Andrew Rondeau

Andrew is the owner of this website and has been a Leader, Manager, Coach and Consultant for the last twenty-five years.

The 7 Simple (but ignored) ‘Rules’ For Ensuring Your Meetings Are Productive

By Andrew Rondeau
Published 11/18/2008

A recent survey (by Dr. Steven G. Rogelberg, Professor and Director of Organizational Science at the University of North Carolina Charlotte) of 1,900 business leaders, 72% indicated they spend more time in meetings today than they did five years ago, and 49% said they expect that time in meetings to increase.

That same study indicated that managers felt that about one third of those meetings were unproductive.

Successful meetings move things forward and ensure that useful contributions are made and heard. Ineffective meetings result in much paper shuffling and outstanding action points being carried yet again.

photo courtesy of llawliet

I am sure you have been an attendee at both an effective and ineffective meeting.

So how can you improve the quality of the meetings you organise and the meetings you attend? Here are 7 simple basic ideas, which are often overlooked:

Limit the number of people. Too many people at a meeting reduce the effectiveness of the whole group.

Set the agenda in advance. This will help save time and ensure the attendees focus. Set out the topics to be discussed and how much time will be allowed for each.

Be prepared. Make sure you circulate the agenda along with any other supporting material at least 3 days before the actual meeting. That way you and others can prepare before the meeting.

Agreed the desired outcome. Get agreement up front on what the meeting should accomplish.

Run on time. Start promptly even if someone is not there. If you don’t, you are wasting everyone else’s time.

Flow information both ways. Make sure the agenda includes a way to get feedback.

Be positive. Wherever possible, try to end on a positive note as it helps the team’s momentum and motivation for the task at hand

As well as preparing for the meeting there are two ‘rules’ which help attendees carry out agreed actions:

Circulate the minutes. Make sure the minutes from the meeting are circulated within 48 hours and the agreed action points are distributed amongst the attendees.

Limit the frequency. Book the next meeting with a view to having completed all of the previous action points. That way the attendees are in a position to move forward.

You might think these ‘rules’ are simple and basic.

They are – I agree.

However, they are often missed and by using them, you will improve the effectiveness of your meetings.