“People who enjoy meetings should not be in charge of anything.” Thomas Sowell, American economist
If you’re in charge of the meeting, follow these 5 tips and you’ll have people not only commending your leadership of ‘…a great meeting.” but also being more willing to trust your leadership in the future.
1. Minimize the frequency and length of your meetings.- Only meet when necessary and, if the session is needed, identify the time frame in the meeting invitation. Then show your integrity as a leader and respect people’s time by finishing early or on time.
2. In advance of the meeting, send out the agenda and copies of anything to be voted on.– Your guideline should be “To assure proper consideration, we don’t vote on items that we haven’t seen in advance.” This should include reports from committees, minutes, treasurer’s report and any proposals needing a vote.
3. State the objective of the meeting– Unless it’s a standard committee or board, assure that everyone is clear on why you’re meeting. Ask at the beginning if anyone has any other agenda items. Avoid, end of meeting surprises
4. Assure participation from all participants.- There’s minimal value in having participants come and have little to say. Ideally, each person has something to offer. An effective leader is prompting comments from each person. If one or two people are doing most of the talking then you may have a “Gasbag” and a leadership problem. It’s the leaders job to balance the conversation.
5. Summarize accepted responsibilities. At the close of the meeting assure that each person understands any responsibilities agreed to and verify that those responsibilities are detailed in the minutes. Follow up before the next meeting.
Follow these 5 tips and you’ll have people commending your leadership of ‘…a great meeting.” and being more willing to trust your leadership in the future.
“You provided skills that we were able to apply that afternoon.”