How To Conduct Meaningful Meetings

Too many meetings, too little time. When the true costSome Tips To Ensure A Successful Meeting:o Only
of holding just one meeting is accurately calculated, ithold meetings if they are really necessary
should provide sufficient motivation for us to want toCould people be told any other way?
ensure that all of our meetings are meaningful,Consider the cost; meetings are expensive - time
necessary and can be justified.away from job, salaries of those attending.o If they are
I am sure you have heard the one about meetings?needed, then plan for them
"Are you lonely?What do you want to achieve?
- Work on your own?What are you going to discuss?
- Hate having to make decisions?What decisions will need to be made/actions taken?
- Rather talk about it than do it?Who needs to be there? How are you going to tell
Well, why not hold a meeting?them what it's about and why they are invited?
- You get to see other peopleHow long can you allocate to the meeting?
- You can sleep in peaceRemember, if you fail to prepare, then prepare for
- Offload decisionsyour meeting to fail.o Prepare an agenda
- Learn to write volumes of meaningless rhetoricInclude only relevant items
- Feel importantPut them in order of importance
- Impress (or bore) your colleaguesDecide who will lead the input on each
And all in work time!"Allocate time for each item (don't forget to allow for a
But of course, it doesn't have to be like that.5 minute break at least once an hour)
Are Meetings A Waste Of Time?What could go wrong and what will you do?o Collect
Why they cause frustrationo Too many of themo Noall information
real purposeo Too longo Platform for the talkativeoIf it's lengthy, summarise it, outlining key points
Few decisions come out of themo MakeSend out agendas and key points in advanceo
straightforward issues complicatedo Often slow thingsPrepare the room
downEnsure that there are sufficient tables and charts
Potential benefitsIf you want equipment (eg: flip charts, PCs overhead
Run properly they can be an effective means of:oprojectors) make sure it is available and working
Communication to a groupo Meeting peopleArrange refreshments
face-to-faceo Improving the quality of decisionsoAnd Finally: Running The Meeting:
Getting to know peopleo Drawing from a variety ofAchieve faster, more efficient results by:o Telling
different experienceso Building teamseveryone the purposeo Setting the scene for each
The following figures are based on a working year ofitem, eg: open discussion by inviting specific
288 days, with one working day equal to 7 hours. (Icontributions from those presento Letting everyone
wish!) You begin to realise the true cost of holding awho has something to say make a contributiono
meeting.Summarising what's been saido Watching for signs of
Salary Per Annum: £40.000non-participationo Sticking to time (always start on time
One Hour Meeting: £24and don't be afraid to finish early)o Agreeing actions to
One Day Meeting: £168followo Not being afraid to critique the meeting, i.e.:
Salary Per Annum: £60.000Was it worth it?o After the meeting:
One Hour Meeting: £36Circulating minutes promptly to those attending and
One Day Meeting: £252interested parties
Salary Per Annum: £80.000Monitoring and reviewing progress of any actions
One Hour Meeting: £48decided
One Day Meeting: £336End Result? A Successful Meeting And All In Work
Salary Per Annum: £100.000Time!
One Hour Meeting: £60Copyright © 2006 Jonathan Farrington.
One Day Meeting: £420