EFFECTIVE TEAM MEETINGS:Better Meetings, Meeting Roles, Meeting Room Facilities

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Leadership & Team Management MGMT 623

Lecture 37

EFFECTIVE TEAM MEETINGS

Team Meetings

Team meetings keep members informed and provide a forum for problem solving, decision-making,

and innovation. Meetings, when productive, are also one of the primary ways to develop team member

relationships, enthusiasm, and spirit.

Effective Meetings at Work: Focused, Crisp and Short

Why Do We Love Meetings?

o Get full attention

o Learn Things

o Uncover Information

o Follow-up questions can be answered right away

o Full Review of material/activities

o Efficient form of decision making

o Accountability

o Opportunity to prepare

Why Do We Hate Meetings?

o Technology is not helping, videoconferencing too expensive, teleconferencing is inadequate

o Virtual teams need better tools

o No clear purpose

o Attendees come unprepared

o Meeting overload

o Outlook/Time Tracker not used consistently

o No agenda

o Too much time wasted

Do We Need to Meet?

o The purpose of a meeting is...... to utilize the talents of all present? Share Info?

o You get feedback from all

o Who decides to meet?

o Who needs to be there?

o Which meetings can we eliminate?

o What are the alternatives to meetings?

Types of Meetings

o Leadership/Management: to review the overall organization performance, setting up new

goals and targets, headed by CEO, or Chairman.

o Department Specific: to review the departmental performance, headed by the head of

department.

o Project Management: to review the overall project performance, headed by Project Director

or Project Manager.

o Other Meetings

o Quarterly Business Review: to review the quarterly progress report of all the

departments in the organization.

o Client Specific: to meet with specific client/customer to discuss the business matters

etc.

o Functional Team: meeting with in the department between different teams exist in one

department.

o Special Project: meeting on special project

o Performance Review (1-1): to review the performance

Others: a number of unscheduled meetings has also arranged on different level of organization.

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Meeting Techniques:

o Ask yourself, "Is this meeting really necessary?"

o Have a goal for the meeting. What do you want to accomplish?

o Have an agenda with clearly stated items and the amount of time to be allotted each one. Send

out the agenda at least one day ahead of the meeting.

o Limit attendance and appoint a leader.

o Stay focused on the agenda. If a new topic is introduced, add it to the list of future agenda items

or negotiate with the group if it should be discussed now. Have a clock in the room.

o Strive to get everyone involved in the discussion, avoid domination by one or two members.

o Foster rigorous debate and brainstorming, while respecting each other's opinions.

o Use visual aids. Have a flip chart and use it.

o Keep minutes of the key points raised and actions to be taken, then follow up.

o Do a two-minute evaluation of the meeting. Ask everyone what went well... what could be

improved.

Better Meetings

o Preparing for the meeting

· What's the purpose of the meeting?

· Suggest an agenda

· Send in advance

· Invite revisions

o Listening

· In most cases, spend most of your time on listening.

· Ask questions to guide the meeting and to insure that soft-spoken contributors are

heard

· Help moderate the dominating non-contributors

Concluding

· Summarize key accomplishments of the meeting

· Note next steps

· Assess how you might improve next time

Meeting Roles

Primary facilitator

· Responsible for organizing the meeting and guiding the execution.

· Writes the agenda describing objective and scope of meeting.

· Distribute the agenda to the meeting participants

Minute taker

· Responsible for recording the meeting.

· Identifies action items and issues

· Release them to the participants

Time keeper

· Responsible for keeping track of time

The Meeting Process

o Plan

o Start

o Conduct

o Close

o Follow Up

Planning Meetings

Objectives

· Idea and purpose of the meeting should clearly define. And conveyed to the all

participants.

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o Participants and assignments

· Who should attend the meeting? Meeting member with the organization. In case of

external member, informed him before the time.

· Advance preparation, if any

Agenda

· Necessary activities related with meeting

· Prioritize the activities.

Date, Time, and Place

· Optimal time of day, which will be given by the chair of the meeting

· Maximum length of meeting

· Logistics and technology

Leadership: who will chair the meeting? CEO, departmental heads.

Written plan

· Advance distribution to attendees of the four items listed above

The Meeting Process: Planning

Ensure all team members are aware of meeting time and location address possible

barriers to attendance.

Reserve meeting room before the meeting.

Prepare materials for each participant equally.

Follow-though on commitments made at last team meeting

Before the Meeting

Set agenda in advance and distribute: Have a clear agenda -- and stick to it. Watch out

for tangents or brainstorming at the wrong times. Keep track of side issues for later

discussion

· Confirm attendance or early regrets

· Contribute to agenda in advance

· Prepare your discussion items

· Read draft materials to be discussed

· Bring all relevant materials

· Arrive 5 minutes before meeting

Identify each type of issue on agenda

· FYI -- Communicate

· BS -- Brainstorming

· PS -- Problem Solving

· DECIDE -- Decision needed

Role of Team Members

· Contribute agenda items

· Contribute to discussions

· Practice & encourage active listening

· Follow through on tasks of Partnership Agreement

· Share appropriate information with co-workers

Tips and Tricks Before Meeting

· Know your audience/participants

· Know your agenda/topics

· Know the objectives you want to achieve

· Do the homework before meeting

· Know the room/seating arrangements

· Feel good about how you look

· Assign time frames and discussion leader to each item

· Updates on decision taken during previous/last meeting (action taken)

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The Meeting Process: Start

· Arrive early

· Set up the room

· Greet team members

· Reach consensus on an agenda

· Set or review team rules

· Begin within a few minutes of scheduled start time

The Meeting Process: Conduct

· Cover one agenda item at a time

· Manage discussions

· Maintain focus and pace

· Address and work through conflicts

The Meeting Process: Close

· Summarize decisions

· Review action items & discuss "homework"

· Schedule next meeting(s)

· Evaluate the meeting

· Thank team members

The Meeting Process: Follow Up

· Distribute meeting notes/minutes promptly

· Fill agendas, notes, and other documents

· Follow-through on activities

Meeting Length and Frequency

Things to try:

· Shorter meetings

· More frequent meetings

· Cut meetings short if necessary, and reconvene later

Meeting Room Facilities

Audiovisual

A computer of the appropriate spec

Intranet and internet access

A projector/Multimedia

Video Conferencing (if required)

Seating arrangement should suit the purpose of the meeting

Auditorium-style to promote efficient one-way information delivery

In the round to encourage cross-team communication

Virtual Team Meetings

· Include all participants as facilitators and discussion initiators

· Ask specifically to each remote member to contribute

· Be sensitive to time zone issues, vary times

· Technology must be the best as possible

Video-conferencing, teleconferencing

· Build in social time before and after scheduled work meeting

· Include recognition of key efforts out in all locations

· Schedule special events when teammates get together face to face

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