Making the Meeting Work

Leadership Curriculum

Part 2

Making the Meeting Work

C. Phillips

April, 2008

Background

Great meetings don’t just happen. We’ve all been to meetings where we left feeling we had accomplished something, that our input was valued and our time well spent. And we have also all had the opposite experience where we left a meeting frustrated, had no idea of what the purpose was or what we were expected to do next. Is it karma? Is it merely the “right mix of people”? As leaders we can not always predict the outcome of a meeting, but we can certainly have a significant role in guiding the process by setting expectations, directing the flow of discussion, and even influencing how the members communicate – all with the purpose of leading a “great meeting”. In our first section we began with the critical steps in creating and managing an agenda. Now it’s meeting time!

There are 3 essential elements to a great meeting that as leaders you have the opportunity to impact:

Preparation work before the meeting
Optimizing your leadership during the meeting
Providing needed oversight to assigned work after the meeting

Before the Meeting

Determine the type of meeting (strategic planning, reporting, brainstorming, governance, work-group, etc)
Decide the purpose of this specific meeting and what you want to accomplish. Think about what will need to happen during meeting in order to reach your goals
Plan and distribute the agenda (see section 1 – Planning the Agenda)
Review and distribute all related materials, including Consent Agenda items
Meet (in person, by phone or email) with key stakeholders, those that are strongly supportive AND those who may be likely to present opposition. You will be better positioned to manage discussion during the actual meeting when you have a good sense of background
Review action items from the previous meeting. Make sure you have accomplished what you said you would and touch base with others who have key accountabilities for action items as well
Where you anticipate potential conflict, frame the topic (s) in advance with some questions that focus on the problem and not individual positions

During the Meeting

As a leader you have a vital role in overseeing several essential components to the meeting:

Start and stop on time
Set the tone with welcomes and introductions
Review the agenda
Lead the discussion and keep it on track
Manage time
Ensure that “all voices are heard”
Oversee the recording of the meeting (i.e. minutes)
Clarification of work assignments, times lines and accountabilities
Wrap-up and evaluation

While each of these seem obvious, the outcome of the same meeting agenda can either leave participants engaged, feeling positive about their work and thinking about the next meeting….or feeling that they merely spent their time “doing their duty” and “check this one off the list for now”. When discussions are left to flow without direction, participants may feel frustrated or even angry, hardly a spirit that will lead to active contributions in the future. Here are some guidelines that can help you lead effective discussion:

Leading Effective Discussions

Open the Discussion: State the topic and give needed background. You may even suggest methods for discussion if appropriate, such as small groups, etc.
Listen: It is easy as the Chair to “lead” the meeting by doing most of the talking, but this rarely leads to productive discussions. Talk only to provide a framework, to clarify or to summarize. Keep your own opinions to a minimum. As you listen to the discussion check your understanding of other’s comments by restating them to the group
Ask for Clarification: If you don’t understand a statement that was made, likely others do not as well. Use diagrams or examples if helpful
Summarize: Occasionally summarize the key points and check with the group to make sure you are on track (this is also very helpful to capture accurate and concise minutes)
Test for Agreement: This is not the same as reaching consensus, this testing is to ensure that you have captured the discussion points as presented
Close the Discussion: Knowing when to move on and wrap up is probably one of the most difficult skills. Key signs are when input is becoming redundant or when people are investing in their positions, rather than the problem. Some discussions may need additional sub-group work or be resolved in a separate setting. Think of discussions as having two phases; the exploratory phase and the defining phase. Sometimes you can resolve both in the meeting. Other times you need to end the exploratory discussion and either shift to the defining conclusion or move the defining phase to another time or setting

One technique to enhance the exploratory phase of a discussion is the use of the Nominal Group Technique (aka formalized brainstorming). This works best when you have a number of related issues (eg: setting strategic priorities for the year) and when you have ample time for discussion. There are two basic parts to the nominal group technique.

Part A Nominal Group Technique: Generating Ideas

Define the task in the form of a question
Clarify the question that will provide both the purpose and the intended outcome of the discussion (eg: We need to end this meeting with 3-5 research priorities for this group for the upcoming year)
Allow time to generate ideas. This is not time for coffee or conversation, but for “putting ideas on the table”
List ideas without discussion as to whether they are “good” or “bad”
Clarify each of the ideas listed, make sure everyone understands the intent or wording. Again, this is not time to rate, but merely clarify

Part B Nominal Group Technique: Moving to Decision

Eliminate/combine overlap ideas
Use process to rank as a group (the familiar “dots”, hand votes, etc). The process used to determine the rank is typically determined by the number of items to sort
Reach conclusion based on group input
Check for “heart burn”. If agreement can only be found on 1-2 issues then begin with those and address a process of resolution for the others at future meeting or with a smaller group process to report back later

Consensus does not mean Agreement

Voting is not the same as Data Collection

Voting is useful for quick decisions. It determines the majority opinion (but should not be used to weigh engagement or be used to assume prioritization). It is a necessary tool for closure on discrete items or actions (eg: approval of committee recommendations)

Consensus is used for engagement and to get to creative solutions not otherwise identified. Consensus should mean that everyone can live with the decision. Consensus takes time, active participation of all the members, communication and facilitation skills of the leader, and creative thinking for the group. Compromise is not consensus and often is used as a “short cut” for time. However, the long term consequence is often the final result appeals to few and the opportunity for identifying the best decision is lost.

