Meetings 101 – Every meeting you ever go to sucks

Here’s  a whole pile of ideas to make your meeting the best they can be. There’s a lot of them, but all you need to do is be 10% better than everyone else and you will be the talk of the company.

1. Start on time. Every time.
   • It can be very difficult and the first few times you do it, you’ll be missing some people.
   • The easiest way to get around that is to say in your invitation that the meeting will be starting, and finishing, on time.
2. End on time. Every time.
   • This is even harder to do.
   • If you can, set yourself some sort of alarm (silent if possible) to give you a 5 minute warning.
   • If the meeting looks like it’s going to go over, mention that there seems to be more to cover than you’d previously planned so it’s important to think about what’s been discussed, let’s get together again tomorrow/on Friday/next week.
   • Finishing on time shows the meeting participants that you respect their time and understand that they have other priorities that they need to attend to. (Also, a reconvened meeting will often wrap in a lot less time than if you let the original meeting drag out)

   If you do just points 1 and 2, you’ll already have the most effective meetings in the entire company. Nobody else is doing this. Right?

3. Publish an agenda. Stick to it.
   • List what is to be discussed, who will lead the discussion and how long they have. (In order to meet point #2 above, you’ll need to let this person know that you’ll be wrapping up the discussing if it goes over time)
   • If possible, note the expected outcome of any discussion. This helps meeting participants know what the goal is and will therefore help discussion to move in a positive direction.
   • Example:
     • 0900 Rick will open the meeting and review the agenda (2 minutes)
     • 0902 Mark will report back on his findings with the new widget manufacturer (5 minutes)
     • 0907 Mark will round table for comments leading to a decision to proceed or not. (10 minutes)
     • 0917 Sonia will canvas ideas for the new product name leading to a shortlist to take to the directors (10 minutes)
     • 0927 Rick will wrap the meeting and review action items. (3 minutes)
     • 0930 Meeting adjourned.
4. Create a carpark.
   • A carpark is where things go that aren’t on the agenda but that someone wants to discuss. This helps to keep the meeting on the agenda and not meandering down any path anyone wants to derail it onto.
   • The participant adds the item to the carpark without any public discussion.
   • The carpark should be publicly available space:
     • A designated area on the whiteboard
     • A pool of post-its in the middle of the table
   • If there’s time left at the end of the meeting, take a look at the carpark to see if there’s anything that should be discussed (and can be discussed in the remaining time without violating Point #2)
   • Anything left in the carpark at the end of the meeting goes on the agenda of the next meeting or creates a meeting of its own.
5. Prime key decision makers and anyone likely to raise objections
   • Make a time before a meeting in which you need a decision made to go over your recommendation with key decision makers. If you can show them why you’re right, and you can answer their questions beforehand, they’ll help the decision to go your way.
   • There are people whose strength is analysis. They’re often seen as being negative, but in reality they’re just bringing up the weaknesses they see in the plan, not in the overarching goal. Priming them before a meeting will help kep the meeting moving forward as you’ll have already (a) answered their questions and (b) considered the feedback they’ve given you. Often times these people are a huge asset, but feel like a huge pain in the ass(et). Consider their feedback and answer/implement as much as you can.