Fortunately, we all realise that meetings are time-consuming vacuums of business life. Unfortunately, most people seem prepared to put up with it being so.
A meeting is the best place to hammer through data, assemble information and formulate some knowledge, with the consequence that agreed-upon actions ought to emerge. The downside is that many meetings are frequently employed for illegitimate reasons:
- The exchange of information
- An excuse to discuss but not take action
- Only for the reason that they were scheduled
- When people are lost and feel that meeting together will somehow help
- They are status symbols attendant to a certain rank or accomplishment
The word "meeting" is a very general term. There are:
Information meetings: which include training and development, ensuring a uniform message, providing recognition, and creating a knowledge transfer.
Decision (action) meetings: which should be brief, people addressing a problem to get closure and action.
Brainstorming meetings: which assist in generating a list of creative solutions to matters of consequence and matters of interest.
Problem-solving meetings: which usually assist a specific group of people (and I would hasten to add, this will nearly always be a committee and not a team) that share ideas to generate a successful action outcome to a single problem, even if that problem is a macro-issue.
Discovery meetings: which are utilised to elicit information, only to establish the objectives of those involved in a course of future action.
Review meetings: which are used to measure the outcomes and results of a project or course of action and compare this with the metrics established at the commencement of it.
Each type of meeting can have its own unique type of preparation and it is more valuable to take this approach in any case. As an example, an overview of considering a decision meeting might look like this.
Firstly, to ensure we are walking the same path, my view of decision-making is that it's: "The capability to appraise alternatives, aligned with established criteria, in order to select a course of action that maximises benefit and minimises risk." Decision-makers don't just choose, they choose selectively. Moreover, they don't merely consider benefits; they consider risk.
Of course, we have all witnessed decision-makers at either end of the spectrum. The benefits-hunter rides the bandwagon without ever checking its direction. The risk-evader will not opt for any alternative unless there is an ironclad, risk-free guarantee. Both extremes are worthless.
We choose objectives and alternatives, ends and means, goals and routes. To make decision meetings more effective, plan and prepare for the following questions:
- What are the objectives to be discussed in the meeting?
- What alternatives should be discussed in the meeting?
- What benefits should we focus on and discuss?
- What risks should we focus on and discuss?
Discovery meetings are those that professionals and consultants use the most in dealing with clients and prospects. As a consultant myself, I use these meetings to reach conceptual agreement on what will be the next steps.
Before the meeting, clearly establish in your mind exactly what outcomes you are looking to achieve. Consider what objections and impediments may arise during the meeting discussion, and prepare reactions and responses to those. You can then remain calm and confident handling objections and resistance with what appear to be extemporaneous retorts.
In my many years of experience, discovery meetings become repetitive after twenty minutes. Clear and concise preparation of the meeting objectives allows you to move the meeting along quite quickly, obtaining the necessary information and finishing before becoming repetitive and allowing the opportunity for mistakes.
In making your meetings more effective, here are "Ric's 8 Meeting Rules":
- Ensure your meetings begin with a clear statement of the objective or goal.
- Don't consider alternatives until the objectives have been established.
- Only invite people who will have an opportunity, and an ability, to contribute.
- Make an effort to set priorities among the objectives.
- Consider only those alternatives that you believe will satisfy the objectives.
- Make certain that successive meetings build on previous ones, rather than reiterate ‘old' issues.
- Always link your decisions into your overall corporate strategy. If you are unable to, your decisions may not be appropriate for the long-term strategic focus of your organisation.
- Evaluate your decisions confirming that they are proactive and positive rather than reactive and desperate.
Meetings are not ends in themselves, but rather instruments to meet business goals. Every meeting should have a result-oriented agenda circulated in advance. In addition, you have just as much responsibility for meeting success as a participant, as you do when you are the facilitator.
Meetings are what you make of them. There are undoubtedly numerous meetings that you can elude as a member, or as a manager who decides to use other approaches in decision-making and leadership.
Moreover, there are meetings that can be run better and be turned into instruments of productivity and camaraderie. Run your meetings instead of your meetings running you.