A Roadmap to Effective Meetings
by Susan Otto
 Most of us attend a meeting every day. Some of us feel like all we do is attend meetings. According to Donald Wetmore from the article, The Juggling Act (Training and Development), “on an average day in America, there are 17 million meetings.”
So, how can we make our meetings more effective? The first step is to determine the purpose and expected results. This step lets team members know what needs to be accomplished. It tells them where they are going. In a roadmap analogy, this is like deciding where to go on your journey and why you are going there.
The purpose and expected results are not the purpose and expected results of the team; they are the purpose and expected results for the meeting. Of course, the purpose and expected results for the meeting should support the team’s overall purpose and expected results.
According to the Ten Commandments of Meetings at www.effectivemeetings.com, meetings have three primary purposes:
- Communicating the intention to take an action or the results of an action taken.
- Administering a plan of action.
- Deciding among alternative actions.
The purpose should be specific and action-oriented. The expected results can be written as goals and objectives. Remember to make them SMART:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable, sometimes referred to as achievable
- Relevant
- Timely
Write the goals and objectives targeting what you want to accomplish. This should be done before developing the agenda and organizing the meeting. This sets the tone of the meeting and helps keep it focused.
Remember, never have a meeting without a specific purpose. Meeting for the sake of meeting, or even because it’s on the calendar, can be one of the biggest mistakes for having a meeting. One of the best things you can do is discourage and discontinue all unnecessary meetings.
Where’s your roadmap towards meeting effectiveness?
(For more information on creating effective meetings, check out Meetings: A Roadmap to Success eWorkbook at www.Self-StudyCourse.com.)
Susan Otto, the president of Training-Modules.com, LLC, is committed to effectively partner with organizations and their employees to achieve strategic initiatives necessary for organizational success. Susan designs customized facilitator and participant guides for companies that want to do their own internal training. Contact her at 859.292.0095 or email her. For information about Susan’s training modules, visit the Modules section of Training-Modules.com.
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