Chapter 3How to Run an Effective Meeting

1. Chapter 3How to Run an Effective Meeting

2. Preliminary Thoughts • Who likes a meeting… • Without a clearly defined agenda • That seems to drag-on forever • That rambles from topic-to-topic • That ends without any apparent result? • These types of meetings are • Frustrating • A waste of one of the most valuable resources of any organization – time.

3. Outline • Meeting Management – A Leadership Responsibility • Why Effective Meetings? • Elements of an Effective Meeting • Types of Meetings • The Meeting • Before the Meeting • Agenda • Group Dynamics • Personality Types • During the Meeting • Parliamentary Procedures • Meeting Room Arrangements • Roles: Chair, Secretary, Members in General • How to Deal with Disruptive Members • After the Meeting • Additional Thoughts

4. Number of Meetings Seniority Meeting Management – A Leadership Responsibility Many people are promoted, elevated, or elected into leadership positions without receiving any formal training or education on how to run an effective meeting.

5. Why Effective Meetings? • Time: a critical resource • Opportunity Costs • For-profit environment, example: a one-hour meeting with 2 managers and 4 engineers: • manager: $100.00/hour – $200.00 • engineers: $ 60.00/hour – $240.00 • Total – $440.00 • Not-for-profit or professional society environment • volunteers do not want their time wasted • ineffective meetings cause discontent

6. Meetings • Characteristics of negative meetings†: • 83% – drift from the subject • 77% – poor preparation • 74% – questionable effectiveness • 68% – lack of listening • 62% – verbose participants • 60% – length • 51% – lack of participation †From Achieving Effective Meetings – Not Easy But Possible, Bradford D. Smart in a survey of 635 executives.

7. Effective Meetings • What people are looking for in effective meetings‡: • 88% – participation • 66% – define the meeting’s purpose • 62% – address each item on the agenda • 59% – assign follow-up action • 47% – record discussion • 46% – invite essential personnel • 36% – publish an agenda ‡ From GM Consultants, Pittsburgh, PA 1993

8. Elements of an Effective Meeting • Effective meetings don’t just happen • Require deliberate planning • Must be conducted in an effective and efficient manner • Responsibility of leader

9. Types of Meetings • Formal or Informal • With agenda, rules of procedure, minutes or • Casual and relaxed - structure but nothing written • Planning • To prepare or evaluate a plan • To seek information • Reporting • Progress to date • Providing information or status reporting

10. Types of Meetings • Administrative • Regular Staff Meetings • Monthly Executive Committee Meetings • Decision • Brainstorming • Combinations

11. Before the Meeting • Define the purpose of the meeting. • Identify the participants. • Every invitee should have a role. • Identify a recorder or secretary. • Prepare an agenda in advance of the meeting. • Communicate the intent of each agenda item using labels such as (A) Action, • (I) Information, (V) Vote. • Identify estimate of time allocated to the agenda item.

12. Before the Meeting, cont’d • Prepare or identify background information. • Assign responsibilities for agenda items and communicate to those responsible. • Publish the agenda and identify background information to be reviewed. • Plan for breaks – lunch, coffee, etc.

13. Before the Meeting, cont’d • Think through the conduct of the meeting - Use a trusted member of your staff or deputy. • Consider logistics • Room – layout, seating, distractions, etc. • Support items – projector, white board, pens, etc.

14. The Bell Shaped Agenda Purpose of the Bell Shaped Agenda is to structure events around the group’s energy and attention. The first few items help the meeting participants to work as a group on easy items before they tackle more difficult items. • Item 1: Welcome • Item 2: Minutes • Item 3: Announcements • non-controversial • short • example: upcoming events • Item 4: Easy Item • More than one item may be included in this section, but should not be controversial

15. The Bell Shaped Agenda, cont’d Item 5: Hardest Item • Why in the middle? • Attendance: late comers have arrived and early-leavers have not left. • Attention: focused on meeting by this time, not yet concerned with next appointment. Item 6: For Discussion Only • Will often be presented as Item 5: Hardest Item at subsequent meeting for vote or decision.

16. The Bell Shaped Agenda, cont’d Item 7: Easiest Item • End of this meeting is the beginning of next meeting. • End on positive note of agreement and encouragement. • Good time for member recognition.

