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1 Managing meetings: The basics
Meetings are a necessary evil in everyoneās working life. Handled well, they can help those attending to get to the bottom of a tricky situation, agree actions, and do something positive. Handled badly, they can be a terrible waste of time. Basically, you want to get in and out as soon as possible with the relevant decisions made so that you can get on with the rest of your day.
This chapter offers advice for anyone who has to plan and chair a meeting. Special arrangements need to be made for large events such as board meetings or annual general meetings, so in this chapter we focus only on the type of meeting held most commonly in an everyday work situation.
Step one: Decide if you really need a meeting
Meetings are not always a good use of peopleās time and effort.
If someone suggests that a meeting be held to discuss an issue related to your project, team, or department, think hard about whether gathering the attendees in one place is really the best thing to do.
There may be more efficient alternatives. For example, you could try:
Conference calls or videoconferencing. If you have access to these facilities, or can afford to use or acquire them, they offer a good way of holding a discussion without having to disrupt the attendeesā day too much.
E-mail. You could send a message to all relevant parties, setting out the issue clearly, asking for a response, and giving a deadline. Double-check that you have included everyone before sending it.
If all else fails, though, and a face-to-face meeting seems to be the best and least unwieldy way of agreeing action on the issue at hand, prepare as much as you can in advance and delegate where appropriate.
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Think carefully about the type of meeting you need. Brainstorming sessions or creative discussions donāt fit easily into well-planned timetables, so may be best slotted into less hectic times of the week, month, or year.
Step two: Do the initial planning
1 Think carefully about who to invite
To avoid wasting time and money, try to limit numbers by inviting only those who really need to be at the meeting. These will be people directly involved in decisions that must be taken, those significantly affected by any actions, or those who have some specific knowledge to contribute.
The most productive meetings are usually those with the least number of people attending. If the agenda is lengthy and covers a variety of issues, consider asking people to drop in and out when their relevant topic comes up for discussion.
2 Give the attendees all relevant information in good time
To make sure that all attendees have a chance to raise their concerns during the meeting, give them plenty of notice of the time and venue, and circulate a draft agenda outlining the topics to be discussed, as well as the time limits assigned to each topic.
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It is vital that all attendees are clear about the purpose of the meeting and why they have been called together. The agenda should set out what needs to be accomplished between the start and finish of the meeting.
Time limits create a healthy sense of urgency. By stipulating the start and finish time of the meeting, as well as setting limits for each topic on the agenda (particularly important if you are holding a lengthy meeting and asking people to drop in and out), you will encourage people to stay focused. For this to work, of course, it is essential to stick to these times!
Other information you should provide your attendees with prior to the meeting includes:
directions to the venue, in case they havenāt been there before
information about those attending (particularly helpful if you are going to be joine...
