Question

As a project manager, you will call and manage lots of meetings.
What are the steps for leading an effective meeting? Please discuss each point with an example.

I need 2 and 3 pages

Answer 1

The following are the steps for leading an effective meeting:

1.The Meeting's Objective

An effective meeting serves a useful purpose. This means that in it, you achieve a desired outcome. For a meeting to meet this outcome, or objective, you have to be clear about what it is.

Too often, people call a meeting to discuss something without really considering what a good outcome would be.

• Do you want a decision?
• Do you want to generate ideas?
• Are you getting status reports?
• Are you communicating something?
• Are you making plans?

Any of these, and a myriad of others, is an example of a meeting objective. Before you do any meeting planning, you need to focus your objective.

To help you determine what your meeting objective is.

2.Set an agenda

Vague discussions on a topic rarely achieve anything, and an agenda will ensure that you cover the specific aspects needed to reach your meeting objective. At the same time, it will inform and set expectations with attendees. It is the ‘what’ of your meeting.

Your agenda might have only a few items. That’s perfectly fine as long as it is clear how each agenda item relates to your desired objective; keep your goals specific and declarative.

3. Keep it short

The meetings should be as long as necessary but as brief as possible. Reserve five minutes at the end to summarize the discussions and agree on any next steps.

Time is a precious resource, and no one wants their time wasted. With the amount of time we all spend in meetings, you owe it to yourself and your team to streamline the meeting as much as possible. What's more, time wasted in a meeting is time wasted for everybody attending.

For example, if a critical person is 15 minutes late in an eight-person meeting, that person has cost the organization two hours of lost activity.

4. Get the right people in the room

Before sending out an invitation, take some time to consider who should attend the meeting. It is tempting to be inclusive, but sometimes having more people in the room makes meetings harder. Think of the minimum number of people that you need to achieve the meeting objective.

Make sure that the people who are essential to your meeting are aware of their roles.

5.Consider who is invited.

When you’re calling a meeting, take time to think about who really needs to be there. If you’re announcing a change, invite the people who are affected by the announcement. If you’re trying to solve a problem, invite the people who will be good sources of information for a solution.

When people feel that what’s being discussed isn’t relevant to them, or that they lack the skills or expertise to be of assistance, they'll view their attendance at the meeting as a waste of time.

6.Circulate materials

In addition to sending an invitation stating the objective and the agenda for the meeting, circulate relevant materials at least one day before. Receiving materials in advance allows attendees to prepare for the discussion and is an opportunity to remind them of the meeting and its objectives.

7.Encourage participation with active listening

Without an atmosphere of respect, you cannot hope for full participation; many people will simply not speak up in an atmosphere where it doesn't feel welcome. For starters, be respectful of people even if you disagree with their opinion. How you respond when people make a contribution can reinforce—or negate—your words. Show that you are open to different points of view by earnestly asking for clarification. And discourage inappropriate behavior from others.

For example, cut off those who interrupt: "I understand you disagree but let's let Shawna finish her thought before we discuss it." Encourage others with pertinent questions, such as, "Mark thinks we don't have enough data to make a decision yet. How do the rest of you feel about it?".

8.Ban technology

The reality is that if people are allowed to bring iPads or BlackBerries into the room, they won't be focusing on the meeting or contributing to it. Instead, they’ll be emailing, surfing the web, or just playing around with their technology. Eyes up here, please.

9. Start on time, end on time

Time management is an essential aspect of running productive meetings. Start and finish your meeting on time, and keep an eye on the agenda and the clock. for example - delay wil lead to hassle-bussle.

10.Guide the discussion and manage disruptions

Guiding the discussion and managing disruptions are probably the most challenging parts of running a meeting, especially if you are not the most senior person in the room. Your role is to keep the discussion focused so that you can meet your objectives.

A helpful technique for guiding a discussion is to capture important points on a board and mark them as subsequent agenda points or flag them for a follow-up meeting

11.Summarize decisions and next steps

Make sure you take notes throughout the meeting. It can help to have a printout of your presentation so that you can capture the main discussion points as they come up. Wrap up at the end by summarizing the main points and decisions as well as any next steps you agreed on.

12. Follow up on action items

Follow up individually on the action items if needed.

13. End with an Action Plan

Leave the last few minutes of every meeting to discuss the next steps. This discussion should include deciding who is responsible for what, and what the deadlines are. Otherwise, all the time you spent on the meeting will be for naught.