Making Meetings
More Effective
Table of Contents
Program Goals
Purpose ............................................................................... 2
Program Objectives ................................................................ 2
Personal Goals....................................................................... 2
General Principles
A Successful Meeting ............................................................... 3
Three Stages of a Meeting ......................................................... 4
Meeting Preparation
Planning a Meeting: The 5 W’s.................................................... 5
Cost of a Meeting ................................................................... 7
The Meeting Agenda ................................................................ 8
Tips for Determining Agenda Times .............................................. 9
The Sample Agenda ................................................................ 10
Essential Roles for Effective Meetings ........................................... 11
Tips on Recording the Meeting.................................................... 12
Meeting Checklist ................................................................... 14
Seating Arrangements .............................................................. 15
Conducting the Meeting
Opening the Meeting ............................................................... 18
Group Norms ........................................................................ 19
Stages of Group Development .................................................... 21
Group Process Tools ................................................................ 23
Group Management Techniques .................................................. 28
Individual Behavior in Meetings: Personality Styles ........................... 29
Closing the Meeting ........................................................................ 32
Special Meetings
Last-Minute Meetings ............................................................... 33
One-on-One Meetings .............................................................. 33
Typical Staff Meetings ............................................................. 34
If You Want to Learn More ............................................................... 35
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Program Purpose
To provide tools, techniques and skills to help groups conduct effective
meetings.
Program Objectives
In this workshop, you will learn how to:

Prepare for the meeting
 Create an agenda
 Determine participants
 Prepare the meeting place

Conduct a successful meeting
 Manage group dynamics
 Incorporate five group process tools

Close a meeting

Apply general meeting principles to special situations
Personal Goals
I would like to increase my knowledge or improve my skills in the following ways:





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A Successful Meeting
Characteristics of a successful meeting:

The group is in agreement at the beginning of the meeting about what it wants
to accomplish.

The right people are present and prepared to participate.

Group members take responsibility for their collective effectiveness.

Discussion stays focused on what the group wants to accomplish.

Group members feel encouraged to speak openly.

Disagreements are brought out into the open and handled constructively.

Issues that come up are addressed (either resolved or assigned), and decisions
and action items are recorded for later referral.

The meeting begins and ends on time.

Participants are physically comfortable.
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The Three Stages of a Meeting
PREPARE
Content
People
Material
Facility
CONDUCT
Open
Manage the Group
Close
FOLLOW UP
Issues
Action Items
Next Steps
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Planning a Meeting: The 5 W’s
Why will we meet? Is there a need?
What will we do?


Objective of meeting and desired outcomes
Agenda
When will we meet?



Date
Time
Duration
Who will attend?





Staff
Presenters
Participants
Observers
Others
Where will we meet?


What kind of room set-up will we need?
How many people will attend?
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WHY
List reasons why you hold meetings
List alternatives to holding meetings
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WHY
Cost of a Meeting
Hourly rate of all participants and presenters:
$_____________
Rental fees for facilities and equipment:
$_____________
Travel expenses (if any):
$_____________
Material and supply expenses:
$_____________
Special accommodations, such as refreshments:
$_____________
My preparation time:
$_____________
Other:
$_____________
Estimated Cost for Meeting:
$______________
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WHAT
WHEN
The Meeting Agenda
Include on your agenda:
◊ Title of meeting
◊ Date, time and location of meeting
◊ Name of attendees
◊ Expected outcomes – By the end of the meeting, what will we have
accomplished? (decided/planned/assigned, etc.)
◊ Discussion points for the meeting
◊ Name of the participant responsible for each discussion point
◊ Time limit for each discussion point
◊ Closing activities
o Questions/answers
o Action items/next steps
o Meeting evaluation)
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Tips for Determining Agenda Times
It is difficult to define a hard and fast rule for determining how long each agenda
topic should take. Experience with the group and/or with the subject matter will help
you develop a feel for how much time to allow for a particular topic. However, the
following guidelines can help with that decision.
Conditions that will
add to the time required
Larger number of people in the meeting
High level of emotion about the topic
Topic has immediate, direct impact on
members of the group
Many different opinions expected
Strongly opposing viewpoints on the topic
Complex or highly technical topic
New topic for the group – first time
discussed
Decision-making topics
Consensus decision-making
Group is in the “bid for power” stage
Factions exist within the group
People in the meeting are largely detailoriented
“Hidden agendas” about the topic exist
Meeting preparation and management
principles are not followed consistently
Conditions that will
shorten the time required
Smaller number of people in the meeting
Low level of emotion about the topic
Topic has little direct impact on group
members, or the time impact is far in the
future
A small number of opinions on the topic
Opposing viewpoints are not strongly held
Simple, less technical topic
Familiar topic to the group—has been
discussed before
Updates and FYI items
Voting or leader makes the decision
Group is in the “polite” or “constructive”
stage
Group is fairly cohesive
People in the meeting tend to focus more
on the big picture
Thoughts and feelings about the topic are
out in the open
Meeting preparation and management
principles are followed fairly well
Other rules of thumb:
1. Schedule blocks of time in even 5-minute increments.
2. Blocks of time in 15, 20 or 30 minute increments are easier to comprehend.
Smaller increments become difficult to monitor, and larger increments make it
harder to tell when you are running out of time until it is too late to do
anything about it. (Exception: A facilitator’s agenda may have a more detailed
breakdown to help them know constantly how the time is running.)
3. It helps to include on the agenda the amount of time for a topic, as well as the
start and stop clock times. This becomes useful when the meeting starts
running ahead or behind the original agenda times.
4. Schedule breaks about every 60 to 90 minutes at logical stopping points in the
discussion. Allow 10 to 20 minutes for breaks.
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Sample Agenda
Meeting Title
Date, Time and Location
Participants
Expected Outcomes
-
Agenda
What
Opening
- Welcome
- Expected outcomes and agenda
- Roles / ground rules
First Topic
-
How
Review
Brainstorm
Agree
Who
Facilitator
Time
Second Topic
Third Topic
Closing
- Next steps / action items
- Questions/answers
- Evaluate meeting
Next meeting
- Purpose
- Date, time, place
-
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WHO
Essential Roles for Effective Meetings
Facilitator
-
Responsible for creating an agenda
Opens and closes the meeting
Keeps the group on task
Manages group participation
-
Keeps a written record of the meeting (see checklist on
next page)
-
Responsible for leading the discussion for a particular
agenda item related to their role as subject-matter
experts
-
Prepares for the meeting
Keeps an open mind during the meeting
Speaks up and states concerns and questions for
clarification
Actively listens
Seeks solutions and makes commitments as appropriate
Recorder
Discussion leaders
Participant
-
Observer/Coach
-
Provides feedback on effectiveness of the meeting and
gives tips for ways to improve
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Tips on Recording the Meeting

