EFFECTIVE MEETINGS

DR MRS CHRISTIANA ASIEDU

 Effective meetings
Effective meetings aren’t just about keeping ourselves from going around
the curve.

When meetings aren’t run well or when there are too many of them
decision making becomes slower and the quality of decisions suffers.

According to McKinsey survey, 61 percent of executives said that at

least half the time they spent making decisions much of it surely spent in
meetings was ineffective.

Just 37 percent of respondents said their organizations’ decisions were

both timely and high quality.
Time management and effective meetings
Good time management means you feel empowered to turn down
unnecessary meetings, and better meetings mean you spend the rest of
your time feeling more purposeful in carrying out your work.

“The only thing on Earth that never lies to you is your calendar,” says
renowned business author and McKinsey Alum Tom Peters.

Endless, longwinded meetings, according to Peters, take up far too much

of executives’ precious working time.

The reality is that effective meetings and good time management exist in
a virtuous circle.
Three questions you should ask yourself before
scheduling a meeting
Good meetings nurture better decision-making. Inefficient meetings not
only waste time but also create distraction and confusion even when
people are working independently.

1.Should this even be a meeting at all? Recurring meetings are

particularly susceptible to migration from the original purpose toward
something more diffuse.
Examine whether your organization’s culture is to encourage meetings
rather than individual decision making.

2. What is this meeting for? A meeting’s title and its purpose are not the
same. When the latter isn’t clear, meetings can seem frustrating at best
and ineffective at worst.
3. What is everyone’s role? Even if a meeting has a clear purpose, it’s of
little use if there is no one present deputized to make a decision.
Equally, even if it’s clear who the decider is, it’s a mistake to hold a
meeting when people are unsure of participants’ roles.

McKinsey analysts have seen poor role clarity standstill productivity and
cause frustration, especially when decisions involve complicated
business activities that cut across organizational boundaries.

Blurry accountability is especially costly in an era where speed and

agility confer a competitive advantage.
 Four roles of Meeting participants
1. Decision makers should be the only participants with a vote, and the ones
with the responsibility to decide as they see fit.

2. Advisers give input and shape the decision. They typically have a big stake
in the decision’s outcome.
3. Recommenders conduct analyses, explore alternatives, illuminate pros and
cons, and ultimately recommend a course of action to the advisers and
decision makers. The more recommenders the better for the process, not
the decision meeting itself.

4. Execution partners don’t give input in making the decision but are deeply
involved in implementation. Execution partners should be in the room
when the decision is made so that they can envision how the
implementation will evolve from the decision.
 Three categories of meetings
1.Decision-making meetings. This category includes routine decisions,
like quarterly reviews, as well as complex or uncertain decisions, like
decisions about investments/projects.
In order to make high-quality decisions quickly, it’s critical to clarify
exactly who is going to make them.
Some of these meetings can be held virtually, but complex decision-
making meetings are better in person.
These meetings should result in a final decision (even if not everyone
agrees).
2. Creative solutions and coordination meetings. These include
innovation sessions for instance, in support of a new
protocol/intervention/programme as well as routine working sessions, like
daily check-ins.

Leaders should work to empower employees to make their own

(supported) decisions and to spend more time on high-quality coaching
sessions.

Creative solutions and coordinating meetings can be virtual but most

innovation sessions should be in person.

Innovation sessions should result in potential solutions and prepare for a

decision meeting, whereas routine working meetings can result in next
steps.
3. Information-sharing meetings. Face to face interaction can be useful
for information sharing, especially when an interpretive lens is required or
if the information is sensitive.

The goal of these meetings should be to increase awareness of the new

information shared in the meeting.
 Best practices for meetings
•Time: The most effective meetings are short meetings.
•Rather than scheduling a two-hour call with ten agenda items, cut it
down to a 20-minute meeting with two agenda items sometimes if
possible.
•There are limits to people’s endurance and attention spans in the virtual
environment and face to face meetings.

•Participants: When determining the number of attendees for decision-

making meetings, the sweet spot is five to seven.
Best practices for meetings cont…
 Best practices for meetings cont…
•Appearance: Pay attention to your appearance when hosting a video
conference. It’s not a matter of self-importance, it shows respect for your
conversation partner and can help you get your message across.
•Light your face properly: facial expressions are critical to conveying a
message. And anything that takes attention away from you, will distract
from your message.
Eye contact: Look at your camera lens when you’re talking, not at your
screen to maintain eye contact on a video call. Eye contact is critical
when you’re having a conversation.
Inclusion: Leaders should engage in proactive facilitation to ensure that
everyone has the chance to say their piece. Cold calling on people—
gently, and with good intention lets people know that it’s their time to
speak. Even if someone doesn’t have anything to add, they will have felt
included.
 KEY POINTS to Effective Meetings
•Types of meetings
•Developing and using the agenda
•Meeting tools and techniques
•The key messages
•Meeting roles and responsibilities
• Steps for effective meetings
 Preparing for the Meeting
•Plan more, meet less
•Establish a need for a meeting
•Develop a clear agenda and meeting process
•Guidelines for an effective agenda
•Ensure a proper meeting environment
•Identify and overcome potential barriers
Running the Meeting
•Follow the agenda for a successful meeting
•Post and follow ground rules
•Get expectations
•Record ideas
•Bring to closure with next steps
 Evaluating the Meeting
•Meetings as a continuous process
•Evaluate meeting and incorporate builds into next meeting design
•Publish next steps
 The Team Development Model
STAGE CHARACTERISTICS
FORMING •Early stages of group development
•People seek to gain acceptance by others and tend to try to avoid conflicts.
•The group seems to lack a sense of urgency as people try to know each
other.
•People size each other up, work out status, power and roles
•Little action as people avoid issues and actions that might create conflict.

STORMING •Group will have to disband and move towards action.

•People begin to vie for position.
•People align with in-group members, conflict may start to emerge as people
attempt to deal with contentious issues relating to group outcomes and
processes.
•A lot of group dynamics, people remain nice to each other so long as
important issues are addressed.
STAGES CHARACTERISTICS
NORMING •People start to get an understanding of their roles and responsibilities
, what they can and cannot do, how they do it and who does it.
•Here norms are established, new members must abide these norms or
face becoming outcasts and being pushed out of the group.
•Established norms are embedded and difficult to change.
•It is important that norms reflect the intentions of what the group
was established to achieve.
PERFORMING •The team is ready to perform.
•The task requires all people to perform in order for the team’s
outcomes to be realized.
•A performing team is identifiable where people are comfortable in
airing their concerns and team members work through problems and
issues without severe conflict.
ADJOURNING •The team has completed its task and everyone should be basking in
the glow of a job well done.
•People exchange ideas about the task, say goodbyes, find ways to stay
in touch with team members and cope with the ‘break ups’.
ADJOURNING •Some teams such as project teams only adjourn in the sense that they have
completed their given task, but remain a formal team that goes on to work on
new projects.
 CONCLUSION
There are good meetings, and there are bad meetings.

Bad meetings appear to drag on forever, they never seem to

get to the point and are a waste of time.

Effective meetings leave members energized and feel that they

have really accomplished something.
Thank you