The Regenerate Web

Improving Meeting Effectiveness

1. Call meetings with a desired result ( Meeting to decide what we will do to solve problem X)  - This is huge - no meetings to discuss problem x, no meetings to screw off and gossip about co-workers, meetings focused on a result.  Could that result be gathering information? Sure! but does that require a meeting?  Do I have to wait until I can get everyone's schedule, would information gathering be better done asynchronously (have everyone send an e-mail).  
2. Publish an agenda, and all available information when scheduling the meeting - with enough time before the meeting to reasonably expect people to review.
3. Provide guidelines (templates, questions, etc) for content for each contributor - this may apply to recurring meetings - monthly/weekly/daily meetings where the agenda doesn't change, but the content and contributors may (like a board meeting).  The better you can communicate expectations to contributors, the better the meetings will go, and the better prepared the contributors should be.  
4. Don't invite people to be polite - only invite those who are going to contribute to the result.  If people are offended that they weren't part of the decision, ask them if they had something to contribute?  Maybe you missed someone.
5. If someone's contribution is one way only, communicate this, and offer that they do not need to attend the entire meeting.
6. In running the meetings - I could be more of a hard-ass about people not being prepared.  That is, not accept the contribution from people who are not prepared.  Shut them down, rather than waste everyone's time rambling on to no obvious conclusion.  This sounds really harsh until you have 20 $100/hour contractors in a status meeting every freakin' day and your status meeting costs $10k per week.  Ouch!  What about senior managers?  How much do those meetings cost.  I'm not there, so I don't know.  It can't be cheap.

1. Inquire about the purpose of the meeting.  If there is no clear purpose, this may prompt the caller to re-think the need for a meeting.
2. Ask for a meeting agenda.  If we are asked to a meeting with no agenda, or clear purpose, ask. If they can't provide one, then ask why our presence is important.  If they can't answer that, then politely decline the invitation.
3. Ask what if anything we will be asked to contribute to the meeting.  If we are not going to contribute, ask why our presence is important.  Again we can always decline.
4. If we are asked to contribute, ask how much time we will be expected to share - what kind of handouts to bring.
5. If our contribution time is short in comparison to the meeting, and we are not an integral part of the decision making process, we can ask to be excluded from portions of longer meetings that do not concern us (like a congressional hearing).
6. If someone who works for, with, near us is better suited to contribute, we may want to recommend that they be invited in our stead.  Delegate meetings to people better prepared.
7. Show up for meetings ready to do business.  Have our handouts prepared, and published ahead of the meeting if at all possible.
8. When we contribute, stay on topic as much as possible.