting to create short term actions and accountability vs. a working session which drives longer term strategic thinking.  Issues arising for a different purpose should be tabled.
2. Specify the purpose of each agenda item.  Clarify the goal of each agenda item.  Specify the owner of the outcome.Is this topic meant for a democracy where everyone gets a vote or does one person own the agenda item and they are seeking feedback.
3. Reiterate the most important ground rule e.g. confidentiality. Openness, urgency.
4. Minimizing passive/aggressive behavior.Call out the elephant in the room early-don’t let it wander around outside the room after the meeting.
5. It is OK to listen.Tell the participants the level of engagement you seek.They need not weigh in if there is agreement-move on.

I always like a meeting when it is clear the other participants have prepared as much as me and want to share in the fruits of the discussion. And, ending early is the gift of time.

Do you want to have a free fifteen minute discussion on meeting management you can use internally or externally?  Sign up on my web site http://www.jimthomasintl.com/ or contact me directly by phone.

Good Selling!