Creating Effective Meetings
People seem to love meetings. Yet, we have all seen that not everything requires a meeting. When a meeting is necessary, it must have a clear purpose and agenda. John Spence tackles this issue in a recent blog.
In his blog, Spence provides some key ground rules to making meetings effective. Following is an overview of some of my favorite ground rules he identifies.
If an issue requires a meeting, make sure that you have clear meeting objectives with the key people who really need to be part of the discussion.
Once you have identified the key people that need to be part of the discussion, its necessary to have an agenda that identifies the topics you plan to cover and allots the appropriate time for each topic.
In order to have a lively discussion, it is a requirement for information to be shared before the meeting with all the meeting attendees. This will ensure that everyone is on the same page and can have a discussion on the topics at hand.
The above really serves as the foundation for successful meetings. Spence also provides some key additional rules:
- Focus the discussion on future actions;
- Always start and end on time;
- Everyone participates;
- Listen to others; and
- Keep meetings to less than an hour.
Most importantly, meetings should facilitate an open dialogue where individuals can freely speak what is on their mind without fear.