17. The Agenda

18. Group Dynamics • Attempt to identify & understand interpersonal dynamics of the group. • If you will lead this group over an extended period, consider Myers- Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) instrument. • Not definitive but allows you to better understand the members of your meeting. • Most scientists and engineers are introverts – prefer to sit-back, listen and think-through their response. • Extroverts tend to develop their opinions and responses by talking out-loud. • 126 item Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) • Instrument publisher, Consulting Psychologists Press (CPP, Inc.)

19. Personality Types • Based on the well-known research of Carl Jung, Katharine C. Briggs, and Isabel Briggs Myers • Theory of Personality Types contends that: • An individual is either primarily Extraverted or Introverted • An individual is either primarily Sensing or iNtuitive • An individual is either primarily Thinking or Feeling • An individual is either primarily Judging or Perceiving • The possible combinations of the basic preferences form 16 different Personality Types. • Learning about other people's Personality Types help us understand the most effective way to communicate with them, and how they function best.

20. MBTI

21. MBTI Type Descriptions • Theory is that every individual has a primary mode of operation within four categories: • 1.Our flow of energy • 2.How we take in information • 3.How we prefer to make decisions • 4.The basic day-to-day lifestyle that we prefer • Within each of these categories, we "prefer" to be either: • 1.Extraverted or Introverted • 2.Sensing or iNtuitive • 3.Thinking or Feeling • 4.Judging or Perceiving

22. MBTI Type Descriptions • Flow of Energy: how we receive the essential part of our stimulation. • Receive it from within ourselves (Introverted) • Receive external sources (Extraverted) • Take in Information: how we deal with taking in & absorbing information. • Trust five senses (Sensing) to take in information • Rely on our instincts (iNtuitive)

23. MBTI Type Descriptions, cont’d • Make Decisions: decide things based on • logic and objective consideration (Thinking) • personal, subjective value systems (Feeling) • Day-to-day Basis: • Organized and purposeful. More comfortable with scheduled, structured environments (Judging), • Flexible and diverse, and more comfortable with open, casual environments (Perceiving)

24. During the Meeting • Arrive early • Arrange the room if necessary • Know how to control the lighting and temperature in the room. • Distribute handouts. • Begin on time. • Introduce members if not familiar; introduce visitors. • Establish ground rules, if necessary. • Runthe meeting.

25. During the Meeting, cont’d • Control interruptions – ask that cell phones and pagers be turned-off. • Identify and record results. • Assign responsibilities for follow-up – Action Registry. • End on time. • Thank participants for their input and reinforce the importance of outcomes on the organization.

26. Meeting Room • Space matters! • Members must be able to easily see one another. • Room should be comfortable temperature. • Adequate space for planners, notebooks, or laptops • People should be able to hear the discussion easily. • If it is a large group, the meeting’s facilitator should consider standing.

27. X X Meeting Room Arrangements • Theater Style • Leader has great power by position. • Participation and interruption by audience is limited. • U-Shaped Style • Equality of membership. • No doubt of who the leader is. • Good visibility for visual aids. • Circle Style • Democratic: equality is stressed. • Great visibility by participants. • Obvious body language. • Excellent participation.

28. Member Roles – The Chair • Prepare for the meeting. • Appoint secretary/minute taker if there is not a regular. • Conduct and control the meeting. • watch timing or assign someone to this responsibility • ensure all have an equal opportunity to speak • adjudicate as and when necessary • effect compromise on occasion

29. The Chair, cont’d • Close each item • Ensure action is clear • By whom and by when • Check that the minutes are produced accurately and in timely manner

30. Member Roles – The Secretary • Ensure agenda and relevant papers are distributed in time with date, time and place of meeting. • Prepare and book the meeting space. • Have background papers and information for the chair. • Carry a copy of: (1) the constitution, (2) rules of procedure, (3) previous minutes. • Record names of attendees and apologies for absence - check quorum.

