Jul
12
2010
Highly Effective Meetings
Author: adminLeading at Light Speed is a groundbreaking leadership book by Eric Douglas describing the 10 Quantum Leaps which build trust, spark innovation, and create a high-performing organization.
Chapter 3 is about how to Lead Through Others and on page 60 Eric talks about how to manage highly effective meetings.
The key to highly effective meetings is not what you do during the meeting, but what you do before and after the meeting. Here are four of the practices that we teach:
1. Take ownership of the agenda. Before the meeting, decide what outcomes you want, what decisions need to be made, the time required, what information will be provided, and who needs to be included. Send out the agenda in advance, along with the background material.
2. Stay Focused. During the meeting, remember the following mantra. “Make sure we’re having the conversation we need to have.When people get off topic, the meeting facilitator must refocus the dialogue.. Don’t be worried about offending people, most will be grateful for your leadership..
Introduce each item by providing the necessary context and linkage to previous decisions. Once the discussion begins, keep everyone focused on the agenda topic. If an unrelated issue comes up, put it on hold and decide later if it should be the topic of a separate meeting.. Give everyone a chance to provide input, and keep a tight watch on the clock.
3. Achieve closure. Before going on to a new item, be confident that the desired outcome has been achieved.. If an action step has been identified, make sure everyone understands. Clarify what the next steps will be and who will be taking them.. Decide on who’s going to communicate the results of the discussion.
4. Maintain a tangible record.. Be sure to send a followup memo at the end of every meeting to remind people what was settled upon.. This memo becomes a fail-safe way to check later to ensure that the necessary actions have occurred. It aids in observing effectiveness. Lastly, it avoids wasting time trying to recollected the events of previous meetings.!
Is your organization implementing the practices of high performing organizations? Find out with this free work survey.
Tags: effective meetings, leadership, management, meeting management
