HOW TO
CONDUCT AN EFFECTIVE MEETING

Don Andersson

Broadly defined, meetings are any gathering of two or more individuals for an assumed or articulated purpose. They are a fact of life in which time can either be effectively used or squandered. Too often, it's the latter. You now have an opportunity to make an investment in your professional development at the nominal cost of $15.00 and learn how to: minimize the monotony and high cost of unproductive meetings, spend less time, less energy and still get higher quality meeting results, decide when and when not to call a meeting, make effective and efficient use of everyone's time, increase commitment to results that add to your bottom line, benefit from a meeting debrief, contribute to meeting effectiveness through establishing ground rules, ask the one question you must always answer if you want your meeting to be successful, be aware of the one dozen responsibilities belonging to every meeting leader.

CONDUCT AN EFFECTIVE MEETING

From one-on-one to moments of socializing or gatherings of teams, task forces or convention events - meetings present themselves in a diversity of guises. You've probably seen each of them. In some, you may have only been a spectator. In others, you've had a more visible role. Some have provided you with insight. Some have been tedious and undoubtedly caused you - even if you've been the leader - to secretly search for a sufficiently valid excuse to be free for what you consider real work. If you decided to invest in your personal development, please take a few moments to assess your current meeting experience:

Statement Yes No Even though their content may vary, a meeting is still a meeting. Not every meeting is needed. When I attend a meeting I am usually very clear about what is expected to occur. When I attend a meeting, others appear to be very clear about what results are expected from it. I know how I am expected to participate in meetings I attend. Questions are encouraged at most meetings I attend. Most meetings have well articulated objectives. Adequate and effective pre-work is evident at most meetings I attend. Every meeting should have a single leader. In the meetings I attend everyone listens carefully to each other. Meetings often have unnoticed and costly side effects. Different perspectives are valued in meetings I attend. In the meetings I experience, agendas are effectively used to help participants stay on track. The meetings in which I participate usually leave me with a real sense of accomplishment.