31. The Secretary, cont’d • Take notes of what is said and decided Minimum necessary: • mixture of mnemonics and full transcript • amount of detail depends on nature and purpose of meeting • must be enough to enable accurate minutes • Essential to have: • gist of discussions • exact words of proposals • names of those proposing and seconding • names of those responsible for future actions • Write the minutes - preferably as soon as possible

32. Members in General • People often react to other people - not to theirideas. • Chair must stress that effectiveness = disregard for personal or departmental allegiances. • Self perception - some see themselves as elder statesman, joker, voice of reason.

33. Members in General – Supportive

34. Members in General – Disruptive Based on HC Wedgewood's Fewer Camels, More Horses: Where Committees Go Wrong. Personnel, Vol 44, No 4, July-Aug 1967, pp62-87. Quoted in Pearce, Figgens & Golen. Principles of Communication. New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1984, pp. 383-384.

35. Member Stereotypes Based on Sadler and Tucker. Common Ground. South Melbourne, Macmillan, 1981. pg. 82.

36. How to Deal with Disruptive Members • Make sure that all meeting participants understand their responsibilities. • All members were invited to the meeting for a reason • All members should feel free to contribute • Members who are silent • Begin meetings by engaging every member of the group • “Bill, haven’t you done this in your work? What was your experience?" • "Janet, you’ve been rather quiet to this point, do you have an opinion or an idea?" • Consider breaking larger group into smaller groups to develop input

37. How to Deal with Disruptive Members • Members who are vocally dominant • Redirect discussion to other members "We all recognize your expertise in this area, but let’s hear from some others in case some new ideas emerge.“ "John has made his opinion clear; does anyone else have something they would like to add?" • Members who are negative • Probe the negativity to validate concerns • Redirect discussion to other members • If behavior persists, consider speaking off-line or excluding them from future meetings “Let’s not shoot down this idea prematurely; let’s give it some time for evaluation."

38. After the Meeting • Publish the minutes promptly. • Identify responsibilities for action items. • Assess the meeting.

39. Parliamentary Procedures • Robert’s Rules of Order • Parliamentary guide for running meetings. • First Edition February 1876 • Guiding principle, by General Henry Martyn Robert: • “All shall be heard, but the majority shall decide” • For details, see “Meetings and Parliamentary Procedures – Simplified,” by Irving Engelson.

40. Additional Thoughts • Don’t Read to the Group • Place more emphasis on processing information, than on giving information • A meeting is a place to discuss an issue to assure agreement or full understanding. • Everyone contributes to a meeting’s success. • Everyone must do their part. • When possible, make sure the right people are at the meeting. • If the material covered is not relevant to some people, arrange to have them excused from that portion of the meeting. • Make sure all meeting participants understand their responsibilities

41. Additional Thoughts, cont’d • Balance participation • Meetings will have people who are silent, vocally dominant, or negative. • The facilitator/chairperson as well as members of the group can redirect this unproductive behavior • Allow time for process and group development • Checking off agenda items in a rapid-fire process is not always productive. It may move the meeting along more quickly, but may leave you wondering ‘what happened?’ when it’s over.

42. Final Thoughts • Praise! Praise! Praise! • Praise people twice as much as you criticize. • Never let any good deed or action go unheralded in the group. • Say thank you publicly at every meeting. • Recognize the value of peoples’ contributions at the beginning or within the meeting. • Plan. Plan. Plan. • Meeting design is the Number 1 mechanism for effective meetings. • For each agenda item, make sure the group is clear about the goals, processes, and functions. • Never, Never, Never attempt to compose, draft, or edit a report or document in committee!

43. Summary • The techniques described in this presentation can be applied to any type of meeting you encounter. • Consider compiling your own list of successful techniques based on specific meetings. • Effective meetings are the result of deliberate planning.

44. References H. C. Wedgewood, “Fewer Camels, More Horses: Where Committees Go Wrong,” Personnel, Vol. 44, No. 4, July-Aug 1967. A. Jay, “How to Run a Meeting,” Harvard Business Review, March-April 1976, pp. 43-57. Sadler and Tucker, Common Ground, South Melbourne, Macmillan, 1981. Pearce, Figgens & Golen, Principles of Communication, New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1984. B. L. Shoop, “How to run an Effective Meeting,” Focal Point, Optical Society of America, October 1996. Reprinted in IEEE CrossTalk, Vol. XXXIV, No. 8, January 1998.