Community organizations, church groups, service clubs, workplaces – a lot of us spend a lot of time at meetings.
But if you’ve ever left one wondering why you had attended or what had been accomplished, it might be time to examine the process.
David Colman of TriOpus Group said the first question for any organization or company to ask is: why are we having this meeting and what is it costing us?
Having meetings can be a huge waste of time and resources, he told inland grain terminal employees and directors at a conference.
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Sometimes the cost of paying employees to attend the meeting won’t pay off. There might be a better way of achieving the same thing that a meeting would accomplish, Colman said.
The next step is to be prepared, whether you are hosting the meeting or attending it.
Signs that the chair was not prepared include starting or ending late, people coming late or not at all, poor, unclear objectives, no agenda and poor facilities.
“You can’t fake it,” Colman said of getting through a bad meeting. “If you can’t even have a meeting, then (how) is your company or organization doing?”
Prepared hosts insist on the right people attending, hand out a specific agenda well in advance, specify start and end times, outline the objectives and outcomes, provide the best possible facilities and ensure that all materials are at hand.
“If it’s your meeting, all those things are your responsibility.”
Colman said allowing all attendees to have a say is key.
“They will be more committed to the decisions made if you hear what they have to say.”
Decisions can be made unanimously, by consensus, by majority vote and even by minority if it’s your meeting and you’re going to make the decision.
People must understand the method that’s going to be used before the discussion. Colman said unanimous and consensus decisions are usually the best choices to obtain buy-in from others, but they do take a long time to reach.
Colman said the meeting facilitator should respect that people have other things to do and manage the time well. Even if an entire agenda can’t be completed, the meeting may have to conclude, he said.
End the meeting by restating what has been agreed upon.
“Have each participant explain back to you what it is they’re going to be doing,” Colman said. “Indicate that you’ll follow up with them. Thank everyone for their attendance and participation.”
He added that following up is often forgotten and can lead, in some situations, to unhappy customers or co-workers.
“If you’re going to improve your meetings in any way, make sure you do this,” Colman said.
