KEY POINTS:
Everyone who has ever worked in the office knows how tedious badly-run meetings can be.
They can leave attendees frustrated, bored and even lower morale in the office.
Management consultant Andrea Needham says the consequences of an ineffective meeting can be bad mouthing of the facilitator, dismissive talk about the company and an attitude that meetings are useless.
"People seem to forget that meetings cost money. There's a big expense if they do not produce anything," says Needham.
Think of the time spent in the meeting and the loss of productivity if nothing is resolved. Also consider the consequences of confusion over what has or has not been decided. Needham says the golden rule of meetings is they must have an agenda.
"The facilitator must have decided where the meeting should go. The danger of no agenda is things get sidetracked - that's especially in meetings about the 'airy fairy' stuff such as relationship building.
"The facilitator needs to decide how long the meeting will be, what topics will be discussed and ask other attendees before hand what they would like to bring up.
"Being a good facilitator is difficult. I've had to discipline myself. Being able to take a good meeting is an important skill of a manager, yet few concentrate much on attaining the required skills."
The New Zealand manager of Tanner Menzies, David Doyle, says often the culture of the organisation or individual determines the process and the outcome of a meeting.
"Why is a meeting at Nike inspirational when one at the school board is tedious? Surely the content, or level of participation should be the primary driver," says Doyle. "It is interesting to note that highly successful, driven managers have attitudes to meetings that are directly contrary to those of average or poor performers."
Doyle says good facilitors are:
* Those who limit the number of attendees at a meeting.
* Insist on a formal agenda and clear objectives.
* Prepare in advance.
* Take control of meetings where there is a need.
* Finish the meeting when outcomes are achieved, with no reference to the allotted time.
* Have free time to meet quickly on urgent issues.
* Don't allow personal agendas to derail the outcome.
* Are on time for meetings.
* Don't have to leave before the appointed finish time.
* Devote all their attention to a meeting.
"There will never be a perfect model for meetings, because in order to communicate we need to keep agendas and minds open, and allow for different styles and attitudes as issues are broached," says Doyle,
Needham says it's very difficult for someone who lacks confidence to handle a meeting.
"You need to manage people - to be able to handle the loud mouth and the clown and to encourage the shy person to contribute. You need to be careful that one person doesn't take over or sabotage the meeting. You need to get the group back on track if things are sidetracked," she says.
Needham stresses that a meeting is about keeping everyone feeling "safe" to participate. Also, if the meeting is a multicultural one, what is appropriate needs to be considered. The facilitator also needs to be able to work with any conflict that arises, and not to get bogged down.
"Sometimes you need to take an issue off line and deal with it separately. For example, a conflict between two people can't be dealt with at a meeting."
The facilitator must be careful not to tell people what to do or what to decide. "The facilitator may have an answer, but he or she can't be wedded to it," says Needham.
Acknowledgement of people's contribution to a meeting is important too. "New Zealanders often don't give enough credit. Encouragement and a sense of humour always helps."
Needham says if the energy at the meeting starts going down, it's a good idea to cut it short.
Again stressing the importance of an agenda, Needham says the only spontaneous meetings that work without one are brainstorming ones. "For those you don't want an agenda, but you need to ensure that they don't go on for too long. Usually the best ideas come early in a brainstorming session."
Needham says at the end of a meeting, always sum up what's been decided. "Sometimes you need to go with the consensus of the majority - not everyone has to agree, but all need to go along with the final decisions."
She says other things that need to be considered are: who takes the minutes and how they are presented, how is the seating arranged ("You don't want warring factions on either side of the table"), and whether to rotate facilitators.
Needham says two excellent books on meeting facilitation that she would recommend are: The Art of Facilitation: How to Create Group Synergy by Dale Hunter, Anne Bailey and Bill Taylor and Zen of Groups: A Handbook for People Meeting with a Purpose by Dale Hunter.
Some basic rules of meetings
* Circulate an agenda for all meetings
* Introduce all participants - and be comfortable with people leaving or joining for relevant parts.
* Stipulate objectives, in order of priority, and address them in that order.
* Cancel meetings where it is clear that the time would be better spent elsewhere.
* Hold meetings outside core hours (ie the hours where you make money or interact with customers.
- Supplied by David Doyle, New Zealand manager, Tanner Menzies
