Let’s talk about Meetings. Why not? To paraphrase the great Samuel Clemens, “Everyone talks about meetings, but no one does anything about them.” Meetings are the stuff of life for managers and executives, and more often than not, they are seen as of medium to low value (see Death by Meeting, by Patrick Lencioni ). We all have said, and have heard others say the equivalent of “that’s another two hours of my life I will never get back.” There are endless problems with meetings, but there are two critical issues.

• First, managers and executives have to stop thinking of meetings as something they do while waiting to do their job. Meetings ARE your job. Your role has changed fundamentally from one where you produce your own results to one where you have to work with others to produce their result. People with a high Need for Achievement have a hard time doing this, while people with a high need for Power have an easier time doing this. But all managers have to shift to understanding that their job is to discuss and resolve issues with others.
• Second, meeting owners have to be very clear before the meeting starts what the desired purpose and outcome of the meeting are. Most meetings are unsatisfying because expectations for what was to happen did not fit with how the meeting was conducted. I have sat through meetings that involved nine sequential 45-minute presentations of material that could have been covered in a pre-read. I calculated that the cost of this information dissemination was approximately $30,000. I have also sat in meetings where everyone was supposed to have been fully briefed ahead of time, only to arrive in the meeting and spend 30 minutes reviewing the materials ahead of time.

If you understand that meetings are your job, and not simply your burden, you will begin to put more time and energy into preparing for and planning those meetings, and will make sure that you get the most you can from the people in the meeting. And the participants will know what to expect, and know how to be prepared.

So what are some guidelines for effective meeting management?

1. Clarify the goal(s) of the meeting ahead of time. Make sure people know what they are expected to accomplish and what they need to be prepared for. If you want a brainstorming session, make that explicit. If you want to leave with clarity on an issue, make that the first issue and take it all the way to conclusion.
2. Structure the meeting properly. Meetings have three basic components: Listening (or information sharing), Interaction (or debate), and Decision-making (LID). The vast majority of meetings allocate 70% to listening, and 30% to interaction, and nothing to deciding. This is guaranteed to create boring, unproductive meetings. The optimal proportions are more like 30% listening, 50% interaction, and 20% decision-making. Think back about meetings you were involved in – you will be able to remember the ones where discussion and decisions were central, and have no recall for the ones that were listening and questions.
3. Have an agenda and stick to it. If people come to the meeting expecting to present on compensation issues and you don’t get to it, they will be less likely to prepare in advance. If you circulate a pre-read, make it clear how the pre-read relates to the content of the meeting.
4. Manage the time. Start on time, even if all of your people aren’t present. More important, however, is to end it 5 minutes early. If you aim to end early, you will probably end on time.And in order to start on time, you have to stop on time.
5. Do things that are non-traditional. I heard Dr. Steve Rogelberg / last week present on innovative methods to use in meetings. He described a number of interesting methods that will steer a meeting to a more effective result. His major point – do things that are innovative, and change them often (or else they become mundane).

I will write more on meetings another time, but at this point the critical elements are to ensure you provide the structure needed for effective meetings, take advantage of the talent you have in the room, and change the traditional approaches.

Bill Berman, Ph.D.

Managing Principal, Berman & Associates

Partner, PrimeGenesis, Executive Onboarding for Better Results Faster