A good business leader will know how to run a productive meeting. Employees naturally get frustrated with meetings that take too long or that don’t have a targeted goal in mind.
So don’t call a meeting to set up a meeting. And don’t make employees endure a constant meeting overload. Here are a few ways to approach it.
Establish ground rules.
The people involved in a meeting should know more than just the topic of the day. As Drake Baer writes for businessinsider.com, they should be familiar with how the process is supposed to go.
“Everybody brings a set of assumptions about how meetings should run into a meeting,” writes Baer. “But those assumptions don’t always match up — some people think you should talk as much as possible, others believe in more measured conversation. University of Nevada-Reno organizational development specialist Marlene K. Rebori says that ground rules ‘are explicit rules that the group agrees to follow to help them facilitate productive discussions,’ so that the way things should be done is something obvious for everybody. She suggests a few examples, like ‘separate people from the problem; respect different viewpoints; share responsibility for following the ground rules.’”
Set your objective.
If a boss doesn’t have a clear vision as to the purpose of a meeting, there’s little chance that anyone else will understand it. Working it all out in advance will help to show that the leader has a plan, and that the meeting supports that plan. Neal Hartman writes about this for Forbes.
“Before you send that calendar invite, ask yourself: What do I seek to accomplish,” writes Hartman. “Are you alerting people to a change in management or a shift in strategy? Are you seeking input from others on a problem facing the company? Are you looking to arrive at a decision on a particular matter? Standing meetings with vague purposes, such as ‘status updates,’ are rarely a good use of time.”
Keep on track.
Outspoken employees can dominate meetings, which may make the more reserved employees stay quiet. Both types have a role to play, but it’s up to the boss to balance it out.
As Hartman writes in his Forbes piece, “Nothing derails a meeting faster than one person talking more than his fair share. If you notice one person monopolizing the conversation, call him out. Say, ‘We appreciate your contributions, but now we need input from others before making a decision.’ Be public about it. Establishing ground rules early on will create a framework for how your group functions.”
End it with a clear path.
Employees shouldn’t leave a meeting with a puzzled perspective. In most cases, that’s the exact opposite result that a boss should target. Cyrus Farivar wrote about this for CBS Money Watch.
“Close the meeting with a review of what decisions you reached and what the next action will be,” writes Fariver. “Everyone should leave knowing what’s expected of them and when — by the end of the week, the end of the cycle, or the next meeting. End by asking everyone whether they thought the meeting was useful and, if not, what could be done better next time. It’s easy to walk out of a meeting room, go back to your desk, and immediately forget every change, decision and new idea that your group came up with. Make sure that your meeting didn’t happen in isolation by letting the right people know what was decided and what will happen next.”
