Eliminate Painful Meetings

I remember being interviewed by a writer for an article about effective meetings that was to appear in a national magazine. The writer began the interview by saying, “I don’t want any of the old standard tips; I want new tips.”

I replied, “Well, people wouldn’t need new tips if they used the old tips.” This isn’t what the writer wanted to hear, nor is this what many of us want to hear, but this is the truth. If we used what we already know, we could avoid a lot of problems -- including unproductive meetings.

Have you ever sat through a meeting only to realize that the real issues were being discussed outside the meeting? Have you ever attended a meeting and asked yourself what the point was?

Many organizations experience what I like to call the “soap opera effect”
-- you go to one meeting, then miss a few meetings, and then when you go to the next meeting, it is as if you never missed any meetings at all! Just like the afternoon soaps, you only have to check in once in a while to get caught up.

If everyone was more upfront and honest, meetings could be a wonderful vehicle to accomplish our objectives and goals. It’s staggering to think of the time, productivity, and money lost due to unproductive meetings. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Here are twelve simple, honest tips for running results-producing meetings in a fraction of the time your unproductive meetings take. If these tips seem like common sense, then ask yourself if people are actually using them. The more tips you use, the more effective your meetings will be.

1. Only include the people who need to attend.

If you are worried about insulting someone who is not included, ask them if they really want to be included. Most likely, people will be thankful that they don’t have to attend another meeting and can get the information they need through other means, such as the meeting minutes.

2. Make sure attendees understand the benefit of attending.

If you are having problems with attendance at meetings, it is usually a sign that people do not see the benefit of being there, but they may not be upfront about this. Instead they may say, “I got caught up with things,” or “I was too busy.” Of course, if they received a million dollars for attending, they would have found a way. It is often a question of motivation. Here are four questions to ask yourself before calling a meeting. Do we really need to have this meeting? Could we accomplish the same results in another, less time-consuming way? If not, what benefit does the meeting give the attendees? How am I going to convince them of this benefit? The answers to these questions will help you determine what to do to increase the attendance and effectiveness of your meeting.

3. Start the meeting on time.

How often have you intentionally arrived late to a meeting, because you knew you wouldn’t miss anything anyway? Many of us are conditioned to understand that meetings never start on time. It doesn’t have to be that way. Start the meeting at the designated time, continue through the agenda, and don’t provide any reiteration for the latecomers. If anyone requests a review of the missed information, decline. This action will train the attendees that it is important to be on time.

4. Clearly define the purpose of the meeting.

At the start of each meeting, clearly state the meeting’s purpose. Also, make sure the purpose is written on the agenda. When deciding on the meeting’s purpose, think in terms of the overall result or outcome you want to produce. When the purpose is stated upfront, it is easier to re-direct those who would take the meeting off track. If someone brings up an issue that is off topic, simply say, “Since the purpose of this meeting is [fill in the blank], can we tackle that issue at the next meeting, when we could allow time for it?”

5. Have a written agenda.

I find it amazing how often meetings are run without an agenda. If you don’t have a map of where you’re going, you’re certain to get sidetracked or lost. Even if it is an impromptu or emergency meeting, you can write out a basic agenda on a flip chart or a white board. The point is to have some kind of written agenda clearly visible to everyone so the meeting can stay on track.

6. Prioritize the agenda.

This may seem obvious, but how many meetings have you been to in which the most inconsequential matters were discussed at the beginning of the meeting, while the important items got pushed back until half the room had either become disinterested, fallen asleep, or slipped out? By prioritizing an agenda, you ensure that the most important things will be accomplished first. This is also an incentive for people to show up on time, because they know the important items will be discussed first.

7. Specify a time frame for each agenda issue.

This enables you to manage the individual portions of a meeting, so you can accomplish everything you intend to. It also gives you another tool for reducing excessive elaboration or off-point discussions. If these discussions occur, you can say, “I am sorry, but as you can see, we are running short on the allotted time we have for this particular agenda item. So, in order to prevent this meeting from running over, we will need to move on. Please see me afterward if we need to discuss this issue further.”

8. Begin with a quick review of what happened at the last meeting and who agreed to do what.

Review the last meeting’s action items. Go around the room to get updates on what everyone had agreed to accomplish by this meeting. This clearly sends the message that you expect the participants to do what they said they would do. It also helps ensure accountability and prevents the soap opera effect.

9. Bring up any “elephant in the room” conversations.

The tension in some meetings can be thick enough to cut with a knife. Sometimes, people ignore issues, because they fear that bringing it up will have a negative effect on the meeting. However, failing to mention an issue can make the meeting leader appear weak. Furthermore, neglecting the issue leaves the door open for someone else to bring it up at a less opportune time. Proactively address uncomfortable issues early in the meeting and then move on.

10. Make sure you end the meeting with action items.

Specify who is going to do what and in what time frame. You can summarize it, or you can go around the room and let each person summarize what they are going to do by what date. This helps ensure that participants take ownership and are clear on what they are going to do. Make sure the action items have a specific time frame written down in the meeting minutes these minutes should be circulated after the meeting for clarity and accountability. Then, as stated in tip 8, review this list at the beginning of the next meeting.

11. Conclude with a compliment and/or acknowledgement.

End things on a good note, even if it was a tough meeting. For example, you could say, “Thanks for taking the time to be here. I specifically want to acknowledge those of you who shared your thoughts and ideas. It allowed us to handle important issues in the meeting in an upfront manner.” The more specific the acknowledgement and praise, the better.

12. End the meeting on time.

When a meeting extends past the time limit, attendees become resentful and stop participating, simply because they want the meeting to end. Some will go as far as withholding important information or not bringing up an important issue, because they do not want to prolong the meeting. This delay could also cause a chain reaction on your attendees’ schedules for the remainder of the day. What can you do to avoid this? End on time. If everything was not covered, you can arrange to cover those items in another setting or at another time. If you must exceed the time limit, always seek approval from everyone in attendance. Give everyone a new, specific time for the meeting to end. Even if you are the boss, acknowledge and seek approval to go over the time limit. It sends a message that you care and respect attendees’ time. This is a more effective approach than the standard, “I need just a few more minutes.” When most of us hear this, we think, we’ll be in here forever.

If you use these twelve tips, many problems that ordinarily arise in meetings will simply never come up. You don’t need to use all, or even most, of the ideas outlined here to appropriately and effectively manage group dynamics in a meeting or during a presentation. However, by using as many as you can, your meetings and presentations will produce results and achieve the goals you want -- and your attendees will probably thank you for it.

Copyright, 2007 Steven Gaffney Company, All Rights Reserved. To distribute or replicate this article in any way please contact the Steven Gaffney Company at 703-241-7796 or via email at Christina@StevenGaffney.com