Transforming Meetings From Dull To Dynamic!

It’s an inescapable fact that meetings are essential to the success of most any project. The problem is no one really likes them!

The more people that are involved in a project, the greater the number of meetings.

However, it’s all too common for meeting leaders to not invest the time, effort, and thought into learning, and mastering, the strategies for conducting highly effective meetings. Yet, with a modicum of effort, you can become a ‘Master of Effective Meetings’. Let’s start with some basics.

First, what is meant by ‘effective’? One metric for meeting effectiveness is this: A meeting can be considered effective to the degree its participants feel/think that the time was well spent. But that’s a little fuzzy. More specifically (and measurable), meeting effectiveness can be gauged by a) problems solved, b) problems identified and/or clarified, c) goals established, and d) direction forward clearly established.

Using the above metrics, for your meetings to be effective, they must contain at minimum three components:

• An Agenda

• Notes

• Action Items

An Agenda is a Map

Did you know that roughly two thirds of America’s weekly meetings do not actively use an Agenda? That’s 36 million meetings conducted every week without an Agenda!!! An Agenda for a meeting is like a map for a trip — it shows you where you are going, how to get there, and helps you to stay on course…if you use it. A well-crafted Agenda communicates to the participants the reason(s) for the meeting providing invitees the specifics for the discussion, and where applicable prepare ahead of time. Additionally, a clear Agenda enables the organizer to keep conversations relevant to the topic(s), as well as to keep things moving. Of course, if the Agenda includes multiple items to be discussed, prioritize them.

Creating an effective Agenda is a bit of an art in itself. Dynamic Agenda is not an oxymoron!

Notes are Necessary

Most folks don’t like taking notes. Fortunately, I do, and over the years I have honed my note-taking skills and experimented with many tools. Solid meeting documentation (Notes) has proven indispensable in my success as a Project Manager and, on more than one occasion, has ‘saved my bacon’!

There are various ways to capture notes and diverse ways to document the notes before distributing them to all — too much to discuss here. Further, as you likely know, the key purpose for taking notes in a meeting and then communicating them to everyone is to ensure all participants are on the same page. However, did you also know that this activity is a critical success factor for group cohesiveness? Group cohesiveness is all-too-often overlooked and underrated by Project Leaders and Managers alike.

Action Items leads to Accountability

If an Agenda is like a map for your meeting, Action Items are the fuel that make your Project go! Action items accurately and thoroughly captured will act as a catalyst for Dynamic Action by each team member. Each Action Item must have the Task, an Owner(s), and a Due Date. If one or more of these are missing, then you’re left an ‘In-action Item’, which is just wishful thinking!

So, to summarize: If you thoughtfully and consistently implement the trifecta of Agenda-Notes-Action Items, you will soon begin to see a significant increase in the effectiveness of the meetings for which you are in charge.

After implementing this strategic trio consistently, team members will begin relying on you, to keep the project on track, to clarify accountability, and to minimize ambiguity. The meetings that you run will change from ‘dull to DYNAMIC!