Company meetings, whether in person or held by the latest
conference technologies, are necessary to operate effectively; and, how
companies fulfill their critical projects and deliverables. However,
when meetings are held with no organized agenda, or run over their
allotted time slot, attendees become disengaged and annoyed. Those types
of meetings typically do not result in the outcomes that are crucial to
overall success. As one engineering supervisor told us, "Last week's
meeting was a 'train wreck'! We received the agenda the morning of the
meeting so we had no time to prepare any status on our projects. To top
that off, we ran over in time; and, I missed a major vendor meeting that
impacts my development."
With the plethora of advice for conducting a successful meeting, why do we become de-railed, often weekly? A survey by Opinion Research USA reveals why meetings drive so many of us to states of anxiety. Their study stated the number one meeting frustration is disorganization. More than a quarter (27 percent) of the 1,037 people polled said that disorganized, rambling meetings were their biggest irritation. Seventeen percent of the survey group said they were aggravated by domineering colleagues who constantly interrupted speakers; and, cell phone interruptions. They included a last statement that these behaviors usually extended the meeting time period, as all participants needed to be heard for a complete picture of where the company was in project timelines.
In a study by Microsoft in 2004, they found that unnecessary or unproductive meetings were calculated to cost meeting managers 10 per cent of their time - 24 work days a year. This suggests that unnecessary meetings are the number one drain on the productivity of small businesses. According to Jeff Resnick, President of Opinion Research USA, "Structured business meetings with a closely followed agenda are often the most productive, particularly when attention spans can be short."
What can be done to end the number of 'train wrecks' and conduct more industrious meetings? Use all of the following where you need; and, share with colleagues whose skills may have become tarnished. Send a succinct agenda, not an overly worded novel; and, with enough notice so that participants can prepare their responses. It is not enough that you may have to cover critical problems or new snags without having to resolve resentment of those that did not receive adequate notice to get their facts together. In your agenda, include the rationale of why this meeting is being held. Discussions are great team builders, but not productive if the meeting does not have a goal.
None of the meeting participants can afford to expend their work time watching their colleagues scrawl inarticulate spontaneous illustrations on the whiteboard. It is not uncommon that the white board information is never captured. Consequently, if any innovative ideas were developed they are usually lost after the meeting is concluded. Don't try to solve every problem in one meeting. Oftentimes, problem resolution may require a sub task committee to conduct another brainstorming session. Assign those problems to committee owners; and, establish a report back date for the general group. Appoint a time czar. It is rare that the meeting owner watches the allotted time carefully. The owner has the task of fulfilling the agenda items, polling for attendance, checking punctuality; and, usually reporting the results to senior staff. It helps if another attendee can own the clock and keep the meeting from running into overtime. This doesn't mean that all are not heard. The time czar can establish speaking slots for each participant and alert them with a 2-minute warning for completion. This responsibility can rotate around the members on a monthly basis.
For each task or objective, be certain to obtain an owner for that task and a commitment for fulfillment with a completion date. Otherwise, at the end of the meeting, all you have are good intentions. Individual intention does not bring results or the future into reality.
Don't accept silence as consent to commitment. It will also be important to let the task owner(s) know that if they cannot meet the commitment date, notice should be given to all that can be impacted by non-fulfillment. You then have a chance to remedy the situation or make other emergency plans.
Last, be certain there is an account of essential information along with task owners and all final decisions for action. Don't think that someone has to be the actual scribe now. With the latest available technologies you can record key ideas and action plans for distribution to the attendees and other interested units. There is the software application of Audacity, letting you record all voices and transcribe later. Or, try Dragon Speech. This application recognizes an individual voice and essentially takes dictation into a computer. And for whiteboard captures, there is Smartboard. Whatever is written on the board can be saved and printed for subsequent distribution. Any of these solutions that fit your needs is the system you will want to implement.
When you need to keep the 'train' on track in your meetings, ask yourself:
How are the participants notified of the meeting time and date?
Does the notice arrive in a timely manner?
How can you establish the impression for attendance as a chance for their contribution to the future of the company and impactful for their career?
Does the group feel as if they are dragged into each session rather than volunteering to be innovative?
Is tardiness tolerated by your business culture? Is this modeled by senior staff? What changes can you make to this behavior so that people show up on time and depart at the appointed hour?
What rules of management have been established so that mobile phone and Blackberry devices do not interrupt the meeting agenda?
What can you ask the team members to do so that these devices are less intrusive? What guidelines can you establish for proxy attendance?
