Let’s Take A Meeting
November 13, 2014
By Lora Pfohl, owner of PR Works and Events
Recently, I was invited to a golf tournament planning meeting for a local non-profit. Although he had pulled 8 people from their places of work, the running of errands, and precious preschool children, the young man in charge was unprepared. The meeting went on for what seemed like hours with no direction and no decisions made. The fact that I am type A, and that event planning comes second nature to me as I am a relentless hostess, I found the meeting maddening and couldn’t wait until I could finish my coffee, excuse myself, and get back to the business of my day. And when a follow-up meeting request popped up in my inbox days later, I wondered if my volunteer time was best utilized by helping his cause. Not that the cause wasn’t a worthy one, but the agony of time mismanagement is a stress I’d rather do without.
Many people do not know how to run a meeting. And why would they? Meeting management class was not an elective at the university I went to, nor is it a part of your typical on-the-job training. But with the need for efficiencies in a busy business world, not to mention in our very busy personal lives, we must learn how to run a meeting that is efficient and effective for all parties involved. If you continually waste a business partner’s or a volunteer’s time, you may irrevocably damage the relationship. You will wonder whatever happened to that great contact or why you were left without the help of others. There is a way to become more proficient in the conference room. Lucky for you, there is a protocol for meetings.
1. Why Wasn’t I Invited?
One of the most common mistakes when inviting people to a meeting is inviting the wrong people, too many people or you forgot to invite the right people. Have you ever entered an uncomfortably full conference room and wondered why are all these people here? More than likely, they are wondering the same thing. Or have you entered a meeting to find out the main decision makers were not invited? If you call a meeting, invite only the people who the meeting really addresses and make sure if you need approvals at this level of the project, that the ones to make those decisions are present. Inviting the entire company may be tempting, but it’s very counter-productive. Invite only those who have something to contribute to the topic being addressed.
2. What’s the point?
An outlined agenda is key to a productive encounter. When the meeting leader has been proactive and created an agenda with points to cover listed, it lets the attendees know what will be discussed. Sending the agenda to everyone prior to the meeting provides the other attendees with time to think about the issues at hand, and what might be expected from them.
3. What’s the objective?
What should come out of the meeting? Will details of an event be decided? Do you hope to have an official list of candidates for a job opening? Do you want to be completely updated on a project’s status? Let the attendees know prior to the meeting what the objective of the meeting is. If everyone knows the goal of the meeting, they will come ready to work towards that goal.
4. What Next?
Personally, this is a big pet peeve of mine. Never, ever leave a meeting without assigning next steps or action items. It’s the kryptonite of a super-meeting. Every great decision you made, every brilliant idea you conceptualized, will disappear into oblivion if you do not decide what are the next steps to implement these decisions and ideas, and assign them to someone to keep the idea moving in the right direction.
Meeting just to meet is a luxury that few of us have these days. When you honor others’ time commitments, it shows respect. Meeting with a proposal, purpose and, in the end, a plan is priceless.
