Perpetual Development, Inc
©2007 Perpetual Development, Inc

Effective Meeting Tips
By Brent Patmos

1. Only hold a meeting for things that are necessary and that require that level of focus and attention from that division or area of.

2. Plan and insure you know the objective of the meeting.

3. All meetings should have a brief agenda so that you don’t end up wandering or losing focus on the objective points that you outlined in step two.
a. Topic for discussion or presentation.
b. Who is discussing or leading that portion?
c. Time allotment for that discussion.

4. There is no coffee or refreshments for brief/impactful meetings. Any beverage or refreshment in these environments lends to distraction, comfort, complacency and an attitude that is inappropriately casual.

5. The person leading the meeting must start on time so that there is a clear understanding of the importance connected with the topic or discussion.

6. Staff that are attending the meeting must recognize the following:
a. Arrive on time,
b. Be prepared to discuss and provide input.
c. Be concise, clear and don’t wander onto other topics that are not a part of the meeting agenda.

7. The individual leading the meeting is responsible for insuring that side discussions, individual agendas and topics un-related topics don’t dominate the conversation. This can happen easily when someone is not in control of the meeting. It doesn’t mean that additional points aren’t valued or that they shouldn’t be considered. It simply means that for that time at that meeting, there is a specific purpose and focus that needs to be given primary focus.

8. Provide a meeting coach/mentor who will sit in on the meeting and act as a third party observer. After the meeting this person and the person leading the meeting should immediately de-brief so that there is a direct feedback loop regarding what took place. Many times the person leading the meeting can’t see the dynamic that you saw Steven when you watched this person conduct their meeting.

9. The person leading the meeting should review their agenda and practice the flow and outline of the upcoming meeting. Generally, this is not a word for word review of what will be covered but rather a review of the outline that insures they know where they are going. For a skilled meeting leader, a brief review is still critically important.

10. Use simple, clear, concise language so that people remember the big points and don’t have a sense of being overwhelmed. When lying out the meeting and the key points put it together with the thought that people will remember what you say first and last. Everything in the middle is negotiable. For most production update meetings or department meetings it would be my recommendation that the agenda deal with three to four clear and defined topics and no more. This allows you to provide maximum focus and emphasis on the real keys.

Ineffective meetings can become a place where information is dumped. It’s almost as if someone is simply going through their mail, product updates, company news etc. This is not a meeting and nor is a meeting the correct vehicle for this. A weekly update may be a better option. Effective meetings are clear, concise and have key items that can fit the formula above.