GET IN, GET ON, GET OUT - MAKE MEETINGS COUNT

GET IN, GET ON, GET OUT -
MAKE MEETINGS COUNT

“When the outcome of a meeting is to have another meeting, it has been a lousy meeting.” 


Herbert Hoover, U.S. President

Running a meeting with finesse can be as challenging as running a marathon, but ultimately as rewarding. Follow these tips, and you will successfully chair meetings with ease.

Plan Your Meeting to Meet Your Plan
Planning is the first and most important step in running a meeting. Being prepared and keeping to your agenda sets you up for success.


Send out invitations and an agenda with meeting logistics as far in advance as possible. If the agenda is not yet available, tell invitees the agenda will come later and ask them to save the date and time. Then make sure to send the agenda via email at least two or three business days in advance of the meeting. Include all reading materials and snail mail hard copies of all documents. Allow enough time for invitees to read and gather information for the meeting.

Bring copies of the agenda and any attachments to the meeting for those who have not printed them or who did not bring them.


Watch Your Watch
Keep to your agenda and timetable for the meeting. If you must deviate from the original plan, explain why and make sure the change does not cause the meeting to run past the allotted time.


Ask and Answer
Anticipate any questions attendees might ask and decide how to best answer them. As the meeting leader, you must gracefully answer any questions that come up, even the hard or challenging ones. If you do not know the answer, say so and promise to find out and report. Then, follow up with this as soon as the meeting ends.

Provide Refreshments
Nothing seems worse to a restless group than a long meeting with no sustenance. If you must schedule a meeting longer than two hours, take a break and provide refreshments about halfway into the time. This helps eliminate restlessness and shows your invitees you appreciate their time and value their comfort.

Focus
Keep your meeting on course. If it is distracting for you to keep track of the agenda, ask a trusted colleague to let you know when you are getting to far astray from the agenda or assign someone to serve as a timekeeper and a minute recorder.


Listen
As a rule, everyone needs to wait his or her turn before talking. Do not allow people to interrupt each other or let someone take over leadership of the meeting and change the agenda. To stay on track, schedule a question-and-answer session at the end of the meeting and put it on the agenda.


Avoid Gossip and Chatting
If an issue or controversial subject not on the agenda comes up during the meeting, acknowledge it and defer it to a later time. Create a “parking lot” to capture these subjects for later discussion if time allows. Refer to the agenda and lead the group back to it.


Follow Up
As soon as possible after the meeting ends, send a thank you note to participants with a summary of the meeting, a reminder of any items that need follow-up, who is responsible for that follow-up and the answer to any questions you promised to provide. If the meeting is more formal and someone has been taking meeting minutes ask them to get the minutes out to the participants within 24 hours.


Mission Accomplished
By following these basic rules for leading a meeting, you can successfully plan, execute and follow-up on important business. Your invitees will appreciate your commitment to sticking to your stated agenda and you will accomplish more. If you do not already follow these tips, try them with your next meeting—you will like the results.