In this video, we're going to talk about something most people dread, meetings; and also some strategies for making meetings more effective and productive. President John F. Kennedy is credited with the saying, a committee is a group that takes minutes and wastes hours. It's safe to say that many or most people think that way about meetings and general and would prefer to avoid them whenever possible. The reason is that all too often meetings are run poorly. They have no real agenda which allows discussions to wander all over the place. The leader doesn't provide any real leadership and people are invited who shouldn't be. These are only a few of many common problems. The good news is you can avoid them by following a few guidelines. Be prepared, select a convenient time and place to meet that is free of distractions. Make sure to check with all participants ahead of time to see if they're free at a specific time, websites and apps can make this very easy. Only invite those who are really needed. Give this a lot of thought. People who are invited to meetings unnecessarily tend to get bored and frustrated. This can easily infect the whole group and become counterproductive. It also sends the message that you don't respect the fact that their time is valuable and that is never good. Take the time to develop a meeting agenda and provide it to attendees in advance. Nothing should be on the agenda unless it needs to be, including a starting and ending time and stick to that. Provide background information like handouts, presentations and reports. Whenever you can, provide them with the agenda so attendees can prepare in advance. Run the meeting fairly and efficiently. Cover the whole agenda. If you can't cover everything sufficiently, don't rush through, table those items for a follow-up meeting. Be the referee, you must keep control of your meeting. Pay attention for disagreements that may turn ugly and intervene to keep that from happening. Make sure everyone has an opportunity to be heard. Call on people who've remained silent, they may have insights the group needs to hear, but are hesitant to speak up. Even if they don't, they will still appreciate being given the opportunity. Finally, when the decision is made, check on the level of commitment to solutions through a voice vote, show of hands, or another method. Ending the meeting properly and preparing for your future actions is the final key. Stick to the meeting time limit and end on time. This acknowledges that everyone's time is valuable. If you need extra time, ask permission to keep going or schedule a follow-up meeting. Give individuals and the group credit where credit is due for the roles they played. Everyone appreciates being thanked for a job well done and praising the group helps ensure they'll feel good that something has been accomplished. Summarize what was done, identify action items, and assign tasks to specific individuals for further action, and make sure people have the authority they need to carry out their tasks. Finally, your job isn't over when everyone leaves, follow up to assure that actions agreed upon in the meeting are taken and give support when needed. Now, what else can supervisors do to make meetings more productive? They must learn to recognize and confront dysfunctional behaviors. They also need to remember that leading a decision-making group is a complex task that requires them to play two different types of roles in meetings: task roles and social roles. Task roles help a group to accomplish its goals, stay focused, and be efficient. For example, a supervisor who strives to run an effective meeting is acting as a task leader. Another important task role is devil's advocate, who is the person that argues that contrary or opposing point of view. This is helpful to make sure that group sees potential problems with a proposed solution. Social roles focus on building and maintaining relationships among group members and promoting cooperation. The focus should be on how people feel about being in the group. A supervisor who is concerned with maintaining and balancing the social and emotional needs of his group members is acting as a social leader. Other key roles include the encourager, who tries to create a safe space for others to share ideas; the tension releaser, who uses humor or changes the subject to avoid conflict; and the compromiser, who encourages members to give in on small issues for the sake of meeting group goals. Other employees can also play these roles, but a supervisor needs always to be ready to take them on at any time during a meeting.
