Effective Meeting Skills

Someone once said: “A meeting is an event at which minutes are kept and hours are lost.” Sadly that is a statement which proves to be true more often than most managers would like to admit. Consider the following meeting statistics compiled recently from a number of different sources.

• According to a 2017 survey by Salary.com “too many meetings” is the single biggest waste of time at work; up from #3 on a similar survey in 2015.
• A Microsoft Office Survey listed the top 3 time wasters as ineffective meetings, unclear objectives, and lack of team communication.
• 4 (Four) is the number of hours each week office workers spend in meetings; most feel that less than half of that time is productive.
• 25% of time spent in executive meetings, that estimates say, is devoted to irrelevant issues.
• 80% of meeting time, a Wall Street Journal article suggests, could be eliminated by following a detailed agenda.
• 500% increase in the number of remote participation meetings over the 10 year period of 2008 to 2018.
• $37 Billion is the amount of money the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that U.S. businesses lose in unnecessary meetings every year.

In this article, I will propose a few ideas that will help you maximize your meeting time.

I will discuss the following points:

1. Explain the Importance of Effective Meetings
2. Describe the Meeting Process
3. Explain the Key Elements of Meeting
4. Explain the Key Roles in a Meeting
5. Explain What is Minutes of Meeting (MoM)
6. Describe Dos and Don’ts of Meeting Etiquette

Let's get going...

Let's look at the following scenario:

Ali Al-fares is a Project Manager in CarePoint Global Inc. He has called a meeting of his team members. He wants to discuss the progress on NBC Project, a project of developing new billing software.

The meeting started off well. However, as the meeting progressed, it was found that the discussion deviated from the progress of NBC Project. Ali tries his best to bring the focus of the meeting back on NBC Project but to no avail.

The participants in the meeting continued discussing other projects, general team related concerns and queries and other general issues. The end result of the meeting was that Ali was not able to complete the discussion about the progress of NBC Project and decided to schedule another meeting again for the same.

Does this scenario sound familiar?

• Most people think that conducting a meeting or attending a meeting is a very simple and straightforward process.
• However, there are several intricacies involved in conducting a meeting successfully as well as involving each participant and getting the best from each of them in a meeting.
• It is equally important for the person conducting a meeting to have outstanding meeting skills as well as for the participants to have good meeting skills so that they can together contribute towards making a meeting successful.

As you have seen in the earlier example, in spite of Ali’s best intentions to discuss the NBC Project in the meeting, the discussion deviated towards several other topics.

Hence, the end purpose of a meeting will not be met successfully if your meeting skills are not up to the point.

People do not like to waste their time; hence running efficient and successful meetings is a key skill that every individual should learn for growing in their career.

Running an effective meeting is more than sending out a notice that your team is to meet at a particular time and place.

An effective meeting achieves the following:

Why Meetings?

Meetings occur for a number of reasons where participants are called upon to:

Importance of Effective Meetings

• Meetings are the most common way for groups to make decisions, solve problems, educate people, and plan programs and projects.
• Meetings can be productive and accomplish goals efficiently.
• However, an unproductive meeting can be frustrating and influence the enthusiasm and attitude of the group.
• This also affects the image of the organization in a community & can hamper efforts in recruiting volunteers, partners etc.
• Effective meetings do not happen automatically.
• Planning the design, equipment needed & who is to be involved is critical to a meeting’s success.

Did You Know?

Research has shown that:

Requisites of Effective Meetings

Effective meetings can be held when the facilitator guides the group of participants by the following:

Meeting Progress Flow

The following diagram shows the flow of the progress of a meeting:

It is important to keep in mind that effective meetings are not a singular event but they are part of a process. A meeting process consists of the following steps:

• Prepare
• Conduct
• Follow-up

Prepare:

The first step of the meeting process is 'preparation'. We should prepare for the meeting by keeping the following questions in mind:

• Why are we having a meeting?
• What are we trying to accomplish?
• Who needs to be involved?
• What problem needs to be solved?

Conduct:

This step involves the actual running or conducting of the meeting. During the run of the meeting the action agenda is prepared. This involves listing the action steps to be taken to solve the problem.

Follow-up:

The third step of the meeting process is the follow-up. This is done in sync with the action agenda that has been prepared after the exchange of information during the meeting.

This also involves keeping track of the roles and responsibilities that were assigned to different people during the meeting.

