Team Meetings - who’s hidden the agenda?!

One of the business impacts of COVID-19 was the proliferation of meetings that were held out of necessity to keep in touch with people when they were working from home.

In my experience, virtual meetings are relatively easy to chair, but now that many of us are back in the office for at least some of the time, we're having to get used to a new dynamic posed by face-to-face meetings - the lack of mute buttons! I think people got used to commenting via chat and sending direct messages during virtual meetings, and there is a risk that this behaviour could mutate into talking over each other and holding side-conversations in face-to-face meetings.

It's great to be back together, but you don't want to feel like you're herding cats when chairing face-to-face meetings, so you might want to provide your people with a timely reminder of the punctuality, respect, and professional behaviour that's expected of them without being too extreme.

That last point reminds me of a former boss who would lock the door when he started a meeting and then shout at latecomers to go away if they tried to enter the room. In the end, everybody set off for the meeting 5 minutes early to ensure they got there on time, and they refused to answer any calls or take on new tasks in the 15 minutes before meetings in case it made them late.

So, you could perhaps argue that as a stand-alone policy, it was effective, but it was definitely counter-productive. Sometimes people were late for valid reasons, but they were all tarred with the same tardiness brush.

On one memorable occasion, he turned up late for the meeting and a braver colleague than me refused to let him in! There was a mellowing of his approach after that event but only for a few weeks.

Terms of Reference

I've always found that the best meetings are those that are well structured where everyone knows what's expected of them and they all feel it's been a productive use of their time. You don't want to be meeting for meeting's sake, so I'd recommend that you revisit the Terms of Reference for each of your meetings to determine if they're still required, appropriate, and adding value. They should cover the following areas:

• Purpose - why you're holding the meeting and what you want to achieve from it.
• Standing agenda - the topics you want to cover in every meeting. Don't forget to build in comfort breaks for longer meetings.
• Meeting cadence - time, length, and frequency.
• Attendees and roles - limit the number of standing attendees to those that are absolutely necessary - you can always invite others as guests when required. In addition to the chair, you should also appoint a timekeeper and note taker, and decide whether you want people to send deputies in their absence.
• Outputs - confirm whether you want to record the minutes of the meeting or just capture the actions and decisions. Agree the circulation list and decide how key messages will be cascaded to the wider business/team.
• Ground rules - the meeting etiquette that's expected of the attendees (see below).

Meeting expectations

It's important to instil good etiquette to ensure that all attendees continue to get the most out of your meetings. Here are some basic principles to follow:

• Request additional agenda items in advance - restrict the number of AOB items that people can table during the meeting.
• Start promptly - don’t wait for latecomers or provide recaps when people arrive late as you want to discourage, not condone, tardiness.
• Finish on time - schedule follow-on meetings if required, but don't make people late for their next one!
• Provide opportunities for small talk and team building - especially if the attendees are working from home as they may not get the chance at any other times during the day. It's best to do this at the start and/or end of the meeting.
• Bring people back on track - don't let them go off on a tangent or follow their own agenda, but don't stifle creativity or spontaneity.
• Give everyone the opportunity to ask questions and give their opinions - invite quieter members into the conversation, and don't forget those joining by video. Encourage people to show their support or challenge constructively where appropriate.
• "Car park" any items that are taking too long or if they're not relevant to the current agenda - you can discuss them later in a smaller group.
• Ensure everyone respects the chair and each other - don't allow people to interrupt, talk over, or overpower their colleagues, and you don't want them hogging the limelight or starting their own side-conversations. Nip disruptive behaviour in the bud - don't let it jeopardise the successful running of the meeting and you should consider uninviting repeat offenders.

I've summarised the above points on a slide - I hope you find it useful. Please click on this link to view it on SlideShare.

So, if you establish some clear ground rules, I'm sure you won't be putting meeting dissatisfaction on the agenda!