Chapter 8:

Achieving Business
Results through
Effective Meetings
 Types of “Virtual” Meetings

• Meetings via email

• Project intranets and extranets
• Video conferences
• Chat groups
• Conference phone calls

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 The Importance and Benefits of
Meetings
• Meetings are an important form of communication.
• Meetings are important in shaping organizational
norms and improving work processes.
• Meetings are a way to fulfill the need to be part of a
team, providing a sense of togetherness and trust.
• Meetings are important when members are
involved in complex projects, with multiple
deadlines and sets of objectives.

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 Problems with Meetings
• Top three reasons for failed meetings:
– They get off subject
– They lack agendas or goals
– They last too long
• Meetings can be ineffective or useless due to lack
of preparation and planning
• Meetings can be unnecessary and costly in terms
of employees’ time and productivity taken away
from other tasks and objectives

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 Source of Frustration and Loss of
Work Time
• Three underlying reasons why meetings are
the source of frustration and loss of work
time:
– Interpersonal dynamics
– The more people involved in making a
decision, especially a consensus decision, the
more time it takes
– There may be redundancies of people and
effort
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 Strategies for Effective
Meetings
• The Four P’s of Effective Meetings:
– Purpose
– Participants
– Plan
– Process

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 Clarify the Purpose of the
Meeting
• Legitimate purposes for calling a meeting:
– Generating ideas for a project
– Discussing the pros and cons of potential solutions to a
problem
– Gaining employee input and buy-in for a program or
company point of view
– Deciding on a strategy or course of action
• Evaluate whether a meeting should be held based
on its stated purpose
• Decide on a clear achievable task and
communicate it before the meeting begins 7
 Four General Types of
Meetings
• Information sharing
• Information dissemination
• Problem solving/decision making
• Symbolic/social

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 Decide Who Should Participate in
the Meeting
• Invite those who can best contribute to the
objective
• Consider potential problems that may result
from, or during, the meeting (e.g. whether
to invite the company “troublemaker”)

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 Decide Who Should Participate in
the Meeting
• The right people to invite include:
– Those who have a stake in the outcome
– Those who own the problem
– Those affected by the outcome
– Subject matter experts
– Problem solvers
– Idea people
– Outsiders, depending on the meeting’s
purpose
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 Develop a Plan for the Meeting
• Create and distribute an agenda that spells
out:
– Tasks
– Estimated time allocated to each task
– Decisions to be made
– Expected outcomes or deliverables

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 Develop a Plan for the Meeting
• Distribute the agenda prior to the meeting
• Decide on a suitable time and place
• Select a temperature, seating arrangement,
and schedule to facilitate lively participation
• Provide directions and meeting location
phone number

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 Meeting Process
1. Preliminary or initial phase
– Articulate the meeting purpose and objectives
– Proceed with a general overview of the
agenda
– Explain why the participants were invited to
the meeting
– Be sure all members know one another

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 Meeting Process
2. Meeting Kickoff
– Establish and post operating guidelines
– Establish who will take on which role
• Scribe
• Timekeeper
• Facilitator
• Meeting leader

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 Meeting Process
3. Summary of accomplishments
– Review decisions made
– Summarize key discussion points

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 Meeting Process
4. Evaluation and closing remarks
– Determine whether the meeting objectives
have been met
– Plan the next meeting
– Review the action items

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 After or Between Meeting
Strategies
• Immediately after the meeting, have the
minutes and the next meeting agenda
prepared and distributed
• Send out checkpoint memos or e-mails
• Make sure members have phone, fax, and
e-mail lists of all participants
• Use the time between meetings to meet
with individual members
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 After or Between Meeting
Strategies (continued)
• Consider developing and distributing a
meeting summary form
• Be sure to send meeting notes to absent
members
• Have subcommittee meetings, if necessary
• Track progress against a milestone chart
• Keep key stakeholders informed of team
progress and setbacks
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 Other Helpful Meeting Hints
• Write down the cost per minute of the
meeting.
• Announce the adjournment time at the
beginning of the meeting.
• Set rules for debate if one is likely to ensue.
• Try to schedule internal meetings for 30
minutes or less, unless a key decision must
be made.
• Have a meeting standing up. 19
 Other Helpful Meeting Hints
• Follow preestablished timetables unless the
situation warrants change.
• Complete the meeting summary and send it
out the same day.
• Demonstrate management support and
commitment to the team and its tasks.
• Have fun.

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