.

As businesses become more team oriented and management becomes more

participatory, people are attending more meetings than ever.

. Despite heavy reliance on e-mail and the growing use of wireless devices to
stay connected, meetings are still the most comfortable way to exchange
information. Yet, many meetings are a waste of time.

. One survey showed that a quarter of U.S. workers would rather go to the
dentist than attend a boring meeting.

. Regardless, meetings are here to stay. Our task, then, is to make them
efficient, satisfying, and productive.

. Meetings consist of three or more individuals who gather to pool information,

solicit feedback, clarify policy, seek consensus, and solve problems.

. For you, however, meetings have another important purpose. They represent
opportunities. Because they are a prime tool for developing staff, they are
career-critical.

. The inability to run an effective meeting can sink a career, warns The Wall
Street Journal.7 The head of a leadership training firm echoed this warning
when he said, If you cant orchestrate a meeting, youre of little use to the
corporation.

. At meetings, judgments are formed and careers are made. Therefore, instead
of treating meetings as thieves of your valuable time, try to see them as
golden opportunities to demonstrate your leadership, communication, and
problem-solving skills.

. So that you can make the most of these opportunities, here are techniques for
planning and conducting successful meetings. You will also learn how to
be a valuable meeting participant.

Before the meeting

. Benjamin Franklin once said, By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. If
you are in charge of a meeting, give yourself plenty of preparation time to
guarantee the meetings success.

. Before the meeting, determine your purpose, decide how and where to meet,
organize an agenda, decide who to invite, and prepare the meeting
 location and materials.

. DETERMINING YOUR PURPOSE

. Before you do anything else, you must decide the purpose of your meeting
and whether a meeting is even necessary.
. No meeting should be called unless the topic is important, cant wait, and
requires an exchange of ideas.
. If the flow of information is strictly one way and no immediate feedback will
result, then dont schedule a meeting. For example, if people are merely
being advised or informed, send an e-mail, memo, or letter. Leave a
telephone or voice mail message, but dont call a costly meeting.
. Remember, the real expense of a meeting is the lost productivity of all the
people attending. To decide whether the purpose of the meeting is valid,
its a good idea to consult the key people who will be attending. Ask them
what outcomes are desired and how to achieve those goals. This
consultation also sets a collaborative tone and encourages full
participation.

. DECIDING HOW AND WHERE TO MEET

. Once youve determined that a meeting is necessary, you must decide
whether to meet face-to-face or virtually. If you decide to meet face-to-
face, reserve a meeting room. If you decide to meet virtually, make any
necessary advance arrangements for your voice conference,
videoconference, or Web conference. These electronic tools will be
discussed later in the chapter.
. ORGANIZING AN AGENDA
. Prepare an agenda of topics to be discussed during the meeting.
. Also include any reports or materials that participants should read in
advance.
. For continuing groups, you might also include a copy of the minutes of the
previous meeting.
. To keep meetings productive, limit the number of agenda items.
. Remember, the narrower the focus, the greater the chances for success.
. Consider putting items that will be completed quickly near the beginning of
the agenda to give the group a sense of accomplishment. Save emotional
topics for the end.
. You should distribute the agenda at least two days in advance of the
meeting. A good agenda, as illustrated in Figure 11.1, covers the following
information:

. Date and place of meeting

. Start time and end time

. Brief description of each topic, in order of priority, including names of

individuals who are responsible for performing some action

. Proposed allotment of time for each topic

. Any pre-meeting preparation expected of participants

. INVITING PARTICIPANTS

. The number of meeting participants is determined by the purpose of the

meeting, as shown in Figure 11.2. If the meeting purpose is motivational,
such as an awards ceremony for sales reps of Mary Kay Cosmetics, then
the number of participants is unlimited.

. But to make decisions, according to studies at 3M Corporation, the best

number is five or fewer participants.

. Ideally, those attending should be people who will make the decision and
people with information necessary to make the decision. Also attending
should be people who will be responsible for implementing the decision
and representatives of groups who will benefit from the decision. Lets say,
for example, that the CEO of sportswear manufacturer Timberland is
strongly committed to community service. He wants his company to
participate more fully in community service. So he might meet with
managers, employee representatives, and community leaders to decide
how his employees could volunteer to refurbish a school, build affordable
housing, or volunteer at a clinic.

. PREPARING THE MEETING LOCATION AND MATERIALS

. If youre meeting face-to-face, decide the layout of the room. To maximize

collaboration and participation, try to arrange tables and chairs in a circle
or a square so that all participants can see one another. Set up any
presentation equipment that will be needed. Make copies of documents
that will be handed out during the meeting. Arrange for refreshments.

During the Meeting

. Meetings can be less boring, more efficient, and more productive if leaders
 and participants recognize how to get the meeting started, move it along,
handle conflict, and deal with dysfunctional participants.

. Whether youre the meeting leader or a participant, its important to act

professionally during the meeting.

Meeting Participants

Arrive on time and stay until the meeting ends, unless youve made prior
arrangements to arrive late or leave early. Leave the meeting only for breaks and
emergencies.

Come to the meeting prepared. Turn off cell phones and pagers. Follow the
ground rules. If youre on the agenda as a presenter, do not go over your

allotted time. Do not exhibit nonverbal behavior that suggests youre

bored, frustrated, angry, or negative in any way. Do not interrupt others or cut
anyone off. Make sure your comments, especially negative comments,

are about ideas, not people. Listen carefully to what other meeting participants are

saying. Participate fully. Do not go off on tangents; be sure that you stick to the
topic

being discussed. Do not engage in side conversations. Clean up after yourself

when leaving the meeting. Complete any follow-up work that youre assigned in a
timely

manner.

As a leader

. Start and end the meeting on time.

. Introduce yourself and urge participants to introduce themselves.

. Make everyone feel welcome and valued.

. Maintain control of the group members and discussion.

. Make sure that everyone participates.

. Stick to the agenda.

. Encourage everyone to follow the ground rules.

. Schedule breaks for longer meetings.

Figure 11.3 outlines etiquette tips for both meeting leaders and
participants. Following are additional guidelines to adhere to during the
meeting to guarantee its success.

. GETTING THE MEETING STARTED

To avoid wasting time and irritating attendees, always start meetings on

timeeven if some participants are missing. Waiting for latecomers causes
resentment and sets a bad precedent. For the same reasons, dont give a
quick recap to anyone who arrives late. At the appointed time, open the
meeting by having all participants introduce themselves if necessary. Then
continue with a three- to five-minute introduction that includes the following:

. Goal and length of the meeting Background of topics or problems Possible

solutions and constraints
. Tentative agenda
. Ground rules to be followed

. A typical set of ground rules might include arriving on time, communicating

openly, being supportive, listening carefully, participating fully, confronting
conflict frankly, turning off cell phones and pagers, and following the
agenda. Participants should also determine how decisions will be made.
More for- mal groups follow parliamentary procedures based on Roberts
Rules of Order. After establishing basic ground rules, the leader should
ask whether participants agree thus far. The next step is to assign one
attendee to take minutes and one to act as a recorder. The recorder
stands at a flipchart or whiteboard and lists the main ideas being discussed
and agreements reached.