Meetings - A waste of time. Making meeting matters

Posted by Ivan

How often one condemns and make jokes about the meetings and how they are conducted. Comments such as that we always have to many meetings, nothing gets discussed and done, people always come late for meetings.. How frequent one label such meetings as unproductive, waste of time and inefficient. It is not new that meetings have been said to be so, and as leader, it is important how he conducts himself. Frequently, attendees have to sit around, doing small talk and gossiping to wait for the senior to arrive.

Common pitfalls have led to various meetings being labeled as

- unproductive, usually arising from non preparedness
- irritation from a lot of unnecessary chatter and side talk and disturbances
- inefficient and without focus
- the meeting drags on too long
- often discussions focus on irrelevant topic and at worst wonders off to chit-
chatting and gossiping
- poorly conducted without results
- inadequately represented by all stakeholders
- discussion and meeting centered on few members

Over the years of working, I have come across various bosses that exhibited different traits and habits, ranging from those that are extremely particular about punctuality to one that is totally oblivious to timing, and thinks that as the head and will always be late, leaving the entire team waiting. At one extreme, I came across an instance where there was a shouting match among the very senior management team because a couple of the members were late.

In my many years of work experience, my personal experiences (at least the ones that I am in control) are that meetings can be very effective and efficient means of communication and seeking consensus quickly to move forward. There must be clear objectives, action items at hand for decision, and most importantly , is adequate preparation if major decisions are expected. I found the following tips are useful to control and manage meetings to ensure that they are productive and useful.

TIP 1 – Set clear Term of Reference – terms and scope of the committee/workgroup must be clear
TIP 2 - Appoint a permanent respectable Chairperson – preferable a senior personnel that command respect and carry some authority
TIP 3 - Set an Agenda for every meeting and send it out before hand – a full time secretariat to administer the Discussion topics/issues
TIP 4 - Appoint a permanent member as Secretariat to take minutes of meeting – Clear and actionable minutes of meeting is essential
TIP 5 – Set aside adequate time-frame for matters to be discussed – allow everyone to have a say
TIP 6 – Start meeting on time, and not wait for late-comers – proceed with adequate quorum rather than waiting for senior to arrive
TIP 7 – Be specific on each matter discussed. Control and allow everyone to speak when meeting becomes rowdy – exercise Chairperson’s role
TIP 8 - Go round to allow every member to voice anything before close-out – allow those without opportunity to voice out
TIP 9 – Write minutes and circulate them within 1 week of meeting – for individual verification and actions while issues are still clear.

With the above, the meeting will proceed a lot more smoother and faster.

Find out More >> MISAsiaJuly2008”MakemeetingmattersbyTomKrattenaker”


Yours truly,
Ivan

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