The Biggest Waste of Time Is Meeting When It's Not Necessary

Here are some tips for deciding if a meeting is worth your time.

1. Has a Goal Been Set for the Meeting? Is there a purpose for meeting, a goal to achieve? Every meeting should have an objective and if the one you've been asked to attend doesn't, consider recommending that a memo or e-mail be sent instead.

2. Has an Agenda Been Created Ahead of Time? An agenda is the basis for an effective meeting. Creating and distributing the meeting agenda one or two days before the meeting begins gives participants an opportunity to prepare for the meeting. Having an agenda during the meeting also focuses the discussion and helps your group stay on track.

3. Will the Appropriate People Be Attending? If the appropriate people aren't present, then important decisions get put on hold. It will also take time to update key individuals on what took place in the meeting they missed. It's better to put the meeting on hold until all of the right people can be in the room.

4. Could the Information Be Covered in an E-mail or Memo? The purpose of most meetings is sharing information and updating others. If possible, make an effort to substitute these types of meetings with an e-mail or memo! Simply send one e-mail to all the people who would have attended the meeting. This will save everyone time, they'll still be up-to-date on what's happening and they'll be grateful for having one less meeting to attend that week.

Here are some simple, easy-to-follow and proven guidelines that should be followed each and every time your group meets. Guidelines you and your group can follow before, during and after your meeting:

1. Define the purpose of your meeting. Take a step back and think about why you need to have the meeting. A clear definition of purpose will lead you to a clear structure for the meeting. Some common purposes are; communication of information, problem solving, decision making, strengthening relationships, building alignment, and sharing of best practice.Make sure that all participants understand and buy-in to the purpose of the meeting.
2. Set a clear agenda.Once you have defined your purpose you can create an agenda to achieve it. List the subjects that need to be covered each with an allotted time, and an indication of outcome. Distribute the meeting agenda well in advance of the meeting together with any background information that people need to read.
3. Set the tone. As the leader of the meeting you set the tone and model the desired behavior. Are you formal or informal, light hearted or serious? Each of these styles will set a different tone. The leader needs to show each participant that they are being listened to and respected. A warm genuine approach will facilitate cooperation and collaboration.
4. Start and end your meetings on time. Practice good time keeping habits by starting on time, keeping to time limits for agenda topics and ending on time. This means that sometimes you will need to begin your meetings before all the participants are present. If you get into the habit of waiting for people to arrive, you will encourage regulars to start to come late as they know the meeting will not start on time. Ending on time is respectful to all participants of the meeting.
5. Have fun. Encourage people to communicate in an appropriate but playful way. A serious idea does not have to be heavy hearted and morose. Laughter is an energizing force. Contrary to old school beliefs, time is not necessarily wasted by adding levity and humor.
6. Balance control and flexibility. Run the meeting, but do it with balance. Your role is to keep the meeting on track, moving towards achieving its purpose and agenda. But be flexible enough to explore a new idea or approach even if at first it does not seem to move towards achieving your objectives.
7. Allow for some creativity and spontaneity.In planning the meeting agenda allow time for creativity and spontaneity. Ask questions of the team to get feedback on issues and ideas. Listen closely to what is being discussed, as this will create an atmosphere conducive to idea generation and creativity.
8. Review understandings and actions. At the end of the meeting review the agreed actions and agreements. Actions need to be specific and include who is responsible, what other resources are needed to accomplish the tasks and the timeline for completion. One of the most discouraging situations is when there is a lack of good follow through and many of the good ideas generated appear to have fallen into a black hole.
9. Hold other meetings. Sometimes meetings get bogged down with important issues that would be better addressed outside the current meeting. This often happens when you need one or all of the following: other people, more information, more time or a different environment. When you see the meeting getting bogged down, bring the discussion to a close and take an action to address the issue in a separate forum.
10. Review and evaluate. On a regular basis review and seek feedback on how well the meeting is being receiving and if it is achieving its purpose.If it is not, try a different approach using the techniques above. Alternatively consider bringing in a professional coach/facilitator to intervene.

Effective Meetings – Preparing Your Case

Carry out some background research before the meeting, to help you to make an informed contribution. Sources of information may well include: colleagues who have worked in similar fields, research material and other relevant publications and notes or minutes from previous group meetings. Your research should include finding out whatever you can about the other attendees, for example their views and interests in the areas being discussed.
If your views are likely to meet strong resistance, try to identify your opponents and negotiate a compromise or at least an understanding in advance. This way neither party will be undermined in public and the atmosphere at the meeting can be kept positive.
Plan the content of any case you will present at a meeting around the message or messages you want to convey, in order to achieve your objective. It is important to keep the focus of your presentation on the message and not on the information and facts that underpin that message. This can be very difficult; especially when the message is supported by a multitude of facts that you think the audience should know.
If your presentation does consist of a series of facts and supporting evidence, then the audience is likely to assimilate these and draw their own conclusions. If this happens you will lose the opportunity to influence and shape the audiences interpretation. It is far more effective to communicate your messages and then support them with an adequate level of facts and information - so that your meeting partners can line them up behind the message you wish to convey.

Meeting purposes include:

• giving information
• training
• discussion (leading to an objective)
• generating ideas
• planning
• workshops
• consulting and getting feedback
• finding solutions/solving problems
• crisis management
• performance reporting/assessment
• setting targets and objectives
• setting tasks and delegating

The acronym POSTAD TV shows you how to plan effective meetings, and particularly how to construct the meeting agenda, and then notify the meeting delegates:

• Priorities,
• Outcomes,
• Sequence,
• Timings,
• Agenda,
• Date,
• Time,
• Venue.

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