Huge amounts of time are invested in meetings. Often, I hear executives complain that a large chunk of their work hours is caught up in one meeting or the other.
Meetings tend to drag on endlessly. Seldom do meetings start and end on time. I am sure you will agree that a well conducted meeting for 30 minutes can leave participants much more energized than a rambling meeting which goes on for hours.
What matters is not the amount of time spent but how well this time is spent.
Meeting facilitators/chairpersons sometimes forget the old adage” The mind can absorb only as much as the seat can endure”.
Here are a few points to assess the effectiveness of your meeting:-
- Do people come on time?
- Is there a clear agenda and objective for the meeting?
- Do agenda points have a budgeted start and end time?
- Do you have full participation?
- Are people open to new ideas?
- Are distractions/deviations kept to the minimum?
- Is consensus achieved with ease?
- Are participants clear of ” next steps”?
Meetings are inevitable. There will only be more of them. The idea is to get the most out of each meeting.
Well conducted meetings can achieve a lot, in terms of both goal achievement and people motivation.
Make your meeting management skills set you apart.
Filed under: Executive Effectiveness
