LEADERS PLAN GREAT MEETINGS
This past Monday night I conducted my first Board meeting as President of Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac, MD. Going into that meeting, I had butterflies in my stomach and wondered how the meeting was going to transpire. I was experiencing this nervousness even though I had run hundreds of meetings over the past four decades, both at work and for nonprofit boards.
I am guessing that my nerves were a common reaction going into any new experience. As leaders, we want to do well, we want to make a good impression, and we want to have attendees walk away from the meeting believing it was a productive use of their time and energy.
This experience reminded me that many years ago, when I was a young manager starting out on my leadership journey, I purchased a paperback book titled “How to Run Effective Meetings.” I read the book, used a yellow highlighter to emphasize key parts, turned down the corners of critical pages and took notes in the margins.
Over the years, I went back to that book many times. Like with many aspects of leadership, I traversed the meetings development path by:
-Starting by not knowing what I didn’t know about running meetings
-Transitioning to knowing what I didn’t know after reading this book
-Moving to knowing what I knew as I ran more and more meetings
-Landing at the place where I am now, where, thankfully, I don’t know what I know – it is second nature to me now how to conduct an effective meeting (Of course, I do not always succeed in achieving that goal!)
However, I do know now that well-run meetings can significantly contribute to the overall effectiveness of any for-profit or not-for-profit organization. Thus, one of a leader’s key responsibilities is teaching the younger and/or less experienced managers working with him or her how to plan for and execute great meetings and minimize or eliminate poor meetings.
We want meeting attendees to walk out of the room or sign off Zoom after a meeting saying “Wow. That was a good meeting.
-I learned a lot.
-We had a good discussion.
-We got things accomplished.”
Unfortunately, many of us have exited meetings over the years thinking “Wow.
-Why did we have that meeting at all?
-What did we accomplish there?
-Why did I have to spend an hour of my time hearing the leader pontificate?
-Why were so many people in that meeting?
-Why did our leader allow one or two people to dominate?
-What the heck comes next after that meeting?”
As we think about meetings, it is critical we plan ahead before the meeting takes place and ask ourselves several key questions:
-Do we really need to have this particular meeting?
-Who needs to attend this meeting?
-More specifically, we can ask ourselves who are the people who have to attend this meeting, and who would be superfluous?
-Who needs advance notice that they will be expected to lead part of the discussion?
-Who needs advance notice of the goals for specific parts of the agenda?
-Would it be acceptable if one or more people sent substitute attendees?
-What information should be sent out in advance of the meeting?
-Who will collect the RSVPs for the meeting?
-What are we striving to achieve as a result of having this meeting?
-Who will be taking notes at this meeting and recording the decisions that are made?
-Who will hold attendees accountable for following up on their action items?
These are just some of the questions leaders ought to ask themselves after they determine to hold a meeting and before the meeting ever takes place. So please stop focusing only on the day and time of your meeting. Think proactively ahead of time about the conducting of the meeting and the goals of the meeting. You will be glad you devoted time to these efforts.
Next week we will dive into the attributes of an effective meeting:
-How to keep it on track,
-How to maximize participation, and
-How to optimize effectiveness.
Make it a great week, everyone.
If you believe this content would resonate with a friend or colleague, please feel free to forward it along!
-Larry