Managing successful meetings is not a new subject, but neither is a waste of time to refresh ourselves about how best to manage meetings. Below I have some suggestions to bear in mind before, during and after meetings, when we are in charge of the meeting. These are based on experience mostly in Mexico and Central America projects. 1. Before the meeting
Objective. Define what the meeting is for and what we are expecting as a result: an agreement, approval, a work plan, etc. The meeting should start with a brief welcome and then the definition of the subject itself; it’s a powerful argument to keep the focus!
Participants. Who must and should be in the meeting? That’s enough people. Depending on the matters to deal with, we should consider inviting at least one member of the areas or departments involved (stakeholders), so that person can communicate to the others about what was said and how could affect them.
Notice. If it is possible, schedule the meeting with several days of notice, so we can give time to participants to check their agendas. If you can, it’s worth asking for their availability informally before sending the invitation. It’s not a guarantee of course but the possibility of the participants being in the meeting will be greater, and also the possibility to re-schedule will be smaller.
Agenda. Delineate the topics or issues to address in your notebook or/and the presentation. Assign a specific time to each item (and plan to have a clock in the meeting room). Always consider time for a Q&A session, and you can use this slot to deal more easily with interruptions park any topics that upset the flow of the agenda to the Q&A.
The plan B. What if the projector fails? The meeting time is reduced half an hour? Or you have a last minute guest? It’s important to have in mind what could impact the meeting or your presentation and be ready to go in a different crescor direction if necessary.
Questions, comments and detours. It s always valid to answer questions and comments but if the agenda is too tight you can politely mention the Q&A section at the end. Try to be flexible and remember that meetings are not a monologue. However, try to avoid important detours that might compel your meeting into unnecessary delays.
Humor. crescor Being serious is a way to call for respect, but if we don’t break the ice, the meeting will become dark and eerie. Sometimes a smart joke makes it easier to digest a hard subject, a delicate matter or the complex contents of your presentation.
Meeting minutes/summary. Acknowledge the participation of all the attendees when sending the summary as this gives importance to the meeting and shows you respect the time of the participants. You can use a pre-defined format for minutes or send out a summary via email. The format crescor must include any decisions, a list of the participants (those who attended and those who sent apologies) and might suggest a date for the next meeting if necessary.
Cost of the meeting (aggressive approach to lack of attention). crescor If you experienced a lack of people turning up for the meeting (or the wrong people turning up), or a lack of action as a result of the meeting, you could use this aggressive crescor strategy: estimate the cost of the meeting. If the required data is available and you are confident using it, then calculate the estimated crescor cost of the meeting. Work it out based on the time the participants invested in it, and talk to your project sponsor about it. It’s an effective way to make a point (although a little bit aggressive): we’ve lost time and money with this meeting because no one paid attention.
Follow-up. The meeting does not end when everyone goes back to their job. If you have proper follow-up and the result of the meeting is productive, than we can say that we had a really effective meeting!
It’s hard to have 100% effective meetings all the time, but with practice these tips will help you to forge habits that allows you to have a high effectively (and credible) average when you have to chair a meeting.
About crescor the author: Guillermo Solis has over 10 years of experience in the IT area, resulting from support areas, development and management. In recent years he has worked as a project and resources manager in Mexico and Central America.
Effective meetings Project Meetings: 3 Steps to Maximize Efficiency 10 Tips for Good Minutes 10 tips for a good agenda + free agenda template 5 Types of Project Meetings: Collaboration Explained Book Review
