Every company struggles with issues regarding meetings -- meetings that occur too often or too seldom, meetings that start late or run late, meetings where decisions are made and assigned actions are forgotten minutes after the meeting’s conclusion.

A curse and a blessing, a meeting is a vital component to conducting business in today’s workplaces and allowing for planning, debate, information, briefing and decision-making. But why do so many meetings go bad? Is it simply that they are poorly prepared and managed?

The secret to conducting a successful meeting is developing vital skills that focus on careful planning and follow-up.

Why Meetings Matter
To some, holding a meeting may seem like a time-consuming, high-priced, and unproductive way to communicate or discuss an issue. This is not the case. Meetings are a very necessary part of running a business and can be an extremely helpful way of achieving coordination by:

• Encouraging participation in the subject of concern
• Integrating interests
• Broadening perspectives and changing attitudes
• Improving decision-making
• Motivating and committing participants to a course of action

Planning
The first step in developing your skills for holding a successful meeting is to plan. The decision concerning meetings is not necessarily whether to hold them, but how to make them effective. Meeting leaders or teams must remember these key steps when planning a meeting:

• Establish the meeting objectives. Ask yourself these questions: Why is the meeting being held? What will it accomplish? For example, a meeting may be held to solve a current problem, or to reconcile a conflict. When planning the meeting, first identify realistic objectives and be prepared to meet them.

• Prepare an agenda. One way to organize a meeting, whether it be a lengthy meeting or not, is to prepare an agenda. The agenda can be written or stated verbally during the meeting and is essential for creating the framework to keep the meeting on target. The agenda should crystallize the intended objectives and establish the time available to accomplish them. Meetings that exceed time limits are often not constructive and are likely to go astray and even turn into personal contests between participants. To prevent this from happening, consider these key points:

  • Submit the agenda to participants ahead of time for lengthy meetings. This will give the participants time to prepare for the meeting.

  • Focus the agenda on related topics. Begin with a discussion of topics of major concern; then, if necessary, discuss related topics of lesser importance. Do not schedule too many items for discussion, as it can be difficult for participants to come to a meeting prepared on a variety of topics. The more concise the agenda, the better. 

  • Provide background data for topics to be discussed. This will ensure that each participant is familiar with topics to be discussed prior to meeting.

  • Establish a time limit and prioritize each topic. Consider whether the topic to be discussed is familiar, new, controversial, or complex. 

  • Keep meetings to one hour or less. While some discussions may only require a few minutes, some may last much longer. In these instances, one hour is usually enough time to accomplish set objectives. However, if a meeting is expected to take over two hours, schedule a 15 minute break every hour or two.

• Time and Physical arrangements.  There are several necessary considerations regarding time and physical arrangements for the meeting including, e.g. when the meeting should be held, the convenience of the location, the size of the room and the seating arrangement. In addition, it is very important to begin and end the meeting on time. Ignoring latecomers and making no attempt to bring them up-to-date are good ways to stay on schedule.  

• Meeting size. Deciding whom to invite to a meeting is extremely important. The attendees should be individuals who are able to contribute to the meeting through knowledge or experience or both. When considering attendees for a meeting, it is necessary to include representation for all points of view on the subjects of discussion. Attendance by disinterested persons tends to increase non-relevant discussion and impede the meeting.  

• Matters of protocol. Another important step in ensuring a successful meeting is to give adequate consideration to protocol. In other words, follow "common sense courtesy." Preparing and providing the agenda, holding introductions during the meeting, thanking participants for attending and reporting on minutes from last meetings are all forms of protocol and essential to an effective meeting.  

• Wrap-up and Follow-up.  At the end of the meeting, summarize the results, decisions and next steps.  It is at this point where, as a group, the progress of the meeting should be evaluated to determine whether assignments and further discussion are necessary. In addition, participants should be provided with follow-up regarding the progress of the meeting. When this step is done, it demonstrates that the meeting accomplished something and will encourage further participation.

Summary
Meetings are an essential management tool. When properly conducted, a successful meeting can improve communication and promote coordination, develop people and simply help get the job done. The major drawback of meetings is their potential to be slow, create a leveling effect and dilute or divide responsibility. However, developing the vital skills of knowing how to carefully plan and execute a meeting can serve as the cornerstone for successful team building and progress within an organization.

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