Meeting Etiquette

This has been a topic of conversation and writings for decades if not centuries, but it's worth revisiting now and again. No matter where I've been, recently or in the past, almost every organization that I've been associated has a lot to learn about "Meeting Etiquette". Most of these discussions happen in paragraph form, however I recently stumbled across an outline that I prepared some time ago and thought that I'd share it with you. Please let me know your thoughts, including areas that could be improved, omissions, or downright differences in opinions.

Meeting Etiquette

Host

1. Avoid excessive or redundant meetings.
2. Always have and follow an agenda. When possible, the agenda should specify a max time per item, which will have the side benefit of telling you how long your meeting needs to be. Agenda should be distributed ahead of time, preferably as part of the calendar event. Do not mix lengthy agenda topics in a meeting.? If an agenda topic is large, it likely warrants its own meeting. A concise agenda can actually shorten a meeting. Allow for a few minutes of slack time at the beginning of the call. If a meeting will be longer than 1 hour, plan in a break at least every 45 minutes.
3. Review agenda at the beginning of the meeting.
4. Only invite those required for the meeting.
5. Always review attendees schedules before scheduling. If a conflict exists, engage attendee, don't just overschedule their calendar.
6. Be considerate when scheduling. Do not schedule over standard lunch and dinner times unless necessary, and then check with the attendee(s) and make sure that is okay.? Some folks like to take lunch at 11am, others at noon, so generally avoid 11am-1pm slots if possible. Consider time zones. Avoid scheduling meetings on Fridays, especially after noon. Avoid last minute scheduling or changes, especially considering time zones. Avoid scheduling meetings late for the following business morning, especially around weekends and holidays. Add a clock to your computer that shows relevant time zone times ('clocker' on Mac is a good application). Meetings longer than 1 hour should be avoided.? Studies have shown that participants rapidly begin losing focus as meetings stretch out. Plan enough time for your meeting.? Rarely is 15 minutes enough time for a meeting and generally causes a run over.
7. Show up a minute early for video calls, 5 minutes early if you have a room. A host should never be a no show for their meeting.? If unavoidably delayed, make sure to communicate and, if possible, assign a backup host.
8. Assign someone to record meeting minutes.? This could be you or some other individual.? Recordings with transcriptions can serve this purpose as well.
9. Start on time Do not start calls early if only some participants arrive early.? This penalizes attendees who show up exactly on time because they miss part of the meeting. You can wait for attendees to show up, however once you have the required attendees and/or a quorum, the meeting should begin.
10. End meetings 5 minutes early considering that many will have back-to-back meetings. Time for bio break. Time for coffee refills. Time to switch your mental context. Less chance of being late for the next meeting. A 5 minute run over seems small, but wastes other people’s time especially if a back to back meeting exists.? The other meeting cannot fully begin until the delayed members can join.
11. Moderate your meeting to follow the agenda and time slots.
12. If the meeting looks like it will run over, ask attendees if they prefer to run over or reschedule in advance of the end time.
13. Remember that context switching takes time, so short times (e.g. 30-60 minutes) in between meetings makes it difficult to regain productivity during that period.
14. Plan for "no meeting" calendar blocks.? This is hard across time zones, however I've found that meetings in one half of the day leaves big open blocks for work the second half of the day.? For example, scheduling all meetings in the morning leaves the afternoons free for dedicated work time.

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Attendees / Staff

1. Keep your calendars up to date so that meeting schedulers have a clear picture of your availability. Make sure to block out times for appointments that you have or times that you wish to avoid meetings.
2. Accepting or declining a meeting If you are accepting, don't accept with a reply unless you have a question or have something of value to add. If you are declining, reply with the reason so that the host understands.
3. Review the agenda BEFORE the meeting. Build a list of questions/concerns in advance if you have them.
4. Show up for the meeting on time.
5. Participate in the meeting. Try not to multi-task lest you become distracted (we all do this).? In a video call, it is pretty obvious if you are focusing on something other than the meeting.
6. Remember that everyone's time is valuable, not just your own.
7. Avoid causing significant disruptions in the meeting that put the agenda at risk.
8. Don't talk over other people, wait for others to finish.? In the same way, don’t monopolize a conversation, keep your comments short and to the point.? Give others a chance to participate in the conversation.?
9. Use the "raise your hand" feature to be recognized on video calls if you are having difficulty breaking into the dialog.
10. If presenting: Test presentation materials to make sure that they work properly. Have presentation staged and ready before the meeting begins. If you are only 1 of the presenters in a meeting, still have your stuff ready to go and positioned at the right location before your turn. Figure out your presentation controls before the meeting. Consider sharing your presentation in advance and asking attendees to review it prior to the meeting.? This will give them time to become familiar with the material and come prepared with questions and discussion points.
11. Disagreements / disappointments happen. Keep it professional, don't make it personal. No shaming or degrading conversation. We all do it, but keep the whining to a minimum. Raising your voice or shouting almost always has a negative impact on the meeting, especially if you are an authority figure.? Nothing shuts down a conversation quicker than attendees becoming hesitant to participate. If necessary, move the disagreement to a private meeting.? Not everything should be public.
12. Crack a joke, laugh a little…it lightens the mood.

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Thoughts

1. Coordinate scheduling to leave large blocks of development time open.
2. Consider meeting free days through the week, especially on Fridays.