Part of being an effective leader is managing meetings well to ensure your team’s time is used wisely and that meetings create a positive effect on the bottom line.
Also, running efficient and impactful meetings can shine a light on you, so that you are considered for promotions, which is a great way to build your Career Path.
For me, running productive Process Improvement Meetings, gave me a strong Personal Brand within an aerospace company (that I worked for long ago) which led to me being offered multiple management roles.
Also, part of having a strong Executive Presence is running effective meetings. (For tips on how to run Executive Leaders Team (ELT) meetings, take a look at this blog post. Leading productive ELT Meetings has its own intricacies).
Establish Meeting Roles
At the bare minimum, ensure you assign these two meeting management roles:
- Meeting Leader
- Timekeeper (to keep the team on track)
Use Meeting Documentation
- Develop and utilize Meeting Agendas
- Create Agenda items that have tangible outcomes: a plan, an updated plan, a specific decision, a flowchart, a diagram, a report, or procedure
- Assign time periods to Agenda items
- Check off Agenda items as completed
- Use a “Parking Lot” for items that arise that are out the scope of the meeting
- Suggest participants take discussions off-line that are not pertinent to all participants (“Take it Offline”)
- Utilize Minutes to document team decisions
- Use Action Item Forms to document actions, assign owners, create schedules, and hold participants accountable
- Write team ideas on whiteboards or easel sheets so all can see them
Manage Interpersonal Meeting Behaviors
- Use strategies to manage disruptive team member behaviors
- Invite all participants to facilitate member behaviors
- Understand and apply the characteristics of a good meeting
Use Meeting Management Tools to Create an Effective Meeting Structure
- Establish Ground Rules
- Review Ground Rules periodically and ask for feedback on performance to the standards outlined
- Give feedback on meeting mechanics for meeting improvement: Plus / Delta Tool
- Appropriately utilize Brainstorming techniques
- Brainstorm, then later, evaluate ideas
- Utilize team decision-making techniques
- Consensus
- Decision-making matrices
- Voting
- Team Leader decision-making (when appropriate, e.g., when a quick decision is needed, when consensus can’t be reached, when there are constraints that need to be adhered to despite opposition)
Be the Leader you’ve always wanted to be!
Donna Schilder
Donna Schilder