You must understand the technical language of the group to sufficiently record
what is important.

Listen for key words.

Try to capture the basic ideas, the essence.

Don’t write down every word.

Write legibly to facilitate typing.

Don’t be afraid to misspell (it can be corrected later).

Abbreviate words.

Circle key ideas, statements or decisions.

Vary colors: use different color pens to highlight and divide ideas.

Number all sheets.

Attach an agenda to the minutes.
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Recording Minutes and Action Items
Meeting Date: ___ / ___ / ___
Attendees:
Scarlet Jones
James Mustard
Time: ___ : ___ am pm
Mildred Peacock
Lily White
George Plum
Phillip Green
Topic 1:
Decisions
Description
Action Items
Responsible person
Due
Comments
Due
Comments
Topic 2:
Decisions
Description
Action Items
Responsible person
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Meeting Checklist
Item
Room Setup
Responsible person
Status
Establish seating arrangement
Check room cleanliness
Arrange room for meeting size
Check room temperature
Check computer, DVD, PowerPoint,
other A/V
Lighting
Flipcharts, stand (if needed)
Materials
Flipchart markers
White board markers
Prepared flipcharts
Prepared PowerPoint presentation
Copies of agenda
Name tents
Post-it notes
Tape
Handouts
Presentation materials
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WHERE
Seating Arrangements
Use for:
Circle Style
__________________
Visual display
Leader
Use for:
Theater Style
__________________
Visual display
Refreshments
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Seating Arrangements
Use for:
U-Shape Style
Visual display
leader
refreshments
Use for:
Classroom Style
________________
Visual display
Facilitator
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Seating Arrangements
Use for:
Pod Style
________________
Visual display
Leader
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Opening the Meeting
Two things should be accomplished during the opening of the meeting:

Set the proper tone for the participants to feel comfortable participating.

Get the group on the same page regarding the meeting and what is expected
from them.
During the opening, the group:
-
Reviews the material that was created during the preparation stage and was
sent out to participants ahead of time:
o Expected Outcomes*
o Agenda*
o Roles*
-
Agrees to or modifies this prepared material
-
Learns about housekeeping issues and the facility (restrooms, phones, safety,
etc.)
-
Performs introductions (which can take many forms—the simplest is “go around
the room and each person tell us your name and department”)
-
Agrees on ground rules / group norms*
*Post these items on the wall throughout the meeting to help focus and manage the
group.
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Group Norms
Group norms are guidelines that tell members what kinds of behavior are expected
and not expected of them. Each group member will usually have different
expectations coming into the meeting. When norms are left unspoken, conflict may
result when people unintentionally violate each other’s expectations of them. So,
to reduce these problems, it helps to have the group explicitly agree to a set of
group norms at the beginning of the meeting.
Guidelines for developing group norms:

Two typical ways to develop group norms:
1. The list is prepared ahead of time, and then at the beginning of the
meeting, the group is given the opportunity to make changes.
2. The group develops the list from scratch.

Each group member needs to be able to commit to follow the agreed-upon
norms. If someone has concerns with any of the norms, the group needs to
work through the concerns.

The list should be fairly brief, just covering the main behaviors that the group
feels are important to emphasize (or which may have been a problem in the
past).

