Who’s Managing the Meeting? “To get something done a meeting should consist of no more than three people, two of whom are absent.” Author Unknown
Productivity Partners, Inc.
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One of the complaints I hear most often is about the number of meetings people attend during any given week. And it’s not only about the number of meetings, but the duration, ineffectiveness and waste of time. Running effective meetings is part of practicing sound time management. The objective is to gain a reputation for having fewer, more effective and efficient meetings. Attendees will welcome the opportunity to share information and participate when they feel they’ve been heard and their time hasn’t been wasted. It’s something I cover during my workshops, so here are some helpful meeting guidelines: Create and distribute your agenda early on If others are involved, ask them to provide 3 things: the topic, the purpose, and the time needed to discuss. Create a level of expectation by explaining that without this information you have no way of setting the agenda items. Identify specific agenda actions and outcomes because this helps determine who should attend Include when the meeting will begin and end and honor those times. If you have difficulty with this, ask for a volunteer to act as timekeeper and limit comments to 2 minutes or less. Stay on topic Assigning a facilitator can help the group remain focused. The facilitator can also be charged with reminding participants when a comment is repetitive rather than additive to the discussion. At the end of the meeting asking action items and deadlines This helps staff remain attentive and reinforces accountability. “Do you know the next step?” is a great question to ask in order to give attendees the opportunity to request and receive clarification on action items. Provide an Action Follow-up sheet by the end of the day This shows the date of the meeting, task, responsible party and deadline. It helps keep everyone is on the same page. Meetings don’t have to be time wasters. It just depends on whether you manage the meeting…or it manages you. © 2002 Cynthia Kyriazis
Productivity Partners, Inc.
913-649-0878
888-482-2688
Productivity Partners, Inc. specializes in helping employees overcome the 24/7 time management and organizing challenges they face in order to improve performance, increase productivity and reduce stress. PPI assists individuals, teams, and entire companies in gaining confidence and control when it comes to paper, information, time, space and choice management. Offerings include: Onsite workshops Online workshops or webinars Assessments Coaching Consulting Presentations Products
Cynthia Kyriazis started her business in 1992 after 25 years experience in multi-unit operations management. She is an organizing and time management coach, consultant, trainer, speaker and author. Cynthia is past Secretary of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), 2008 President of the International Society for Performance Improvement-Kansas City chapter (KCISPI), a national speaker, and consultant to the American Coaching Association. Cynthia can be reached at Cynthia@ProPartnersInc.com www.ProPartnersInc.com www.Moveyourmindset.wordpress.com Linkedin.com/in/propartnersinc Twitter.com/ProductiveYou GoogleMe Productivity Partners, Inc.
913-649-0878
888-482-2688