Your Guide to Leading Successful Meetings

April 17, 2009 by Vanessa Lindeberg

Original sent out January 14, 2009

The focus of our recent columns here has been about “strategy on a shoestring” and making the most of your resources in the face of economic uncertainties. In keeping with that theme, we offer the following guide for maximizing the quality and effectiveness of your meetings in the New Year.

Keep the following in mind for your next meeting and reap the rewards of powerful communication.

• Prepare an agenda in advance. Productive meetings don’t just happen; they require preparation. Laying out an agenda in advance will help attendees prepare for your meeting, focus on the topic(s) at hand, and serve as a reminder after the meeting once associated tasks may have been assigned. Communicating a clear purpose statement as part of your agenda will also help guide your meeting, maintain focus, and help achieve desired results.
• Encourage team discussion. Meetings are often taken hostage by people who either participate too much or not at all. Neither scenario is advisable. Successful meetings require appropriate participation from everyone on the subject(s) at hand. Allot each attendee an equal amount of time (i.e. 3-5 minutes) to discuss what they have been working on and also what they will be doing next.
• Outline specific issues, special topics. Issues to be addressed at your meeting should be outlined in advance and may be included in the agenda to encourage preparation by attendees. The outline should identify why the issue is important, any implications that may result from it not being addressed, and other relevant details especially if it is complicated or complex.
• Ask questions. Once your meeting has started and the issue is presented, be sure to allow time for qualifying questions or prompt further discussion yourself if necessary. While it is important to stay on topic, there should also be complete understanding of the issue by everyone in attendance.
• Solicit solutions. Keep the conversation on track by next asking attendees for a one-sentence solution to the issue at hand, and allow each attendee time to give his or her recommendation. Remember to include everyone and keep the discussion on topic.
• Establish next steps. You can wrap up discussion on an issue by determining next actions to be taken. This is a great way to signal a close to the meeting or discussion and keep everyone on the same page without doubt as to what happens next.

What we’re reading: Fierce conversations by Susan Scott

Positive change is possible with powerful communication.

You may also be interested in:

• Leading Successful, Sustainable Change
• Four Things To Avoid When Conducting Strategic Planning Training Meetings
• How to Facilitate a Strategy Meeting

Topics in this post: business goal setting, strategy on a shoestring |