Have you ever been to one of those meetings where no objectives were met, no actions were agreed upon and generally it was a complete waste of your time?

In a world where time is money, increasingly many organisations strive to ensure greater productivity for their meeting time. Here we look at some practical strategies that you can use to help make the most out of the business meeting.

1. A clearly defined purpose to your meeting

In order to determine the purpose and objective of your meeting, some key guidelines must first be identified.  Ask questions such as; Why are we meeting? What are we trying to achieve? Are we meeting for meetings sake? With this in mind however, consider that at times the purpose of bringing people together for a meeting may be to achieve other important interpersonal objectives like team building, brain storming or group problem solving.

2. Communicate the purpose of the meeting

One of the simplest ways of increasing  the effectiveness of meetings is to communicate the purpose to all attendees. This may also aid in enhancing the motivation of the people that attend because they clearly understand the reason they are there. Communicating the purpose can also help to speed up discussions and actions as it gives attendees time to gather ideas or research issues prior to attending the meeting.

3. Advise people of the meeting

It is amazing how often key people are left out of meetings or were not able to attend simply due to a lack of planning and sufficient notice? It is important that stakeholders are advised of the date, time and location of the meeting well in advance. The amount of time that you allocate to pre-planning will depend upon the size and formalities of your individual organisation however it is often better to over-estimate the time needed for planning meetings. Last minute meetings should only be required for emergency situations. Thorough p re-planning also has the added benefit of creating a perception that you posses a strategic focus and are well organised.

4. Set an Agenda

This may sound obvious, but you will be surprised how many meetings take place without any formal direction. Even informal meetings should have some type of direction or purpose. An agenda aims to keep discussions on track and to keep everyone focussed on the issues. This can be particularly helpful if you have a group of people who are easily distracted or who have a tendency to take discussions off in different tangents. An agenda should also be used to make sure that all of the topics and issues are considered or discussed on the day, with incomplete agenda items transferred over to the next meeting. Finally, an agenda should be typed and ideally distributed to attendees before the meeting.

5. Follow up on agreed actions

The efficiency and value of meetings can be measured by a variety of characteristics. The meetings o utput, its effectiveness in reaching agreed objectives, as well as its structure and cohesion contribute collectively to the perceived effectiveness of a meeting. By ensuring agreed outcomes and actions a properly followed, a clear message is sent showing that the meeting has been productive and not a waste of time.

6. Assign roles to meeting members

An effective means of getting attendees more involved in meetings is to assign specific roles and tasks. The delegation of tasks will depend upon the team and your your individual management style. For instance you may choose to select roles on a volunteer basis or assign tasks based upon natural skill or abilities e.g. organisational skills. Varying roles may enable other team members to develop skills in key meeting areas and can also be an excellent opportunity for team mentoring.
Nominating the right person for the key role of chairperson can assist in keeping the meeting and discussions on track. Other key tasks which might be considered include: minute taking, agenda setting and distribution, facilities booking, invitations and confirmations, meals (if applicable), audio visuals, hand outs, pens and paper.

7. Take & Distribute Minutes

Minute taking is an effective way of tracking the discussions that take place in the meeting. It can also help to monitor agreed actions and their due dates. It is important that following the meeting that the minutes are typed and distributed to those that attended as well as any people who were absent on the day. You might like to consider setting up a central file of meeting minutes so that you can keep track of agreed actions and monitor the success of completed agenda items.

Sample meeting agenda form [pdf]

8. Consider Individual Styles

In order to increase the interpersonal aspect of meetings, you might like to consider tailoring the agenda and communication methods you use to suit the individual participants. For example, if you are aware that some team members usually require time to think about issues before they can provide suggestions or ideas then you might like to allow for this during the meeting or inform them of issues prior to the meeting thereby allowing them the time to contemplate or conduct research.   Alternatively, o ther team members may feel comfortable thinking on their feet making quick decisions. To assist you with this, t here are many psychological tools available that can be used to identify individual styles and personality traits. By understanding your teams behaviour and thinking style you are better prepared to enhance the effectiveness and interpersonal aspects of team meetings.

9. Create the right style

Many factors contribute to setting the scene and theme of a meeting. To help create a sense of equality and open communication the right venue and setting is important. To encourage greater discussion you may like to consider using a round table style of configuration with participants facing one another. Other points to consider are t he size and physical setting of the room and its lighting and décor. 

References:

Writing, Researching, Communicating- Communication Skills for the Information Age, Third Edition. Keith Windschuttle & Elizabeth Elliott, McGraw Hill Book Company Australia Pty Ltd 1999.

Excellence in Business Communication, Fourth Edition, John V Thill, Courtland L Bovee, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1999.

Guide to Internal Communication Methods, Edited by Eileen Scholes on behalf of the ITEM Group, Gower Publishing Group, 1999.