Working Towards Successful Consensus:

Practice active listening: Ask for reason and seek out assumptions behind statements
Encourage all team members to participate. Don’t assume silence means agreement
Seek out differences of opinion
Avoid quickly choosing a solution; understand the question first
Consider the time needed. Building true consensus takes longer than simply voting. Think ahead when planning meeting agendas to account for those areas where consensus-building will be needed
Check understanding. Does everyone understand the final decision and can they state why they believe it is the best decision?

Dealing with Indecisiveness

So what do you do if your group cannot reach a decision? Sometimes groups fall into a syndrome of avoiding or delaying decisions. This can relate to underlying conflicts, incomplete information or feeling accountable for the outcome. Some steps that can help minimize committee indecision are:

Get the agenda out early. If there are key decisions to be made, you may even want to include one or more related questions for the group to consider
Involve key decision-makers, discuss the issues in advance and make sure they are included in the meeting
If decisions are too complex they seem overwhelming. Sometimes it is best to work on a series of component decisions that will keep momentum going and help get to the “big picture” more quickly

After the Meeting

You survived the meeting but your work is not done. While running a “good” meeting is important, all that effort can be wasted if the actual work of the committee is not captured or the “follow-through” falls apart. Have you been to meetings where work assignments were lost, decisions were forgotten and time is wasted at the next meeting trying to recreate the previous one? It is at these times where good minutes are truly appreciated.

Meeting minutes are often maligned as tedious and a waste of time to create, distribute and read. Far too often minutes are lengthy narratives of discussions and fail to capture the essential points of the committee work. If the agenda is map to the journey, the minutes are the trip journal. They must be easy to read, capture the essential information needed (eg: decisions, work assignments, approvals) and make clear what needs to happen next. When structured properly the agenda should be used to create the template for the minutes, and the minutes should be used to develop the subsequent agenda. Effective minutes need to include the following elements:

The name of the meeting and the date, place and time
Who was in attendance (some will also list excused members)
A list of the agenda items covered
A summary of the motions or decisions (related to the agenda items)
A BRIEF summary of key discussion points as pertinent to number 4
Assignments: what is assigned, who is responsible and when it is due

Using this structure, most minutes can be written on 1-2 pages. They should be prepared as soon as possible after the meeting (with a designated recorder present to take notes DURING the meeting). Don’t rely on your memory to “whip up a meeting summary” days, or even hours later. Whenever possible the minutes should be distributed to the committee members soon after the meeting. This allows any potential confusion in work assignments to be clarified and helps keeps those with assignments “on task”. Final approval of the minutes should occur at the following meeting which allows the committee to refresh their memories about the previous meeting’s activities and decisions. It also allows for corrections to insure an accurate recording of the meeting outcome.

Summary

Good meetings are fun! Great meetings also don’t just happen. They require significant planning. Good meetings require strategic thinking, identification of potential obstacles, collaboration with members prior and follow-up afterwards. There is a learned set of skills required to run an effective meeting that most of us do not have “automatically” because we have reached leadership roles. Next time you are in a meeting think about whether or not it is effective. Watch for what did or didn’t make it work well. Identify specific behaviors that seem to move the meeting efficiently and productively and translate those into your own behavior style. Read about how to run a meeting. Get feedback from members of your committee (see meeting evaluations in Part I). Talk with staff before and after your meeting and “check in” to see if their needs and expectations of the meeting were met. Use humor and have fun. Meetings need not be viewed as necessary drudgery, but as opportunities to share in the creative thinking with colleagues and truly get remarkable things accomplished.

Suggested Resources

Fisher, Roger; Ury, William; Getting to Yes; Penguin Books, 1991

Kotter, John; Leading Change;HarvardBusinessSchool Press, 1996

Lippincott, Sharon; Meetings: Do’s, Don’ts and Donuts; Lighthouse Press, 2002

Scholtes, Peter; Joiner, Brian; Streibel, Barbara; The Team Handbook; Joiner Associates, 1996

Ury, Wm, Getting Past No, Bantam Press, 2003