Lesson 8
Meeting Management
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Purpose
• Understand current level of meeting
effectiveness
• Present a standard meeting format
• See the results created from using this format
• Learn how to apply the principles in informal
meetings
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How Would You Characterize The Meetings You
Attend?
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Standard Meeting Format
•
•
•
•
•
•
Icebreaker
Review agenda
Set expectations
Content
Next Step
Feedback
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Icebreaker
• Purpose – BREAK THE ICE!
• Get everyone at ease and participating
• Make it fun such as:
– a riddle
– or joke
– a puzzle
– learn something about each participant.
• Time is taken proportional to length of
meeting.
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Review Agenda
• Helps to gain agreement on the meeting’s:
– Purpose
– Focus
– Flow.
• Agenda topics can be clarified/added/deleted.
• Agenda is an outline of what you want to
accomplish.
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Set Expectations
• Clarifies what the participants expect to get
accomplished
• Further defines meeting focus and flow
• Identifies expectations beyond the scope of the
meeting
• Establishes the desired results
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Content
• This is the body of the meeting
• Outlined in your agenda
• The work to be done
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Next Step
• The next logical step for you to take:
– Work on actions ageed to
– Another meeting
• There may be no next step - you may be done
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Feedback
• Review the expectations that were set
• Give performance feedback to facilitator and
participants as a group (critical feedback to an
individual should be given one-on-one after
the meeting)
• Give suggestions for how to improve future
meetings
• This step gives closure to the meeting
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Meeting Basics
• Get ready before the meeting:
– Issue agenda in advance to all participants
as appropriate
– Get meeting room ready
• Keep a visual record of the meeting:
– flipcharts
– notes
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Meeting Basics continued
• Standard Meeting Ground rules:
– Arrive on time / Start on time / End on time
– Be respectful / Be open & honest
– One person speaks at a time
• Record ACTIONS to be taken:
– Who / What / Due Date
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Meeting Basics continued
• Keep track of ISSUES raised during the
meeting
– Issues page or parking lot
• Conduct outside of meeting
– Maintain established confidences, don’t
discuss!
– Represent the team
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Roles
• Team leader:
– Arranges meeting room
– Establishes agenda
– Invites appropriate participants
– Keeps the meeting on task
• Scribe:
– Records notes preferably on wall for all to see
– Translates notes into short form minutes
– Distributes minutes
• Facilitative monitor:
– Assists leader with keeping on task
– Reminds group when ground rules are broken
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Follow-up
• Prepare meeting minutes as soon as reasonable
• Send to all participants
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Desired Result
• A successful meeting:
– starts and ends on time - or earlier
– is efficient – time is well utilized
– achieves the expectations set by participants
– provides for mutual support and respect among participants
– results in the necessary decisions
– concludes with a common understanding of meeting results
and assignments
– creates participants ownership in results
– increases the trust among participants
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Informal Meetings
• For use in one-on-one meetings
• In person or by phone
• Use principles:
– Icebreaker – “How’s the weather?”, “How is your family?”
– Review agenda/set expectations – “What do we want to
accomplish?”
– Content
– Next Step – “What’s next?”
– Feedback – “Did we cover what we wanted to cover?”
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Implications for Leaders
• Meeting Management – highly effective
• Easily learned and applied
• Can generate quick benefits for limited costs
• A very effective initial step for organizational change
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Summary
• Without a process meetings are ineffective
• Standard meeting format:
–
–
–
–
–
–
Icebreaker
Review agenda
Set expectations
Content
Next Step
Feedback
• Meeting basics – ground rules and roles
• Desired results
• Informal meetings
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Bibliography
Sipress, David. Cartoon: The New Yorker. New York:
Condé Nast: October 31, 2011.
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This lesson is a modified excerpt from the book, Compass – Creating Exceptional Organizations: A Leader’s
Guide, written by William F. Brandt, Jr., cofounder and former CEO of American Woodmark Corporation –
the third largest producer of kitchen cabinets in America.
Copyright 2013
William F. Brandt, Jr.
This lesson may be copied, presented and/or distributed to up to five people. Distribution beyond five is
subject to a user fee as described in the website: CompassCEO.com
The book and related materials are also available from the website: CompassCEO.com
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