{"id":1347,"date":"2007-06-12T11:20:23","date_gmt":"2007-06-12T19:20:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lee.org\/blog\/archives\/2007\/06\/12\/how-to-run-an-effective-meeting\/"},"modified":"2007-06-12T11:20:23","modified_gmt":"2007-06-12T19:20:23","slug":"how-to-run-an-effective-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/2007\/06\/12\/how-to-run-an-effective-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Run an Effective Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s a nice little guide to holding effective meetings that I came across. It&#8217;s written for volunteer based organizations but is appropriate for any<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h1 class=\"firstHeading\">How to run an effective meeting<\/h1>\n<p><!-- start content -->HOW TO RUN A MEETING<\/p>\n<p><strong>Context:<\/strong> In a volunteer driven organization meetings are more than a tool to accomplish goals. People are present for many reasons beyond the agenda and your duties are often more than a chairman or facilitator. Your role may change from meeting to meeting, as the team and individual roles develop. As a leader of the meeting it is your task to guide the group to accomplish the necessary goals and facilitate individual\/group needs as they pertain to the overall team health, well being and productivity within established time constraints.<br \/>\n<strong>1. What is the purpose of the meeting?<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> Set clear goals in advance<\/li>\n<li> Give ample context for meeting content in advance<\/li>\n<li> Set expectations for those attending:<\/li>\n<li> Developing a team spirit\n<ul>\n<li> Creating, roles, structure and process<\/li>\n<li> Sharing information<\/li>\n<li> Decisions by consensus<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li> Input for consideration with decisions by another body<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>2. Give ample warning:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> 4 week, 1 week, 1 day<\/li>\n<li> Call when you have to!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>3. Know what is your role:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>  Facilitate, mediate and lead<\/li>\n<li> \u201cIn charge\u201d\/ chairman\/ rotating chairman\/ participant<\/li>\n<li> Give people a voice relative to their role<\/li>\n<li> Guide conversations<\/li>\n<li> Establish and accomplish goals<\/li>\n<li> Bring people together<\/li>\n<li> Foster a team spirit<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>4. Facilitate them in their role:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> To be part of team<\/li>\n<li> To participate<\/li>\n<li> To be an expert in their area<\/li>\n<li> Help them find their roles<\/li>\n<li> Pre meeting conversations when necessary<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li> New group \u2014 take control, but be responsive and flexible<\/li>\n<li> Mature groups \u2014 Softer reigns (i.e. -allow people to help prioritize agenda items)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>5. Be prepared:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> Have them prepared<\/li>\n<li> Introduce ground rules as necessary<\/li>\n<li> Meeting structure \u2014 weekly vs. monthly vs. yearly<\/li>\n<li> Agenda planned \u2014 allow for input when appropriate\/ what format? How do you share the agenda?<\/li>\n<li> Send docs in advance<\/li>\n<li> Who is coming? Examine the individuals and the potential or known group dynamic and be prepared mentally to do what is necessary to keep things on track and productive<\/li>\n<li> Examine the balance between individual and group expectations<\/li>\n<li> Do your homework &#8211; whatever it is<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>6. Assign roles:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> Time keeper<\/li>\n<li> Note taker<\/li>\n<li> Vibe checker<\/li>\n<li> Chairman<\/li>\n<li> Preparing agenda<\/li>\n<li> Tracking deliverables<\/li>\n<li> Set up\/ Clean up crew<\/li>\n<li> Food getter<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>7. Respect people\u2019s time:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> Start and end on time<\/li>\n<li> Keep content relevant<\/li>\n<li> Consider people\u2019s head-space when arranging the agenda (i.e.- warm up item first, meaty items next, fluff at the end)<\/li>\n<li> Prep technology tools in advance<\/li>\n<li> Schedule meetings around other calendar events<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>8. Set a tone that works for your group and matches your goals:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> Fun\/casual\/professional\/ \u00a0?<\/li>\n<li> Food<\/li>\n<li> Your body language counts<\/li>\n<li> Where you sit sends a message<\/li>\n<li> Keeping your composure = strength<\/li>\n<li> If you have to get heavy prepare people in advance<\/li>\n<li> Get the issues out without singling people out<\/li>\n<li> Question how often you say \u201cno\u201d and in reference to what<\/li>\n<li> Check your ego at the door\n<ul>\n<li> Don\u2019t take anything personally<\/li>\n<li> Take the high road<\/li>\n<li> Let others bring up key points<\/li>\n<li> Examine how much you are talking in relation to others<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>9. Close Meeting:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> Recap what was covered in the meeting<\/li>\n<li> Call out deliverables<\/li>\n<li> Plan next meeting time<\/li>\n<li> Thank people sincerely<\/li>\n<li> Avoid individual kudos if you cannot cover everyone\u2019s contributions<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>10. Follow Up:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> Notes:<\/li>\n<li> Take notes<\/li>\n<li> Post them promptly after meeting<\/li>\n<li> Allow others the opportunity to review, change and add things when appropriate<\/li>\n<li> Deliverables are tracked<\/li>\n<li> Deadlines are met<\/li>\n<li> Focus is maintained<\/li>\n<li> Progress is made<\/li>\n<li> Celebrate successes<\/li>\n<li> Find the method that works for your group<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here&#8217;s a nice little guide to holding effective meetings that I came across. It&#8217;s written for volunteer based organizations but is appropriate for any<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lee.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}