Below is a sample Agenda to prepare before meetings:

A few key elements that need to be taken care of to conduct an effective meeting are:

• The Meeting's Objective – Be clear about the purpose of the meeting.
• Use Time Wisely – Do not waste time. Everything that happens in the meeting itself should further the objective of the meeting.
• Prepare an Agenda - To prepare an agenda for the meeting, consider the following factors:

• Satisfy Participants that a Sensible Process Has Been Followed – Circulate the agenda among the participants and get their feedback and inputs.
• List Tasks - List all tasks that are generated at the meeting. Make a note of who is assigned to do what, and by when.
• Summarize the Meeting - Towards the end of the meeting, quickly summarize next steps. Inform everyone that they will be sent an MoM (Minutes of Meeting). Thank the participants for their valuable time and inputs.
• Prepare and Send MoM -

 Ask the Minutes Taker to prepare a Minutes of Meeting (MoM) (Discussed below) to summarize the meeting. Forward this to all participants and other stakeholders. It is a record of what was accomplished and who is responsible for what as the team moves forward. This is a written record of what transpired, along with a list of actions that named individuals have agreed to perform.

Different people are involved in a meeting. Everyone at the meeting is responsible for its success. However, in every meeting there are some people who have to play specific key roles to help in successfully conducting an effective meeting.

There are three key roles to be played in a meeting including:

• Chairperson
• Time Keeper
• Minute Taker

Chairperson

The Chairperson is responsible for ensuring that meetings are run effectively and efficiently. The chair must consider two main task functions of the group which are as follows:

• The actions and decisions that are critical to achieve
• The maintenance functions – the relationships, welfare and harmony of the group

Both functions are important and will affect the organization’s success. The chair has the lead role in planning, preparing, implementing and evaluating meetings and is responsible for starting and ending on time and involving members in the decisions and discussions.

Time Keeper

The Time Keeper helps to keep track of the time during the meeting. He helps to inform everyone of the time spent on each topic and to inform of any deviations from the time allocated to each topic in the agenda. Keeping track of the time is important as it helps to keep the discussion focused. It helps to make sure that side conversations are withheld until the end of the meeting.

Minutes Taker

The Minutes Taker helps the chair and is responsible for the legal record of decisions and group memory. The minutes taker ensures the meeting minutes are prepared, adopted and kept in a format that is available to the team members.

‘Minutes of Meeting (MoM)’ or ‘Meeting Minutes’ are the written or recorded documentation that is used to inform attendees and non-attendees of the happenings during the meeting.

The meeting minutes are generally taken or recorded during a meeting so that participants have a record of what happened during the meeting.

These days, many of us find ourselves in the position of taking meeting minutes without a clue of how to go about it.

1. Make sure that all of the essential elements are noted, such as type of meeting, name of the organization, date and time, name of the chair or facilitator, main topics and the time of adjournment. For formal and corporate meetings include approval of previous minutes, and all resolutions.
2. Prepare an outline based on the agenda ahead of time, and leave plenty of white space for notes. By having the topics already written down, you can jump right on to a new topic without pause.
3. Prepare a list of expected attendees and check off the names as people enter the room. Or, you can pass around an attendance sheet for everyone to sign as the meeting starts.
4. To be sure about who said what, make a map of the seating arrangement, and make sure to ask for introductions of unfamiliar people.
5. Don't make the mistake of recording every single comment, but concentrate on getting the core of the discussion and taking enough notes to summarize it later. Remember that minutes are the official record of what happened, not what was said, at a meeting.
6. Use whatever device is comfortable for you, a notepad, a laptop computer, a tape recorder, a steno pad, shorthand. Many people routinely record important meetings as a backup to their notes.
7. Be prepared! Study the issues to be discussed and ask a lot of questions ahead of time. If you have to fumble for understanding while you are making your notes, they won't make any sense to you later.
8. Don't wait too long to type up the minutes, and be sure to have them approved by the chair person or facilitator before distributing them to the attendees.
9. Don't be intimidated, you may be called upon many times to write meeting minutes, and the ability to produce concise, coherent minutes is widely admired and valued.

A format of minutes of meeting is given below. You will notice that any minutes of meeting should include the following elements:

A sample format of Minutes of Meeting has been given below.

Before the Meeting

Define the purpose of the meeting. A clear purpose is required for every meeting. If the purpose is unclear, regularly scheduled meetings may not be needed.

