Meetings have a bad reputation in virtually every institution—colleges and universities, small businesses, corporations, and families. (Note: For guys, when our significant other says, "We need to talk or meet," we may start shaking in our boots, Crocs, or Birkenstocks. That meeting is usually not about something positive we did.) The primary reason for the reputation is because meetings can be major time wasters, accomplishing very little, and often deteriorating into just another social event, or they may be the signal for bad news announcements. If you’re a social butterfly or other insect, you may look forward to these meetings. However, productivity-wise, that reputation and the negative images associated with meetings are well-earned.
Why does this happen everywhere? PUTRID LEADERSHIP!! It’s the leader or chair who is totally responsible. Although the men and women who try to conduct meetings are probably wonderful people from law-abiding families with pit bulls surrounded by barbed wire fences, most of them stink at running a meeting properly. In most cases, this is not done on purpose. Many leaders are simply not trained in the state-of-the-art of meeting management.
About a decade ago, I had the privilege of attending a presentation by Stephen Covey (the “7 Habits” guy). He was invited to Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions to address administration issues for the hospital and university staff, including faculty, administrators, and academic and medical personnel. One topic covered was how to conduct meetings. As he described the key elements in managing a meeting, there was a lot of rustling in the audience, especially a high incidence of elbow-in-the-ribs jabbing. It was clear that most of us felt we violated and observed our colleagues violating every rule for proper meeting conduct. EVERY RULE!! That was significant. I learned sooo much that afternoon.
Given this ubiquitous problem with meetings, right now I want you to take your previous experiences in conducting meetings or just sitting in them and scour them from your memory. Block them out completely. Let’s begin with a clean slate.
According to experts in business and time management, such as Covey, Dan Kennedy, Brian Tracey, Alec Mackenzie, Alan Lakein, David Allen, and Richard Walsh, there are right and wrong ways to conduct meetings. (Sidebar: The principles to guide those meetings are not hidden in a high-security, top-secret government installation. We don’t need to hire Jack Bauer of 24 to find them. They have been documented in nearly 50 books on time management over the past 35 years. End of Sidebar.) We now hop to the next paragraph because the sidebar was so long.
If you follow the guidelines presented below, the time-management benefits will become obvious. The workplace doesn’t need another putrid leader. Law firms, corporations, universities, Congress, and the White House are in dire need of competent leaders who can run meetings effectively and efficiently.
Here is the best advice from the experts:
1. Start and stop on time
2. Prepare a detailed agenda with times for each item
3. Enforce the assigned times of each agenda item during the meeting
4. Don’t permit agenda-busting
5. Invite only those who need to attend
6. Hold the meeting only if it is absolutely necessary
7. Schedule meetings when key participants are available
8. Do not serve food regularly—coffee, yes
9. Engage everyone in the meeting
10. Attain closure on every item
11. Give a 10-minute warning before the meeting ends
12. Prepare the minutes and executive summary immediately after adjournment or sooner
Space on this blog doesn’t permit detailed explanations of these strategies. If this list raises your consciousness level the next time you plan a meeting or walk into one, it will have served its purpose. Since retiring from Johns Hopkins, I admit I do not miss attending meetings, even well-conducted ones. HAPPY MEETINGS, MY FRIENDS!
COPYRIGHT © 2009 Ronald A. Berk, LLC
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