Meetings can be awesome (really!) Part 3: Finishing Strong

Part 1: Planning

Part 2: Facilitating

When done right, meetings bring teams together to tackle complicated problems. They can be productive, inspiring, and even fun ??. When done incorrectly, they are a complete waste of time and resources.

Do you want to be a leader who runs meetings that motivate and excite your team?

In the final part of this three-part series, I will share tips on following up. Just because the meeting is over doesn't mean your job is done. Some of the most important parts of leading a meeting occur at the end, or even after the meeting. Here’s some advice from my WellSpan colleagues about the keys to a strong meeting finish.

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“Make sure that you addressed each objective.” - Dr. Michael Seim , WellSpan senior vice president and chief quality officer ?

Did you ever attend a meeting where the one agenda item you cared the most about was never addressed?

Even with the best-laid plans, you may not make it through every agenda item at every meeting. But you do need to address each topic in some way.

So, what do you do with those agenda items you can’t get to?

Many leaders try ignoring or rushing through them. You may have heard someone say, “We only have five minutes to get through these next three items. I hope you have your running shoes on!” (Insert dad joke here.)

Those are terrible (but commonly employed) tactics. Instead, you want to acknowledge each topic and create a plan to address them in an appropriate way.

Here are some ideas to address those we-ran-out-of-time items:

• Move those items to the next meeting.
• Continue the conversation at later time using email, Teams or Slack.
• Make a short video and send it to each member (a great method if the topic does not require discussion).

“Check in with your team to answer any lingering questions” - Shelly Janiszewski, WellSpan practice manager

Think about the last time this has happened to you: You’re in a meeting that’s already running five minutes into your next meeting when you hear the presenter hurriedly ask, “Any questions?”

This is just as inviting as the, “No one has any questions, right?”

As much as possible, we want our team to leave meetings with all their questions addressed.

One of the things that I always appreciate about our practice manager, Shelly, is her clear communication and desire for her team's input. At the end of every meeting, she leaves time to go around the room to individually call on people to see if they have questions or input.

This all starts with properly planning your agenda (See Part 1). It’s always better to finish a little early than rush.

Here are a few other tips to make sure your team doesn’t leave your meetings with unanswered questions:

• Anticipate questions or concerns. Try discussing the meeting topics with someone within or outside your team before the meeting to see what questions naturally come to mind.
• Put Q&A on your agenda. Set aside the last five to 10 minutes for questions. The key is prioritizing this time over additional agenda items.
• Create a virtual chat during or after the meeting for everyone to freely ask questions.
• Check in personally. This is great for those questions that team members (wrongly) think are too “dumb” to ask in front of a group. ?

“Email the action items to those responsible.” - Meagan Alan, MS, MBA, PA-C , WellSpan heart and vascular program administrator

When was the last time you were in a meeting that seemed very productive, but did not address the next steps?

As the leader of the meeting, it’s your responsibility to make sure all participants know their role after the meeting. This means they know who will do what, by when.

The key here is that “who,” “what,” and “when” all need to be exceedingly clear.

You want to assign “who” by using specific names (not departments or other teams). Make sure each team member openly acknowledges their assignment to avoid the dreaded, “I didn’t know I was supposed to do that.”

You also need to address “what” by specifying the completed task. This is where Brené Brown’s concept of “Painting Done” works well. Imagine you are painting a picture and describing what the completed painting (or task) looks like. It encourages you to go into more detail, so the task is done properly the first time. Remember, these are going to be those behind-the-scenes actions that will be progressing your projects.

Having a clear “when” is challenging, as many action items are dependent on other items to be completed first. Never use this as an excuse to not set a specific timeline or to set a “safe” timeline. You want to challenge your team while creating an environment where missing some action item timelines is not seen as failure.

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Now it’s time for you to start having meetings that motivate and excite your team. Follow the tips in this series and you will see how meetings can be awesome.