Effective Meetings
Oh no, not another meeting! Have you heard this before?
We know that meetings are a part of how we work together, but let’s take a step back and think about what leaders can do to make the time spent in them worthwhile.
How would you rate the effectiveness of your meetings? Would you describe your staff members as engaged during them? How many people actively participate? Is there energy in the room or on the screen?
The odds are you’ve participated in lots of training sessions on how to run a meeting. For example, you know the basics including
Start and end on time
Develop an agenda and distribute it at least 24 hours prior to the meeting
Set clear expectations for what you want to accomplish
Invite the people who need to participate and add value
Rotate leadership of meetings to develop your staff members
Appoint a timekeeper to stay on track
· Create an action plan for follow up items and use it to create your next agenda
So, what else can we do to make our meetings effective and not just efficient? Start by getting to know your team members. Use your one-on-one sessions to find out their passions, their goals (and not just their professional goals), their strengths and their challenges.
Create a sense of security so people feel it’s safe to speak up and participate in meetings. There are those people who are always anxious to answer questions or share information and those who sit back and wait for someone else to speak. If people are given the opportunity to share their ideas and thoughts without being judged, they are more likely to join in the discussion or ask a question. How can you address these differences and increase participation in your meetings?
Ask open-ended questions and listen to the responses. Spend some time learning more about active listening. If you have folks who are introverts, give them time to think about what they want to say before the extraverts jump in and respond. Perhaps give people time to write down their ideas before opening up the discussion. Get the ideas listed first before evaluating them. This will make people feel valued for their contributions.
Structure your meetings to engage people in an unusual way. Have you tried stand up meetings rather than everyone sitting in the conference room in front of their devices or looking at a screen from home? If your work environment allows it, get out of the office and take your meeting to a local park or on a walk around the neighborhood to get people thinking differently.
Let your staff members know that you want to hear what they have to say. Show your empathic side when leading meetings and watch what happens.