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A meeting will not be successful unless someone has put some effort into its planning. Most meetings are undermanaged. If any other business activity were as poorly managed as the average meeting, those responsible would have their careers seriously abbreviated.
The effectiveness, productivity, and ultimate success of a meeting is directly related to the amount of planning. Someone must take management responsibility seriously.
This paper introduces the four stages of meeting management: planning, preparation, process management, and follow-up. It will explain deficiencies that can result during each stage and how to ensure each stage is effective.
Background
This paper follows from an earlier white paper titled How to Avoid Meetings - Or at Least the Unproductive Ones, by Brian Denis Egan. In the first paper, the subject of how to determine whether or not a meeting is necessary is discussed.
The following is a continuation of that paper. Here, the focus is on what to do (how to manage the process) when a meeting is necessary and you are responsible for its effectiveness.
Definition of "meeting"
This discussion relates to typical business meetings (hereafter referred to as meetings). These are the gatherings of colleagues, staff members, and suppliers (service companies), who are a routine part of the business process.
Business meetings are attended out of necessity. They are for discussion and decision making. Meetings are meant to be productive. They are supposed to have defined purposes and result in measurable outcomes or benefits.
Value control
As in all business activities, the success, or value, of a meeting is the net of benefits after considering costs. Costs include everyone's time to prepare for, travel to, and attend the meeting, plus the direct costs of hosting and organizing a meeting, plus the opportunity costs of what everyone in attendance might otherwise have been doing.
The benefits are the quality and quantity of decisions made and task assignments completed as a result.
The value generated by meetings is maximized by management practices that focus on an efficient and effective process that remains targeted on generating meaningful outcomes and ensuring that someone acts upon the follow-up steps.
Why meetings fail
Organizers of most business meetings focus their efforts on gathering people together. Details of what will happen when everyone is together are left largely to chance or to a vague plan.
Management failings come in four flavors that relate to the four stages of meeting management.
Stage 1: Planning
Planning involves asking and answering questions related to why, when, who, where, and how. Planning is about strategy and ensuring that the meeting has meaningful outcomes that are achievable.
Deficiencies that can result from poor planning
- Unclear objectives - meetings are called without a clear purpose
-There is no agenda or plan to guide activities during the meeting
-Too many people present. Complexity of a meeting increases exponentially with the number of people present
-Too many topics to cover for the time allotted, resulting in hurried decisions or time overruns
Stage 2: Preparation
Preparation is about getting buy-in from critical participants. It is also about the development of a practical agenda. It involves polling attendees and making sure that everyone is prepared for the meeting.
Deficiencies that can result from poor preparation
- Meetings are boring, either due to the subject matter or its presentation
- People are unprepared to participate in the discussion or decision making
-Presentations and handouts are crude and ineffective, making it impossible to reach useful decisions
Stage 3: Process
Process management relates to the running of a meeting. When should the meeting start, who should do what, and how should it be done? A skilled facilitator is needed to ensure that meetings are productive and end on time.
Deficiencies that can result from poor process management
- No one in command to ensure that objectives are met
-Discussion of issues is confused with analysis and therefore decisions are slow and of poor quality
- Participants are uncooperative or antagonistic toward the purpose of the meeting
- Distractions and interruptions prevent the meeting from progressing productively
-Ideas are attacked on a personal basis rather than being discussed on a professional level
- Meetings are needlessly long, wasting everyone's time
- Discussions wander, wasting time and confusing objectives
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