Experts Offer Agenda to Make Meetings More Productive

Company meetings are often considered a waste of time, not to mention boring and unproductive.

That was the case at NetCatalyst, a Santa Monica high-tech firm with 36 employees. The meetings were haphazardly scheduled, said Derek McLeish, the company’s chief operating officer. Rounding up participants was a problem. Agenda items didn’t always get addressed. Decisions seemed to take eons to reach.

“We work on Internet time,” McLeish said. “That means you have to move more quickly. You can’t take a lot of time decision-making, especially today. Your competition will move right past you.”

McLeish revamped NetCatalyst’s meeting procedures by scheduling get-togethers Monday mornings and tempting participants with bagels and doughnuts.

Days before each get-together, he had employees e-mail him about their works in progress and objectives.

He compiled the information into a master agenda that he used to direct the meetings, and he learned through experience how to keep his group focused and the discussions on point and how to gauge energy levels.

Though companies struggle to breathe life into monotonous meetings, many are not asking a very basic question: Are those meetings really necessary?

“We still have not learned how much labor, cost and agony we’re causing American businesses,” said Bill Lampton, founder of Championship Communication in Gainesville, Ga.

Too many organizations “operate under the assumption that if they don’t hold a meeting--usually a lengthy one--there’s no way to relieve a problem or promote a project,” Lampton said.

Frequently, their issues can be resolved and data collected through faster and easier means, such as e-mail, questionnaires or phone calls, he said.

Before calling a meeting, ask whether it merits your group’s collective time and expense, Lampton said.

To calculate this, estimate what your participants charge for an hour of their services. Multiply that by the length of your proposed meeting, “then determine whether the intended agenda merits such costly attention.”

If you are convinced a meeting is necessary, be sure that all those invited are clear about its mission. Prepare for the meeting carefully and don’t count on winging it. Poor preparation is the No. 1 reason most meetings fail, said Richard Chang, president of Richard Chang Associates Inc. in Irvine and co-author of “Meetings That Work!” (Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer, 1999).

Other tips for successful meetings:

Before the Meeting

Create a detailed agenda, listing issues you’ll discuss and the time you’ll devote to each one. Circulate the agenda to participants before the meeting to stimulate thought, said Diane DiResta, president of New York-based DiResta Communications. This also will help more introverted people plan what they’d like to say.

Whom Should You Invite?

Don’t invite all the usual suspects just to keep them informed or ward against hurt feelings. Invite only decision makers, subject-matter experts and, in some cases, the people who’ll have to implement the decisions you make. Make sure all come prepared or you’ll end up postponing decisions, explaining things twice and frustrating those who acted more responsibly, Chang said.

Start Positive and On Time

“It’s always how you start your first meeting that sets the stage for your other meetings,” said Agnes Huff of Agnes Huff Communications in Los Angeles.

Select an appropriate site for your meeting. Stay away from glass-enclosed rooms (which tempt participants to watch people in the corridors) and meeting places with large windows looking onto busy streets or scenic vistas, Huff said. Visit the site in advance to be sure it’s not too cold, hot or dark. Test your audio-visual equipment.

If stragglers drift in throughout your meetings, establish a no-tolerance lateness policy early on, Huff said. Take them aside and ask them to be more prompt. In extreme cases, when serious issues must be addressed quickly, consider following the lead of fed-up schoolteachers--lock your door when you’re about to begin.

Consider scheduling your meetings at odd times--say, 9:13 a.m.--”because people will pay extra attention to it and be more likely to get there on time,” said Kristin Gabriel, co-principal of Ecom Communications in Los Angeles.

And to avoid interruptions from nonparticipants, hang a board on your conference room door on which messages can be left for those inside, Chang said.

During Your Meetings

Select a person to objectively record your minutes. Included in this record should be issues discussed, who raised them and what got resolved.

Before you begin your session, consider asking participants, “Are there any questions?” said Michael Napoliello, co-founder of U.S. Marketing & Promotions in Torrance.

“This allows people to clear their minds of their concerns,” he said. “They might bring up schedule conflicts, personal emergencies, changes that may make the traditional agenda no longer effective. You’d be surprised at how polite people can be about things like this unless you ask about them.”

