Making Most of Time During Meetings

A source of stress for many of us is a perception that we don’t have enough time. Time to accomplish needed tasks, time to plan ahead, time to evaluate.

Based on the reaction of groups I have talked to about time management, many people think the major time waster in their business lives is a meeting.

Meetings, in theory, are meant to improve communication skills within an organization. Effective meetings do that. The emphasis is on effective meetings. Fortunately, time management experts have given us some helpful tools that include:

• Always have an agenda. Circulate it in advance of the meeting and invite participants to submit items for discussion. Prior review of the agenda gives individuals a chance to formulate responses to specific questions. A good agenda keeps the meeting from straying off course. It allows the chairperson to move to the next agenda item when the topic has been covered and prevents unscheduled topics from being brought up.

• Provide a trained moderator or facilitator. This individual should be aware of personality types who may want to cause difficulty in reaching group consensus. Among them are the long-winded member, who like to hear himself think aloud; the nit picker, who becomes obsessed with minor details, bogging down the thinking of others; and the philosopher who wants to spend time on historical background information that is often irrelevant.

An effective facilitator knows how to handle these group members in a way that maintains the integrity of the group and offends no one. A good facilitator is an active listener and is objective. The facilitator’s goal should be group decision. Active listening requires perceiving situations from the point of view of the sender.

• Keep the number of participants to a minimum. Invite only those who need to attend. If others must come for informational purposes, seat them outside of the central group so they are observers rather than participants. Or invite them to be a part of the meeting for only the agenda item that concerns them.

• Have a definite starting and ending time. Publish this on the agenda so participants can schedule the remainder of their day appropriately. Finish on or before the published time. Let latecomers understand that information will not be repeated. If latecomers are disruptive, consider asking them to become observers rather than participants.

• Periodically evaluate the relevancy and usefulness of meetings that occur on a regular basis. Determine if the meetings would be just as effective if held less frequently or if the time could be shortened. One novel approach to shorter meetings is to have participants stand up. Also consider whether some agenda items could be covered with a memorandum or other means of announcement.

Meetings need not be time wasters.

They can be effective means of communication and can ensure success in teamwork.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr. Ph.D. Copyright © 1992