Determine if a meeting is the most effective way of getting the information across. Organizations must make good use of their employees’ time.

The following should be done before the meeting:

• Notify Everyone who needs to know about the Meeting
• Ensure all Reports & Information are available
• Send out Agenda & Background Information
• Plan the Agenda

At The Meeting

At the meeting, the following key points should be kept in mind for an effective meeting:

• Set the ground rules: These agreements for participant behavior will make meetings more efficient and effective. They should be discussed by the group and revisited periodically.
• Start and end the meeting on time.
• Do not penalize the people who made the effort to be on time.
• Explain acronyms.
• Ensure short forms or initials are explained so that everyone is aware of what is being discussed.
• Use a warm-up activity.
• As people come together, they should move their thinking from being individuals to being part of a group.
• Use of an ice-breaker activity can help build the team.
• Make introductions.
• Welcome participants and ensure everyone knows everyone else, especially any newcomers.
• Summarize the purpose of the meeting and the timelines for discussions.
• It can be useful to write the agenda and points about the issues on a blackboard or large piece of posted paper.
• Use a speakers’ list.
• Make sure everyone who wants to speak is given the opportunity before anyone receives a second opportunity.
• Encourage input from all participants. Sometimes a few participants dominate the discussion because they are more comfortable speaking in a group or may be passionate the topic. Chairperson must ensure everyone’s input and draw the quiet people into discussion.
• Keep the discussion focused on the topic.
• Avoid topic drift, when participants add comments that are irrelevant to the agenda.
• Comments are usually interesting, but if pursued, the conversation drifts further from the objective.
• When unrelated issues are raised, keep track of them on the flipchart or blackboard, visible to everyone. Participants will realize that these ideas and concerns will not be lost and can be considered at the appropriate time or put on the agenda for the next meeting.
• Assess when the debate has run its course.
• The chairperson should summarize the discussion and ask for a vote or expression of consensus.
• Be aware of non-verbal behavior.
• Body language can provide important clues as to the need for further discussion and/or the involvement and satisfaction of members.
• Respond to it accordingly.
• Include the action items in the meeting minutes. An “Action Sheet” will help record the actions required, who is responsible and timelines for each action. The Action Sheet captures meeting decisions and reminds people to follow through on their commitments.

Concluding the Meeting

• Review the Action Sheet.
• This ensures that the people who are assigned a task are clear on their responsibilities and timelines.
• Confirm the date, time and location of the next meeting.

Meeting Etiquette

Here are some simple rules to Do and Don'ts.

Things to DO:

• Respond to meeting requests.
• Shut your phone off
• Ensure you have venue details and all things necessary to be carried to the meeting.
• Reach the venue on time.
• Greet everyone.
• Wait for your turn to speak and do not interrupt.
• Participate and show interest and enthusiasm.
• Take notes.
• Go through the minutes of the meeting sent.

Things NOT to do:

• Do not forget to respond to the meeting request even if you are unable to go to the meeting and inform the person conducting the meeting of the same.
• Avoid being late to the meeting.
• Do not talk to your friend across the table in sign language while the meeting is on.
• Do not rush out of the room when the meeting is done. Thank the person who conducted the meeting and then leave.

This concludes this article. For more information about the full course which has the following topics contact us:

It comprise of a PowerPoint file with 276 slides, Quizzes and a certificat of attendance will be issued. You may purchase the full course for you in-house training. Please inquire.

About the Author and Instructor:

Dr. Hussein Saad is a true Coach and leader. He spent the past 30 years in Boston. Has a degree or Civil Engineering from Northeastern University (Boston 1986) and a Masters Degree from The University of Massachusetts (Boston 2004). He worked for Fortune 500 Companies in the US. He worked for Microsoft (Richmond) as a Business Development Director, then for IBM as a Product manager for the CATIA Brand and had clients in the Automotive and Aerospace Industry as well as AT&T, Verizon, GM and more. Clients were Chrysler Corp, Boeing, Honda. He consulted for Bain & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG),Booz Allen Hamilton, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and McKinsey & Company. He is currently the CEO of CarePoint Global.

He is the Author of 3 books (Business Planning and Leadership) many white papers on Leadership, Coaching, Self-Improvement, Management Consulting, Business Re-Engineering, Lean Kaizen, Six Sigma, Consultative Selling, Marketing and more.

He may be reached in Lebanon at +961 71 493 991 or email: [email protected]