Make the Most of Meetings Lytham St Annes

Meetings are indispensable when you don’t want to do anything.’ So said economist John Galbraith and it’s true that meetings (or briefings, seminars or presentations) do have a well-deserved reputation as often being counter-productive and a waste of time. However, when organised and conducted properly they can yield positive progress and results.

There are many reasons why meetings can go wrong: poor planning; not all attendees having their say; the chairman losing control of the meeting; people getting sidetracked onto unhelpful tangents; and frequently, there being no need for the meeting in the first place.

‘Having a clear agenda is the first step to a successful meeting,’ believes Richard Wilson, head of policy at the Institute of Directors. ‘It should include the topics under discussion, the overriding purpose and the start and end times. Print this agenda and distribute it well in advance of the meeting.’

At the meeting itself, it is vital that the chairman (or leader or facilitator) takes control and gets the ball rolling by briefly introducing the topic in hand and, if necessary, the people round the table. On this issue, Wilson advocates each individual introduce themselves to their neighbour who then tells the whole group about them. This acts as an ice-breaker and means that everyone is listening rather than thinking what they will say about themselves.

On the key subject of refreshments, which some say can make or break a meeting, if you are going to provide coffee and biscuits, make sure they are served before the meeting gets going as their introduction can disrupt conversation.

Environment is another important consideration. For example, an overly warm room will have people nodding off around the table, while noisy surroundings may keep people awake but will hamper discussions.

Once underway, the onus is on the chairman to encourage everyone to have their say while keeping to the topic. In the event of anyone starting to dominate the meeting, it is worth tactfully stopping them and allowing others to have their say – for example, ‘thank you for your comments, does anyone else have anything to add on this subject?’
The chairman should also act as timekeeper, moving things along at a reasonable pace and summarising what’s been said on a particular issue in order to move on to the next.

At the end of the meeting, the chairman should sum up what has been decided, what action needs to be taken and who is responsible for it. The minutes, which will have been taken by someone other than the chairman, should reflect this in writing and be distributed to all concerned within 24 hours.

‘A good way of judging the value you are getting,’ concludes Wilson, ‘is to calculate how much you are paying all those attending for their time in the meeting and whether their time could have been better served getting on with their work.’

Copyright 2010 Vitesse Media

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