Be sure you allow all participants to express themselves. Too often, meetings turn into “uneven playing fields” as extroverts overwhelm less-talkative people, said Eli Mina, author of “The Complete Handbook of Business Meetings” (AMACOM, 2000).

When you raise an issue, ask which participants wish to contribute. Place their names on a board and then call on them one by one, suggested Rick Brinkman, an Oregon-based author and communications trainer.

“This way, people will listen to each other and not for breathing changes,” Brinkman said.

Summarize long-winded speeches to make sure participants’ comments are understood. If someone strays from a topic or focuses on issues affecting only a fraction of the group, gently guide him or her back on course, DiResta said.

Should exchanges become heated, stop the conversations and establish fast, fixed ground rules: no insults, no sarcasm, no denigrating others’ suggestions.

“Instead of someone saying, ‘That’s the stupidest thing,’ which shuts people down, have them acknowledge the comment, then bring up their concerns in a question: ‘Yes, and how do we solve this other challenge?’ ” said Kay Allison, president of iBranding Inc. in Chicago.

Tackling Issues and Challenges

Address each issue in order of importance. Try to handle each issue with one of the “four Ds”: “Do It, Delay It, Delegate It or Drop It,” Mina said.

If you encounter what Chang calls “hanging issues”--problems that can’t be resolved during the meeting--note them on a wall chart and address them at a later time.

If you’re in charge of the meeting, avoid the temptation to become a speechmaker. Remember that your job is to facilitate collective discussions and group decision-making, DiResta said.

“It’s one of the most common mistakes I see people make,” she said.

When polling participants, consider passing out green, yellow and red cards, Chang said. If attendees agree with an issue, they can hold up a green card; if they “can live with the decision,” they can raise a yellow card; and if they “absolutely disagree,” they can hold up a red card. Such visual polling eliminates needless discussion and saves precious time.

Keeping Meetings Interesting

Despite your best efforts, if your company’s meetings remain as dull as county zoning commission sessions, you may want to hire an outside facilitator, consultant,

speaker or “creativity coach” to resuscitate them.

If budget constraints don’t permit this, consider coming up with activities that will provoke thought and spark humor among group members.

“In corporate business, we think that if something is important we have to be serious,” Allison said. “But I tell them that the minute we become too serious about something, we’re [in trouble].”

Keep people’s senses stimulated using visuals such as flip charts, audio presentations and refreshments, Mina suggested. If energy flags and a break can’t be taken, consider having people switch seats or move the meeting to another location.

Wrapping Up

When you’ve resolved issues, make sure the group’s decisions are noted and any actions to be taken are assigned due dates, Ecom Communications’ Gabriel said. Follow up to ensure participants understand their tasks.

Speak privately to individuals who disrupted the meeting (for example, through side conversations, daydreaming, private work or aggressive speech). Get commitments from them that they’ll participate more constructively in the future.

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Meeting Troubleshooting Guide Meetings, no matter what their subject matter, tend to suffer from common ailments. Following is a list -- as well as some suggestions for remedying them:

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Crowded agenda: Estimate how much can be realistically achieved in remaining time. Handle must do’s first. Drop or postpone less important issues.

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Presenter goes overtime: Say, “Excuse me, Jack, but, in light of our time constraints, how much more time do you need?”

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Presenter is long-winded: Say, “If you had to say this in one sentence, what would it be?”

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No ending scheduled: “When should we aim to conclude the agenda? Is 4 p.m. reasonable?”

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Broken promise: Reassign the task to another employee, unless the member can guarantee it will be done.

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Falling asleep: Ask participants to stand up and stretch, or go for a brisk 10-minute walk.

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Domination: Say, “Ron, we need to hear from people who have not spoken. Are there any first-time speakers on this issue?”

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Interruption: Ask the interrupter to jot down thoughts and share them when called upon.

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Digression: “Josh, how is this related to the item on the agenda?” or “Bob, can you save your vacation stories for break time?”

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Verbal abuse: “Can we please speak on the issues and avoid personal criticism?”

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Poor audibility: Ask speaker to talk louder or come to the front of the room and face the group. Use microphone if available.