Running a Productive Meeting

There are many reasons for having meetings. Before planning a meeting, know why you need one, what you want to accomplish and who will be involved in accomplishing it. Meetings are generally the best forums for making group decisions, developing a plan for the group, delegating responsibilities to a group and building a sense of accountability and community.

Rules for Productive Meetings

Rule 1: Make sure you need a meeting before organizing it. If you do need a meeting, you need to prepare for it. This includes defining goals, preparing the agenda, developing a list of attendees, identifying a meeting facilitator, preparing the facilitators and attendees, anticipating pitfalls and planning an opportunity to debrief with meeting leadership.

Rule 2: Spend at least, as much time preparing for a meeting as the meeting will last. Logistics often dictate if a meeting will be successful. Consider if the location is easily accessible; if the time is convenient; if you can avoid conflicts with other meetings; if the room is the right size for the group and if the chairs are arranged so that people can see and hear each other. Also, if you need them, have a chalkboard for brainstorming, a sign-up sheet, handouts for people to take home and refreshments or a plan for post-meeting socializing.

Rule 3: Know your goals. The agenda should serve two basic functions: enabling the group to achieve the identified goals and creating an atmosphere that makes attendees comfortable. A typical meeting agenda includes: an overview of the agenda, introductions, context for the meeting/goals of the meeting, delegation of tasks, timeline for action, review of decisions, plan for follow up, scheduling of next meeting, socializing and debriefing.

Rule 4: Decide what follow up is needed before the meeting. No matter who is at the meeting or what decisions are made, every meaningful meeting requires follow up. Before the meeting, make sure there is a workable plan and timeline for following up on decisions that have been made and tasks that have been delegated.

Rule 5: Prepare all participants. Everyone coming to the meeting should have a basic understanding of the meeting's goals, how he or she will participate, and who else will be in attendance. In addition, the facilitators need to know what you expect the outcome of the meeting to be and who at the meeting is best suited to do each task.

Rule 6: Anticipate pitfall. The meeting facilitator needs to feel comfortable with his/her role. The facilitator may need to encourage some people to speak while discouraging others; and making all participants feel comfortable and making sure you accomplish your goals.

Rule 7: Debriefing after the meeting. Debriefing is used to assess a number of factors-was the agenda appropriate? Were the people who attended the ones who should have attended? Were the facilitators and participants well prepared? What could be done differently to improve the next meeting?

MEETING CHECKLIST

______ Set concrete, realistic goals
______ Make sure the site is familiar, accessible and adequate, people need to know how to get there
______ Prepare and debrief meeting participants
______ Solicit feedback on agenda
______ Confirm guest speakers
______ Prepare background materials
______ Recruit note taker
______ Recruit timekeeper

MEETING GOALS

______ Accomplish designated goals
______ Encourage commitment and involvement
______ Provide visible leadership roles

ROOM SETUP

______ Set up chair and table arrangements
______ Set up audio-visual equipment
______ Prepare sign-in sheets

SAMPLE AGENDA

1. Overview of meeting (go over agenda, outline goals, give context)
2. Introductions
3. Reports (old business)
4. Discussion of plans (troubleshooting brainstorming, organizing events, planning, voting)
5. Delegate tasks (have sign-up sheets)
6. Review what was accomplished or decided
7. Announcements (give chance to announce social plans and set up time for next meeting)
8. Adjourn
9. Socialize