Your Goals:	Conduct effective meetings
Your Strategy:	Learn how to have effective meetings, only the meat and potatoes
The Problem:	Wasting team members time at ineffective meetings
The Answer:	GOAL RU$H

GOAL RU$H PRODUCTIVE MEETING

A meeting is a group of individuals who have come together for a common purpose.  The leader’s performance challenge is to ensure this purpose is accomplished.  Because meetings are vital to business communications and often times counter productive, I want to provide you hints, tips, and secrets for maximizing meeting performances.

PRIOR TO THE MEETING

                     1.  Meet only if necessary.  If a decision can prevent a meeting do it.  If a substitute avenue will accomplish your needs (i.e.conference call), initiate it.  If it is not a priority for you, delegate subordinate participation.

                     2.  Limit attendance and attendees.  If you are needed for a minute, stay for a minute.  Invite only people who must be involved, and involve them.
                
                   3.  Select the best time and right place.  If you do not base your schedule on every attendees schedule, you will end up holding another meeting.  Make sure everything you need is in the room before starting.

                    4.  Make your agenda their agenda.  Be sure everyone knows the purpose of the meeting, items for discussion and decision, and time requirement involved.  Prioritize agenda items to get the most important items completed first, and least important items may be sacrificed if necessary.

DURING THE MEETING

                     1.  Assign a time watcher.  No one keeps time so watch it!  The best time watcher is your minutes keeper.  This person is a key and objective agenda observer and meeting dynamics.  Your time watcher starts on time, calls out time segments, drives you toward completion.

                     2.  Steer the meeting along the agenda track.  Control digressions and delays while you drive toward your destination, this action accomplishes your stated purpose.

                     3.  Conclude, assign, depart.  Summarize what you accomplished or how you are going to complete assigned tasks.  Remind whoever is responsible to complete it, and update when it will be done.

 AFTER THE MEETING       

                    1.  Distribute minutes to attendees within hours; not weeks, no more than 24 to 48 hours maximum.  Nothing is more frustrating than receiving meeting minutes you can barely remember.  Use minutes to reinforce assignments, and as a checkup at follow-up meetings.

                    2.  Assign someone to report to the person in charge.  Establish a reporting method to assure that decisions are executed and progress is being made.

                    3.  Evaluate meetings and abolish standing committees that are sleeping.  Did your meeting work?  Did it actually do the work?  Did it make subsequent work easier?  If not, fire it! Evaluate meetings, all committees, and any important get-togethers that have taken place.  Was the meeting well prepared for, well run, and creative?  Were communications good and did they accomplish the purpose for the meeting and did they involve all people in a meaningful way?  If the answer to any of these questions is no, go back to the beginning and start again.