Techniques to run effective meetings
Meetings are an important and frequent medium of communication. When poorly organized they can be a waste of time. When you prepare for a meeting you send a powerful message: you care for other people’s time.
Meetings can be more or less structured. Unstructured meetings, such as Brainstormings, are ideal for non-linear, creative thinking. Now we focus on structured meetings.
As participants share their point-of-view in discussions you can spot who is prepared and who just “dropped by”. This can be a hint on how seriously each person takes matters. You may need to support the decision making process so get ready and bring data and facts to the meeting. Decisions based on data and facts are usually easier to defend, now and in the future.
As you prepare, expect participants to respond in a professional manner and have consistent arguments to debate and decide. If they are not prepared, the facilitator may need to politely ask them to prepare for next time.
Prepare the agenda and send it to participants before the meeting. The meeting must be led by a facilitator who takes care of the right to speak and respect for the time allocated to each item on the agenda.
Important points must be recorded by a secretary. It is the facilitator’s job to make sure that the agenda is strictly followed. The facilitator should also certify that a decision is made about each item on the agenda.
After the meeting, minutes are sent to the participants for their review. Follow up with participants on each decision made. This can be done at the beginning of the next meeting.
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