MAKE YOUR MEETINGS WORK
Start on time, have a clear agenda and keep everyone focused
MMeetings are a necessary evil. How you manage your meetings says a lot about how you run your organization. If you start late, spend a lot of time chatting and wander around in your meetings, then your business likely runs the same way. The strongest message about how you want your culture to perform is embedded in how you conduct your meetings.
Here are four ways you can develop more efficient and productive meetings:
1. Start on time
It sounds simple, and yet 95 percent of meetings don’t start on time. When you don’t start your meetings on time, you’re sending the message that you’re OK with wasting people’s time, schedules and deadlines are flexible and you’re OK with your team being tardy.
Are those the messages you want your team to believe? Are you seeing those beliefs pop up in other areas of your business?
2. Have an agenda
No, you don’t need to print one and distribute it prior to the meeting. Having an agenda means you have a specific meeting goal and outcome in mind.
If the meeting gets off track, you bring it back to your agenda. If it wanders onto something more important and necessary, then you adjust the agenda. Regardless, you should be operating as someone who has a specific plan for the time spent with your people.
Ask these questions as you prepare your agenda:
What am I trying to accomplish?
What information do I need to make a decision?
Have I invited the right people to attend?
Is this meeting even necessary?
Am I trying to do too much?
3. Start with a “culture moment”
Organizations that proactively manage their cultures do so at every meeting.
Use the start of your meeting to get your team aligned with your expectations for how people should be thinking and acting. You can’t be everywhere, but your expectations should be.
Here are some suggestions for how to start those meetings:
Tell a story: “Let me start this morning by telling you how I saw finance and operations working together to advance this project.”
Give recognition: “Before we start, I want to recognize Jane Doe for the extra effort she put in last weekend to make sure we got the numbers out Monday.”
Ask for other positive statements: “Does anyone have a good story or someone we should recognize this week?”
When you talk about what you expect people to be doing, you will see more of it. But remember, avoid harping on what you don’t like. There is already plenty of negative information floating around in most organizations.
4. End with a “who’s-going-to-do-what-by-when” list
If you’ve wisely spent your time in the meeting, you have some outcomes and next steps. Don’t lose that productivity by assuming people know who is going to take the next action and by when. Be purposeful about it.
As you come up with next steps, ask: “Who’s going to take this action and when should you report back?” If no one steps up, then make the assignment. Be sure to assign tasks to individuals, not teams, and have realistic deadlines. Use the next meeting for updates.
Meetings are only productive if they lead to timely actions and results. Everything you do drives your culture. Make sure your meetings reflect the culture you want in your organization.