Conducting Effective Meetings

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How much time do you waste in meetings every week? Conducting effective meetings is a critical leadership skill that needs improvement in just about all organizations.

Conducting effective meetings is easy with a few guidelines:
  • Have a defined purpose and clear objectives with a written agenda
  • Members have prepared in advance and are engaged
  • Balance of discipline, flexibility, diplomacy and determination
  • Members have defined roles and respect established ground rules
  • Efficient, result focused, and ultimately save time and effort
  • Result in a series of tangible action items
  • Capture insights and enthusiasm
  • Motivate people to specific action
  • Efficient and result focused
  • Are documented and summarized with commitments well understood

On the other hand, not everyone is good at conducting effective meetings.  Many meetings:

  • Lack participation
  • Dominating leader or member, unbalanced involvement
  • People don’t listen to each other
  • Stays off track too long
  • Inefficient, results unclear
  • Ideas and different views are criticized or squelched
  • Action assignments and outcomes are not clear

There are four steps you need to follow when conducting effective meetings. Here’s a brief introduction to the four steps:

Step 1 – Prepare When Conducting Effective Meetings

  • Ensure the purpose of the meeting is well understood. Ask what would happen if this meeting did not take place.
  • Prepare the agenda in advance.
  • Ensure that the desired outcomes of the meeting are articulated in advance.
  • Make sure all the participants are prepared in advance.

Step 2 – Communicate When Conducting Effective Meetings

  • Inform all participants well in advance of the details of the meeting; the purpose and outcomes; and, preparation required.
  • Circulate agenda in advance, as well as any other reading material

Step 3 – Control When Conducting Effective Meetings

  • Start on time
  • Review ground rules and assign roles
  • Use a “Parking Lot” to keep on the agenda

Step 4 – Document and Follow-up When Conducting Effective Meetings

  • Record main discussion points and decisions for future reference. This list becomes your meeting minutes.
  • Clarify actions and assign names and deadlines to them.

Watch the ‘3-Minute Crash Course’ about Conducting Effective Meetings (CLICK THE ARROW TO START THE VIDEO):

Get the Complete ‘Conducting Effective Meetings’ Topic Bundle:

Get the Conducting Effective Meetings files here

The ‘Conducting Effective Meetings’ topic bundle includes:

  • Effective Meetings Cheat Sheet (pdf)
  • Effective Meetings Booklet (pdf) containing:
    • In-Depth Topic Overview
    • How to Get a Meeting Back on Track
    • Role Definitions for Effective Meetings
    • Effective Meeting Preparation Checklist
    • Worksheet for Effective Meetings
    • Meeting Rating Form
    • Types of Meetings and Tips for Success
    • Recommended Resources – where to find out even more about Effective Meetings
  • Easy-print versions of the tools contained in the Effective Meetings Booklet (pdf)
  • Effective Meetings Video (mp3)
  • Effective Meetings Powerpoint Slides (pdf)
Get instant access to the complete ‘Conducting Effective Meetings’ Topic Bundle…