Wednesday, July 9, 2003
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Wednesday, July 9, 2003 |
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Make meetings meaningful "One either meets or one works. One cannot do both at the same time." This is how Dr. Peter Drucker expresses the attitude of executives and managers towards meetings. According to a Wall Street Journal survey, meetings account for the greatest amount of unproductive time topping telephone calls, paperwork, travel, and office gossip. With a little preparation, meetings can be transformed into productive assemblies helping the business steam toward, instead of away from, their goals. The average manager spends ten hours a week in meetings. If we multiply 5 hours times, say, 48 weeks that gives us 240 hours a year spent in meetings. One Fortune 500 firm translated this into a $71 million dollar loss per year in salary alone. Having said that, meetings are still the most used communication tools in today's companies. Imagine how much time and money can be saved if only these gatherings were run a little more effectively. The key ingredient for a good meeting is preparation. The first questions needing answers are: Is this meeting really necessary? Can the information be put over the LAN? If there is still a need for a meeting, the following points provide a blueprint for an effective conference: Fix an objective or goal for the meeting Send out a onepage agenda stating the purpose, the issues to be discussed, the time limits for each topic Who will participate and how each attendee needs to prepare In addition, declare a starting time AND ending time These simple hints go a long way towards making meetings much more effective. Whether the meeting is called to exchange information, coordinate action, motivate a team or solve problems it needs a leader. Lack of preparation on the part of the chairperson is inexcusable. His or her main objective is to keep things on track. Here are some easy, common sense steps to keep in mind: Start on time and do not wait for late arrivals. I once knew a boss who locked the door to the meeting room keeping latecomers standing in the hallway. Allow interruptions only for genuine emergencies Discuss one issue at a time At the end of each discussion point, summarize and fix a list of 'next steps': who, how, when and where Release those participants that are no longer needed. The smaller the group, the better Above all, adhere strictly to the time constraints. If a topic needs more than the allotted time, take a vote to either reschedule it for the next meeting, or to eliminate another agenda point in its favor Control should be firm and polite Set a completion time and don't exceed it unless everyone approves. Just as important as the invitation to a conference is the followup. Prepare a brief summary of what was said and send it out as soon as possible. The summary should be concise and stipulate exactly what is to be done by whom, how it will be accomplished and by when. Another survey showed only 33 percent of business leaders had any training in how to effectively run meetings. In many cases, using a formally trained facilitator will improve productivity, save time and in the long run, save money. A facilitator is particularly important in task forces, customer focus groups, and process action teams. A trained facilitator keeps the group on-track, helping them with decision and problem solving techniques. Another key advantage is their impartiality. This impartiality helps to avoid the influences of rank and position that may intimidate other meeting participants. The facilitator works side by side with the chairperson helping design the agenda, the flow of information and the actual pro
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