If any colleague cannot attend that specific date, what will be the rules for appointing someone to attend for them?
What are your systems for meeting minutes and action items? If these systems need revision, what are the thoughts of the entire meeting team? Can you gain consensus from the whole on how to revise or implement new procedures?
"If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve its full potential, that word would be 'meetings." Dave Barry
With the plethora of advice for conducting a successful meeting, why do we become de-railed, often weekly? A survey by Opinion Research USA reveals why meetings drive so many of us to states of anxiety. Their study stated the number one meeting frustration is disorganization. More than a quarter (27 percent) of the 1,037 people polled said that disorganized, rambling meetings were their biggest irritation. Seventeen percent of the survey group said they were aggravated by domineering colleagues who constantly interrupted speakers; and, cell phone interruptions. They included a last statement that these behaviors usually extended the meeting time period, as all participants needed to be heard for a complete picture of where the company was in project timelines.
In a study by Microsoft in 2004, they found that unnecessary or unproductive meetings were calculated to cost meeting managers 10 per cent of their time - 24 work days a year. This suggests that unnecessary meetings are the number one drain on the productivity of small businesses. According to Jeff Resnick, President of Opinion Research USA, "Structured business meetings with a closely followed agenda are often the most productive, particularly when attention spans can be short."
What can be done to end the number of 'train wrecks' and conduct more industrious meetings? Use all of the following where you need; and, share with colleagues whose skills may have become tarnished. Send a succinct agenda, not an overly worded novel; and, with enough notice so that participants can prepare their responses. It is not enough that you may have to cover critical problems or new snags without having to resolve resentment of those that did not receive adequate notice to get their facts together. In your agenda, include the rationale of why this meeting is being held. Discussions are great team builders, but not productive if the meeting does not have a goal.
None of the meeting participants can afford to expend their work time watching their colleagues scrawl inarticulate spontaneous illustrations on the whiteboard. It is not uncommon that the white board information is never captured. Consequently, if any innovative ideas were developed they are usually lost after the meeting is concluded. Don't try to solve every problem in one meeting. Oftentimes, problem resolution may require a sub task committee to conduct another brainstorming session. Assign those problems to committee owners; and, establish a report back date for the general group. Appoint a time czar. It is rare that the meeting owner watches the allotted time carefully. The owner has the task of fulfilling the agenda items, polling for attendance, checking punctuality; and, usually reporting the results to senior staff. It helps if another attendee can own the clock and keep the meeting from running into overtime. This doesn't mean that all are not heard. The time czar can establish speaking slots for each participant and alert them with a 2-minute warning for completion. This responsibility can rotate around the members on a monthly basis.
For each task or objective, be certain to obtain an owner for that task and a commitment for fulfillment with a completion date. Otherwise, at the end of the meeting, all you have are good intentions. Individual intention does not bring results or the future into reality.
Don't accept silence as consent to commitment. It will also be important to let the task owner(s) know that if they cannot meet the commitment date, notice should be given to all that can be impacted by non-fulfillment. You then have a chance to remedy the situation or make other emergency plans.
Last, be certain there is an account of essential information along with task owners and all final decisions for action. Don't think that someone has to be the actual scribe now. With the latest available technologies you can record key ideas and action plans for distribution to the attendees and other interested units. There is the software application of Audacity, letting you record all voices and transcribe later. Or, try Dragon Speech. This application recognizes an individual voice and essentially takes dictation into a computer. And for whiteboard captures, there is Smartboard. Whatever is written on the board can be saved and printed for subsequent distribution. Any of these solutions that fit your needs is the system you will want to implement.
When you need to keep the 'train' on track in your meetings, ask yourself:
How are the participants notified of the meeting time and date?
Does the notice arrive in a timely manner?
How can you establish the impression for attendance as a chance for their contribution to the future of the company and impactful for their career?
Does the group feel as if they are dragged into each session rather than volunteering to be innovative?
Is tardiness tolerated by your business culture? Is this modeled by senior staff? What changes can you make to this behavior so that people show up on time and depart at the appointed hour?
What rules of management have been established so that mobile phone and Blackberry devices do not interrupt the meeting agenda?
What can you ask the team members to do so that these devices are less intrusive? What guidelines can you establish for proxy attendance?
If any colleague cannot attend that specific date, what will be the rules for appointing someone to attend for them?
What are your systems for meeting minutes and action items? If these systems need revision, what are the thoughts of the entire meeting team? Can you gain consensus from the whole on how to revise or implement new procedures?
"If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve its full potential, that word would be 'meetings." Dave Barry
