Meetings get a very bad rap for being inconvenient wastes of time. How many times have you noticed meetings being held about meetings and in some cases there are third and fourth generation meetings. But how can a meeting go from being well intentioned to an excuse to remove yourself from a busy work schedule? To understand the meeting, you have to remember they are prompts that keep teams on track and nothing more. They act as a present and future status report for a particular project and making them into anything more can veer onto the dangerous ground of simply talking about work rather than doing it.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.
- Make sure there is an agenda – It will show tasks and goals, set boundaries and steer the meeting in the relevant direction. Make sure the assignees are named so everyone is clear who will discuss what during the meeting. Distribute the agenda early allowing preparation time
- Cover the bases – Starting with the most pertinent tasks for discussion means if you run out of time the meeting will not have been in vain. Drop off points can be revisited the next time or communicated ad hoc if need be
- Set responsibilities – Team members are given responsibilities for which they are held accountable and can be measured against. These members act as the point of expertise on their given task
- Stick to the clock – Do not overrun and be strict about time-keeping if need be allot time against members attending so each has chance to speak. Do not be afraid to intervene
- Reach consensus – The fastest track to enabling a meeting to grow into the nth iteration of itself is by not reaching an agreement. This stalls everything and prevents a decision being executed
Important questions to ask before accepting that meeting invite:
Do I have to be there?
Ironically the people who have the least time to be in meetings are often the ones who are needed the most. So it is crucial to determine this basic fact, what is to be gained by being present? Will your absence lead to bad judgments by other team members? Does this project have a direct link to you- is it your project? Are you an accessory whose insight is preferred but not needed?
Is the meeting necessary?
It might seem like a silly question but essential regardless and is very much connected to the previous question. Especially if time is at a premium which within the IT team it always is. Can the solution be reached in another way? Are you required face-to-face or can you conference call in? For example if the goal is real-time collaboration to discuss a data report and that is not planned then it is better to postpone until everyone is present or simply email the data and the outcomes of the report.
Who is attending?
Quite often meetings suffer from an excess of attendees so it is critical to lockdown who has to be there, too many people affect decision-making processes and even confuse the issue of which opinion is key to the strategy at hand.
History is written by people who attend meetings, stay until the end, and keep the minutes.
Is anybody taking minutes?
Sometimes meetings veer off topic especially if the issue at hand is a pressing one with multiple solutions or methods of action. Minute or note taking not only acts as an aide memoire but gives those who were not present a succinct transcript of what was said and the decisions met. They say time and excuses especially if decisions are reneged on. Minutes also act as a ‘what next’ action plan in themselves and represent an effective way to resolve up misunderstandings.