"Arggh! Not Another Meeting!"
There may be no greater pox perpetuated on mankind than bad meetings. Well, maybe Twinkies or really heinous reality TV shows. But we're in the meeting business, so let's take on bad meetings.
In a recent article on Ragan.com, Joel D. Levitt wrote, "Everyone complains about long, time-wasting meetings. No one does anything about them." Sad but true, especially in light of the fact that "businesses waste $37 billion a year. Some of that likely was wasted in your organization."
Levitt points out some of the greatest causes for bad meetings and some solutions:
"Your meetings ramble on without a clear purpose. If there's an agenda, no one follows it." Levitt suggests you "send out an agenda before your meeting, review the agenda at the beginning of the meeting and get agreement to follow it. [And] empower people to point out when the meeting veers off-agenda."
Another major sin is that "people show up unprepared. They haven't read the report, document or spreadsheet the meeting was about, or they haven't done the research they promised to do." In that case, "holding people accountable would be part of meeting ground rules. When you distribute the agenda, state what is expected of each participant."
If you find that "a few talkers (not necessarily the leader) dominate meetings, or knowledgeable people never speak up," Levitt points out the need for a facilitator. "A skilled meeting facilitator increases project productivity by 25%."
And most of all Levitt says, "timeliness is a matter of integrity." Make sure your meetings start and finish on time.
Need more tips on having great meetings? Save time with a call to NHS Global Events.