We've all had to sit through meetings that were nothing but a waste of our time. Here are some tactics you can use to salvage something productive from the ones that drag on forever or go completely off the rails.
A quick survey of Amazon.com reveals hundreds of books purporting to help manage meetings. The vast majority do, in fact, contain good ideas if you initiated the meeting, have the ability to set its agenda, and possess the social skills to keep all of the attendees focused. However, we all must occasionally attend meetings we do not control. What do we do in those meetings, especially when they go awry? The following tips will help you make each meeting an effective, interesting experience. No IM required.
1. Know why the organiser called the meeting
The idea of a meeting agenda seems almost quaint in this era of too much e-mail and not enough time. When an
actual agenda makes an appearance, it quickly breaks down as participants meander in a variety of unplanned
directions.
Do not wait for an agenda. Instead, take a moment to contact the meeting organiser before the meeting. Ask him or her to explain to you, in 10 words or less, what he wants from the meeting. Once you know what he wants, you can help achieve it.
In this case, forewarned is forearmed.
2. Know what you want from the meeting
Finding out what the meeting organiser wants allows you to help him or her; knowing what you want from the meeting
allows you to help yourself. So before the meeting begins, set yourself one action item you absolutely need to
accomplish with this group of people at this time.
Select an action item compatible with the meeting organiser's goal if you want the meeting to succeed. Otherwise, you could end up with a reputation for disrupting meetings.
Whether that's bad depends on your point of view.
3. List what you need to say
Meetings never start on time. Someone always needs a cup of coffee or has to answer a cell phone call about an
unforeseen disaster. These idle moments make an ideal time for firing out instant messages to friends, family,
and co-workers.
You can also use this time to make the meeting more productive. Jot down a list containing five things related to the action item you want to share. The act of writing helps focus your thoughts, even if you don't use the list at all.
If you have something to say to the people in the meeting, you might not have to send IMs after all.
4. Take the meeting minutes
Meetings come, meetings go. Their details vanish into a haze of similar events because no one bothered to write
them down. Then the next meeting rolls around, and you spend the first 10 minutes trying to remember what
happened last time.
Break this cycle by taking the meeting minutes. You don't have to record everything everyone says. Instead, focus on recording assigned action items, decisions made, and key information or questions revealed during the discussion. These minutes then become the meeting's artifact, the record of what happened and what decisions came about. This record guides whatever actions take place after the meeting ends.
As the writer, you make most of the judgment calls about what was important.
5. Keep to the rules of order
All meetings, large or small, involve people interacting to achieve one or more goals. In a perfect world, these
interactions would spontaneously organise themselves. Everyone would respect one another's time. Comments
would emerge in an organised fashion. Action items would appear and be agreed on, and the group would move
to the next point.
Back in the real world, we need ways to stay organised and on track. You do not have to adopt Robert's Rules of Order, but you should know the ground rules by which the meeting will run. If your organisation does not have rules of order, make some. Share them with others and follow them.
Chaos happens, but you do not have to let it ruin an otherwise productive meeting.
