We previously looked at the leader communicating effectively. Related to that is the running of effective meetings. If you are like me, you dread meetings, well, at least poorly run meetings. Most meetings I’ve participated in over the years are boring and ineffective. But meetings are the place when many important decisions are made. As a result, great leaders need to run great meetings.
First, I have to say up front that there are a variety of different types of meetings. There are daily status or “stand-up” meetings, weekly staff or team meetings, quarterly strategy meetings, annual planning meetings, etc. How you approach these meetings differs, but I want to share a few general principles that I have learned that might help you to be able to run better, if not great, meetings.
- Identify the leader of the meeting. This should be the leader of the group that is meeting, but in my experience, it is often not the case. The leader is the person who is accountable for planning and leading a well-run meeting.
- Have a clear purpose for the meeting. Everyone is busy and should know why the meeting is being held. Too often, we meet because a recurring meeting is on the schedule. I once worked with a leader who would often ask, “What problem are we trying to solve here?”, usually during a meeting in which the purpose was not clear. It is a great question, and one we should keep in mind when planning meetings. If you don’t have enough content to cover in a meeting, or if the communication can be handled via email, cancel the meeting. You will be showing the attendees respect by giving them the time back to focus on other priority work.
- Develop an agenda for the meeting. This would include the starting and ending time for the meeting. The leader should request agenda topics ahead of time, including the specific person assigned to the topic, and the amount of time they will need for their topic. If in the meeting, the leader finds that the topic is going to take longer than expected, they should, based on the priority of the topic, adjust the agenda (not the length of the meeting) to accommodate the need for the additional time. You may have to delay discussion on some topics so that you can devote time to the topics that have the higher priority. At times, the leader may also have to make the decision to take discussions that will need more time off-line.
- Allow healthy conflict. I learned about the value of healthy conflict from Patrick Lencioni in his books The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and The Advantage. He tells us that a trait of a cohesive leadership team (or any team, for that matter), is that team members regularly engage in productive, unfiltered conflict around important issues. This healthy conflict must be driven, and be seen as OK, by the leader for others to safely participate. Everyone in the meeting must feel like they can freely share their thoughts on the topics being discussed in the meeting. At the same time, once a decision is made, all members of the team, regardless of how they may have voted on an issue, must support the decision made.
- Recap what was agreed upon and the next steps. Many times, we leave a long meeting without really knowing what the outcome was, or what the next steps are – we’re just glad that the meeting is over! Lencioni helpfully suggests that at the end of every meeting to take a few minutes to ensure everyone is walking away with the same understanding about what has been agreed to, and who will be doing what as a result.
These are just a few general principles to help leaders grow in their ability to lead good, productive meetings. What would you add to the list?
This is an Adapted Excerpt From My Book “A LEADER WORTH FOLLOWING:
40 Key Leadership Attributes and Applications to Master”.
