THREE STEPS TO MAKE MEETINGS MORE EFFECTIVE

Very few events take place every day in organizational life that are more common and more frustrating than meetings. Over the course of my career, many of the meetings that I have been part of were nothing but wastes of time. Consider that one meeting for an hour that includes 10 people is equal to wasting 10 working hours for a team. Time is a limited resource, so meeting needs to be effective and filled with purpose. But how do we ensure our meetings hit that target?

In order for meetings to be effective there need three clear steps. Without these steps, a meeting will often fall into chaos.

First, a meeting needs a clear agenda. An agenda sets the purpose for a meeting. Through a clear agenda, the scope of the meeting is defined and proper preparation can be made to ensure the meeting address those things that are intended. Additionally, an agenda is the first opportunity to determine if there is a need for a meeting. Many meetings really should have just been an email, and an agenda would have made that clear in the planning.

Second, a meeting needs an outline. While an agenda determines the purpose and scope of the meeting, and outline creates the boundaries for its content. With a concise understanding of what needs to be discussed within each agenda item, the outline offers everyone the opportunity to add and take value from the time. Through an outline, meeting personnel can also be evaluated. Do we really need 10 people at this meeting? Aren't the issues we are discussing relevant to only five of the team? The front-end effort of planning an outline for the meeting can produce multiple hours refocused on more pressing and important tasks. Use the outline to break down your agenda items, offer summarized categories for conversation, identify appropriate personnel for the discussion, and ensure that adequate time is available to address your topics.

With a clear agenda and a strong outline in place, the third step for effective meetings is to set the time limit. Many people meet for an hour because we always meet for an hour. This wastes your team's focus and your organization's time. Many meetings, when essential, can be covered in 15 minutes. But, we often schedule the meeting before we have an agenda or an outline, and as a result, we end up booking more time than we need or trying to cram too much into our designated time limit. Allow your agenda and outline to guide your time limit, then hold to it.

By utilizing these three steps, your organization's meetings can be streamlined, purposeful, targeted, and effective. Rather than creating a time void, meetings become a tool to propel your team forward towards your success. Think about some of the meetings you have been in recently. Would these steps have made a difference? Now imagine the culture shift for your organization if all their meetings employed this process before scheduling. What difference would that make for your teams and your goals?