How much time do you spend in meetings? The fabric of British businesses is meetings – to share information, to solve problems, to make decisions, and yet many people report that meetings they attend are a waste of time. A recent CBI survey stated the following problems reported by those attending meetings:

Drifting off the subject	83%
Poor preparation	77%
No real decisions being made	74%
Lack of listening	68%
Certain participants talking too much	62%
Meetings taking too long	60%
Lack of participation	51%

Does this sound familiar? Clearly meetings could be run a whole lot better to make them more effective and a better use of time! So how do you do this? In this issue we will cover some good practices for preparing for meetings, running the meeting and ensuring that the meeting is followed-through.

Best wishes,

Annette

How Can You Prepare For a Meeting?

Here are some steps to follow:

• Decide on the purpose and objectives of the meeting
• Write the agenda. It is best to write sentences rather than one word, such as who should attend the next presentation skills course, rather than ‘presentation skills'
• Ensure that the meeting is timed, with a clear start and finish time; the agenda should be timed too
• Decide who needs to attend your meeting and give them as much notice as possible
• Brief your presenters on the purpose and the time you've allocated them
• Book a room and refreshments
• Issue the agenda to those attending at least 48 hours in advance and make the final arrangements for your meeting.

What Can You Do to Ensure that the Meeting is a Success?

Consider these tips:

• Start on time and introduce all participants
• Appoint a minute taker or someone to take note of the action points
• Nominate a facilitator, if appropriate and if you have that luxury
• Ensure that you stick to the agreed timings throughout the meeting
• Open the meeting, reiterating the purpose and explaining the domestic arrangements
• Stick to the agenda focusing on one issue at a time to keep control of the meeting
• Ask open questions to involve people attending the meeting; allow discussions to flow bringing in quieter people as necessary
• Use the ‘policeman technique' (like a traffic cop) to control those who are more vocal
• Listen to what is being said and constantly use summarises to help everyone understand the points made
• Control any difficult behaviour and tackle people during breaks if you need to
• Call a break when you sense that energy levels have dipped
• Summarise agreed action points and decisions to make
• Finish on time closing on a positive note, thanking your participants.

How Can You Make Sure the Meeting is Followed-Up Correctly?

Here's how:

• Prepare and send out the minutes and action points within 48 hours of the meeting; make sure actions and responsibilities are clearly assigned with agreed deadlines
• Set the date and time for the next meeting (if appropriate) if you have not yet already done so
• Follow-up people on agreed action points – how are they getting on with implementation? Do they need any help?
• Follow-up on the action points that you have agreed to do
• Plan your next meeting.

This might sound like common sense to you, but an awful lot of people try to ‘wing it' when running meetings and this is where problems can occur. The key message is that good meetings are managed events; they don't just happen!

Follow the steps above and you should find that your meetings are more professional and an effective use of your time.

What Was Your Meeting Nightmare?

What have been your meetings nightmares? Please let me know and I will put suggestions on a ‘Meetings Nightmares' fact sheet, which I'll put on my website. So, don't hold back!! Send your nighmares to me at annette.handford@hja-consulting.com. I will let you know when the response sheet is available.

What Can You Do Next?

How much would you like to learn how to make your contribution count in a meeting? How would you like to learn more about how to run an effective meeting? Can you invest 3 ½ hours of your time to find out more?

We are running a bite-size workshop called ‘Successful Meetings' on Wednesday 6 August at Millets Farm from 9.30am – 1pm. You will be back at work for the afternoon session to run a meeting – only with a real professional edge! The fee is £105 + VAT per person or £95 if you book before the end of June. The workshop outline can be found at www.hja-consulting.com and you reserve your place by emailing me – annette.handford@hja-consulting.com.

For dates of other workshops click here to visit my website.