Make Meetings Work

1. Make Meetings Work Our society is made of meetings. Governments, businesses, families and everything in between are made up of groups of people. When people get together to share information, plan, solve problems, criticize or praise, make new decisions or find out what went wrong with old ones, we call this a meeting. Everyone belongs to different groups, and groups meet AA Meetings. Millions of meetings go on every day, and the more successful you become the more meetings you will be required and expected to partake in. Many meetings are unnecessary. They are either poorly prepared for, have the wrong people attending, or there is no reason to meet. Sometimes things can be accomplished better by other means. However, most businesses, groups, or organizations can not function without meetings. Meetings are the most efficient way to accomplish many tasks. The key is effective meetings. Effective meetings have structure and leadership. Meetings should improve the quality and production of your group, not detract from it. In this section, we will look at four ways to improve your meeting's effectiveness and make meetings work, and one way to leave a meeting you are not in control of that is wasting your time. Prepare Be on time Use an agenda Only hold meetings that are necessary with those who need to be there Ask if there is anything further you can contribute Prepare Preparation is the key to effective meetings. As with most things, the better prepared you are, the more effective, efficient and productive you will be. Unfortunately, most people attending the millions of meetings occurring each week go into these meetings unprepared AA Meeting. Being unprepared costs businesses and organizations thousands of hours each week in ineffective and unproductive meetings. To prevent this, if you are chairing the meeting, you must be prepared and insist those attending the meeting come prepared as well. The topics and problems to be discussed during the meeting should be defined and set out on paper. Each person in attendance should be able to contribute their part efficiently and productively. The old saying that proper preparation prevents pitiful performance rings true, so prepare for all meetings and insist those attending do likewise. Be On Time Start meetings on time and be sure to finish them on time. Nothing irritates people more than waiting for something to start when it is past the scheduled time to begin, except for a meeting that has gone

2. past the ending time. Do not back up and start over when someone comes in late. Why punish everyone that was there on time by making them stop and listen to everything again while you catch up the stragglers and late comers. The person who is late will have to catch up later. Stopping and filling them in reinforces the unwanted behavior since there was no negative consequences for being late, and send the message to everyone who was on time that it doesn't really pay to be punctual. Some people put the priority items of the meeting first, and the less important subjects toward the end. If you do run out of time, stop the meeting and set a future time to reconvene and resume discussions or work on those items AA Meeting Near Me. A better practice however is to plan the meeting properly and control the meeting to ensure it ends on time. The benefit in this is that sometimes it is helpful to discuss less important topics to gain victories with these before tackling the more important issues. Part of proper planning is organizing the meeting topics and their order in the most effective manner. Whatever you do, do not go past the scheduled time to finish. Respect other's time and stick with the schedule. In today's busy and hectic work environment, it is not uncommon to have meetings scheduled back to back all day. One meeting going overtime can effect future commitments and schedules. Do not do this to others, and do not let them do it to you. Use an Agenda The agenda is the map that keeps you on course. In order to ensure you finish on time, you must know where you are and where you are going. Keep this agenda visible to assist you with staying on course and not veering off into uncharted topics and discussions that lead you astray from the purpose of the meeting. The agenda not only gives the leader of the meeting a map to follow and keep people focused upon, but allows everyone in attendance to view where the meeting is and where it is heading as well. This knowledge keeps people from drifting off wondering where things are going and when the meeting will be ending. Remember as stated above, the agenda should be planned and organized in an effective manner. There should be continuity in the flow from topic to topic and issue to issue. New topics or issues should be scheduled for another time, and the leader of the meeting should keep those in attendance on track and within time limits based on the agenda. There are emergencies and crises that may force a change in a scheduled agenda or time limit. An effective leader will distinguish an actual crises that demands immediate attention and the perceived emergency that does not actually contribute toward the goals and mission of the group. A leader may make a conscious decision to part from the agenda due to a new crisis or issue that actually should take precedent over everything else, but it should only be done with careful deliberation based on the mission and goals of the organization. You will find that far too often meetings change and agendas are abandoned for all the wrong reasons. Be flexible, but remain consistent with the organizational goals and purposes. Only Hold Meetings That Are Necessary With Those Who Need To Be There Part of your preparation and agenda forming should entail determining who should attend the meeting and why. Do not have people attend just for the sake of attendance. If they do not have a reason to be

3. there, do not invite them. Some people may only need to be present for part of the meeting. If this is the case, schedule that and put it in the agenda. Let people go early and let people attend only the last half of the meeting if that is a more efficient use of their time. You insist that others respect your time, so respect theirs in turn. Do not be part of the meetings for meeting sake problem. Make your meetings work. Ask If There Is Anything Further You Can Contribute The first four tips on making your meetings work are directed toward the leader of the meeting. When leading, you want to run efficient and effective meetings. But what if you are attending a meeting run by someone else that is obviously wasting your time? Here's a little tip from Charles Hobbs' "Time Power," "raise your hand and ask, 'Is there any further contribution I can make to this meeting?'" If there is no further contribution you can make, the leader can excuse you to go back to your other important tasks. If there is further contributions to be made by you, you should stay. By asking the question, you have put the leader on notice of your urgency and this person may adjust the agenda to accommodate you more quickly, or at least more effectively control the meeting to get to where you can contribute. Either way, the question can assist you in preventing further wastes of your time. Try it next time you find yourself in this type of situation. It has worked for others and it can work for you.