Increasing Meeting Productivity

Meetings help teams solve problems by providing the opportunity for giving and getting feedback, whether your goal is to develop ideas, identify opportunities, or decide how to maximize resources. The number of meetings necessary to solve problems and collaborate on projects is increasing. In the world of business, more than 25 million meetings are already taking place every day.⁴⁴

Unfortunately, many meetings are unproductive. In a recent study, senior and middle managers reported that only 56 percent of their meetings were actually productive and that 25 percent of them could have been handled by a phone call or a memo.⁴⁵ Meeting productivity is affected by the way you prepare for them and the way you conduct and participate in them.

The biggest mistake in holding meetings is not having a specific goal. So before you call a meeting, satisfy yourself that one is truly needed. Perhaps you could communicate more effectively in a memo or through individual conversations. If you do require the interaction of a group, you want to bring the right people together in the right place for just enough time to accomplish your goals. The key to productive meetings is careful planning of purpose, participants, location, and agenda.

Although many meetings combine purposes, most are usually either informational or decision making. Informational meetings allow participants to share information and perhaps coordinate action. Briefings may come from each participant or from the leader, who then answers questions from attendees. Decision-making meetings mainly involve persuasion, analysis, and problem solving. They often include a brainstorming session, followed by a debate on the alternatives, and they require that each participant is aware of the nature of the problem and the criteria for its solution.

Being invited to this or that meeting can be a mark of status, and you may be reluctant to leave anyone out. Nevertheless, try to invite only those people whose presence is essential. If the session is purely informational and one person will be doing most of the talking, you can include a relatively large group. However, if you're trying to solve a problem, develop a plan, or reach a decision, try to limit participation to between 6 and 12 people.⁴⁶ The more participants, the more comments and confusion you're likely to get, and the longer the whole thing will take. But even as you try to limit participation, be sure to include key decision makers and those who can contribute. Holding a meeting is pointless if the people with necessary information aren't there.

Decide where you'll hold the meeting, and reserve the location. For work sessions, morning meetings are usually more productive than afternoon sessions. Also, consider the seating arrangements. Are rows of chairs suitable, or do you need a conference table? Plus, give some attention to details such as room temperature, lighting, ventilation, acoustics, and refreshments. These things may seem trivial, but they can make or break a meeting.

You might also consider calling a meeting in cyberspace. Companies such as WebEx offer facilities in cyberspace for meeting with colleagues, customers, and other stakeholders. Cyberspace meetings are how Siebel Systems and other e-businesses streamline meeting planning and team discussions.

Although the nature of a meeting may sometimes prevent you from developing a fixed agenda, at least prepare a list of matters to be discussed. Distribute the agenda to the participants several days before the meeting so that they will know what to expect and can come prepared to respond to the issues at hand.

Agendas include the names of the participants, the time, the place, and the order of business. Make sure the agenda is specific. For example, the phrase "development budget" doesn't reveal much, whereas the longer explanation "Discussion: Proposed reduction of 1999–2000 development budget due to our new product postponement" helps all committee members prepare in advance with facts and figures.

Agendas help you start and end your meetings on time. Starting and ending on time sends a signal of good organization and allows attendees to meet other commitments. In fact, one solution for improving meetings is simply telling people what time the meeting will end. A productive agenda should answer three key questions: (1) What do we need to do in this meeting to accomplish our goals? (2) What conversations will be of greatest importance to all the participants? (3) What information must be available in order to have these conversations?⁴⁷

Whether a meeting is conducted electronically or conventionally, its success depends largely on how effective the leader is. If the leader is prepared and has selected participants carefully, notes American Express's David House, the meeting will generally be productive, especially if the leader has good listening skills.

A good meeting is not a series of dialogues between individual members and the leader. Instead, it's a cross-flow of discussion and debate, with the leader occasionally guiding, mediating, probing, stimulating, and summarizing, but mostly letting the others thrash out their ideas. That's why it's important for leaders to avoid being so domineering that they close off suggestions. Of course, they must not be so passive that they lose control of the group.

As leader, you're responsible for keeping the meeting moving along. If the discussion lags, call on those who haven't been heard from. Pace the presentation and discussion so that you'll have time to complete the agenda. As time begins to run out, interrupt the discussion and summarize what has been accomplished. However, don't be too rigid. Allow enough time for discussion, and give people a chance to raise related issues. If you cut off discussion too quickly or limit the subject too narrowly, no real consensus can emerge.

One way you can improve the productivity of a meeting is by using parliamentary procedure, a time-tested method for planning and running effective meetings. Anyone belonging to a team should understand the basic principles of parliamentary procedure. Used correctly, it can help teams⁴⁸

The most common guide to parliamentary procedure is Robert's Rules of Order, available in various editions and revisions. Also available are less technical guides based on "Robert's Rules." You can determine how strictly you want to adhere to parliamentary procedure. For small groups you may be quite flexible, but for larger groups you'll want to use a more formal approach.

As the meeting gets under way, you'll discover that some participants are too quiet and others are too talkative. To draw out the shy types, ask for their input on issues that particularly pertain to them. You might say something like, "Roberto, you've done a lot of work in this area. What do you think?" For the overly talkative, simply say that time is limited and others need to be heard from. The best meetings are those in which everyone participates, so don't let one or two people dominate your meeting while others doodle on their notepads. As you move through your agenda, stop at the end of each item, summarize what you understand to be the feelings of the group, and state the important points made during the discussion.

If you're a meeting participant, try to contribute to both the subject of the meeting and the smooth interaction of the participants. Use your listening skills and powers of observation to size up the interpersonal dynamics of the people, then adapt your behavior to help the group achieve its goals. Speak up if you have something useful to say, but don't monopolize the discussion.

At the conclusion of the meeting, tie up the loose ends. Either summarize the general conclusion of the group or list the suggestions. Wrapping things up ensures that all participants agree on the outcome and gives people a chance to clear up any misunderstandings. Before the meeting breaks up, briefly review who has agreed to do what by what date.

Finally, be sure to follow up. As soon as possible after the meeting, make sure all participants receive a copy of the minutes or notes, showing recommended actions, schedules, and responsibilities. The minutes will remind everyone of what took place and will provide a reference for future actions.

Checklist: Improving Meeting Productivity

PREPARATION Determine the meeting’s objectives. Work out an agenda that will achieve your objectives. Select participants. Determine the location and reserve a room. Arrange for light refreshments, if appropriate. Determine whether the lighting, ventilation, acoustics, and temperature of the room are adequate. Determine seating needs: chairs only or table and chairs. CONDUCT Begin and end the meeting on time. Control the meeting by following the announced agenda. Encourage full participation, and either confront or ignore those who seem to be working at cross-purposes with the group. Sum up decisions, actions, and recommendations as you move through the agenda, and restate main points at the end.   FOLLOW-UP Distribute the meeting’s notes or minutes on a timely basis. Take the follow-up action agreed to.