Project Management: Make Meetings More Efficient
27 June 2008
Topics: project management, conducting meetings, leadership
We all attend a lot of meetings. This video shows a few techniques you can use to accomplish more in less time.
Do you attend a lot of inefficient meetings? Do meeting organizers just "wing it"? Do they leave the outcome unclear? What ground rules are in place before you begin? The inability to manage meetings cripples shareholder alignment. And it limits team building.
Following these steps will help you conduct better meetings.
- Define your purpose
- Determine a time or a final product as your end point
- Appoint an effective facilitator
- Set and enforce basic rules of conduct
- Control discussion to keep the group on task
- Make decisions, established due dates, and assigned responsibility
- Documented the decisions and accountabilities
Script
One of the chief concerns I hear from engineers is their frustration with inefficient meetings.
Is this a problem you see? Do those who organize meetings in your organization just “wing it”? Are the outcomes of meetings unclear? Do you start with ground rules that clearly established beforehand what will happen? Or does general chaos and inattention prevail? The inability to manage and direct meetings cripples shareholder alignment. And it limits team building.
I have been able to help engineers and managers deal with this issue, and I believe you can apply these principles to ensure that your meetings flow more quickly and accomplish more.
A recent situation occurred where two departments were commencing a project. The work required close cooperation between the two groups. The lead manager prepared an agenda that envisioned two long days of discussions. I attended in a supporting role, but without direct responsible for the project. As the meeting commenced, it became clear that the lack of ground rules and the absence of a project manager would handicap our work. I asked permission to facilitate. Permission received, I stepping in, outlined a plan to move the agenda forward, and facilitated the meeting. We proceeded to rapidly plan the project. With effective leadership the managers, engineers, and operations personnel quickly saw our purpose and aligned their contributions. We efficiently and yet thoroughly discussed what needed to happen. We made decisions, established due dates, and assigned responsibility. And we documented the decisions and accountabilities. By the afternoon for the first day, we had accomplished all the tasks that everyone else thought would require two full days.
Perhaps you see this need in your work. Are there times when you know meetings could be cut in half, a third, or even less and still accomplish their purpose?
My experience has taught me that good meeting facilitation and shareholder alignment critically impacts the effectiveness of our work.
I am confident that Towering Skills can provide the training that can help you conduct better meetings. I know you can apply these skills to successfully manage shareholders and effectively build dynamics teams.