The group norms will differ from one meeting to the next, depending on the
group members, topics and environment.

Simple, commonly expected behaviors (such as “no foul language”) do not need
to be in the list unless there is reason to think they will be violated.
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Group Norms
A checklist of frequently used group norms
 Use active listening skills
 Respect others’ right to their opinions
 Keep discussion relevant to the outcomes
 Maintain confidentiality – what’s said in the room stays in the room
 Share experiences
 Balance participation (strive to keep yourself and others equally
involved)
 Be creative, look for ideas outside the box
 Look for the assumptions behind the statements
 Ask questions, challenge
 One conversation at a time
 Start/stop meeting and breaks on time
 Personal breaks OK any time
 Personal breaks OK in emergency only
 Pagers and phones off (or set to silent)
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Stages of Group Development: Cog’s Ladder
Groups typically progress through five stages of development on their way to
performing together effectively. One model for describing this progression is
called Cog’s Ladder.
5
Esprit de corps
4
Constructive
3
Bid for power
2
1
Why are we here?
Polite
Polite stage:

Getting to know each other

Excited and optimistic

Polite, helpful, non-confrontational
Why are we here stage:
Questions arise:

What is the group supposed to accomplish?

How will we accomplish it?

Why am I here?

What is my role?
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Stages of Group Development: Cog’s Ladder
Bid for power stage:

Group roles emerge

Pecking order develops

Cliques and subgroups form alliance

Differences of opinion arise

Disagreements are voiced openly
Constructive stage:

Group becomes more focused on its common purpose than on individual
differences

Apologies may be offered for actions during the bid for power stage

Criticism is targeted at the problem, not the people
Esprit de corps stage:
Many groups may never reach the esprit stage.

Real group synergy takes place

People build on each other’s ideas; the result is hard to attach to any one
individual’s contribution

High interdependence

Shared esteem
The group may move back to an earlier stage when:
membership changes
topics change
a new day begins
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Conducting the Meeting: Group Process Tools
Brainstorming
Purpose:

To generate as many ideas as possible in a short period of time

To pool the group members’ creative energy
Process:
1. State the topic of the brainstorm, using terms that are general enough to avoid
limiting the responses too much.
2. Group members call out ideas as they think of them.
3. Ideas are written down on a flipchart or posted on sticky notes so that all group
members can see them.

No evaluation or discussion of the ideas is allowed at this point, in order
to keep the creative flow going.

Do not stop the brainstorming too quickly. When the group seems to
have run out of ideas but are not told to quit, they frequently begin to
take a new, extremely creative direction.
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Conducting the Meeting: Group Process Tools
Storyboarding
Purpose:

To generate ideas

To organize the ideas into useful categories

To allow two different thought processes to work:
1. To develop details from the big picture
2. To define the big picture based on details
Process:
1. Perform the brainstorming process as above. Write the answers on sticky notes
and post them where the group can see them.
2. When the brainstorming piece is done, organize the sticky notes into related
groups. Create titles for the groups. Some discussion may be required along
with some trial and error to determine which groups make the most sense.
3. After the sticky notes are organized, another brainstorming pass can be made,
only this time brainstorm for more ideas under each category.
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Conducting the Meeting: Group Process Tools
Dot Voting
Purpose:

To get a quick idea of which alternatives have the most group support.

Allows a large list of alternatives to be shortened for more in-depth discussion.

Allows some degree of anonymity.
Process:
1. A list of alternatives is presented (which may be the result of an earlier
brainstorming session).
2. Group members are each given the same number of sticky dots.
3. Group members vote on their favorite alternatives by placing dots next to the
alternative posted on the wall. They may use all of their dots on one
alternative, or divide them among several.
4. When all group members have voted this way, look at the ones with the highest
number of total dots. This is just an initial picture of the highest alternatives.
5. The group can add or subtract ideas from the “high dot” list, to make sure that
a good idea does not accidentally get lost due to voting anomalies.
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Conducting the Meeting: Group Process Tools
Six Thinking Hats
Purpose:

To allow the thinker to do one thing at a time, separating logic from emotion
and creativity from information.

To allow individuals to analyze a problem from the same perspective using
parallel thinking.
What are the Six Thinking Hats?

White: Information and Objectivity

Red: Emotion

Black: Caution

Yellow: Positive Judgment

Green: Creativity

Blue: Process Control
Process:
1. All members of the group adopt the same thinking process and analyze the
problem from that perspective.
2. No disagreements are allowed, although the facilitator may ask group members
to make sure they stay in the current thinking process.
3. Time is limited in each thinking process to allow everyone to participate but
not debate.
For more information on this process, read Six Thinking Hats by Edward de Bono or
attend the Six Thinking Hats workshop offered through the
Organizational Effectiveness Team.
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Conducting the Meeting: Group Process Tools
Consensus Decision Making
Purpose:

To make decisions that will receive stronger support after the decision is made
and stand a better chance of being implemented smoothly.

To allow group members to gain an in-depth understanding of the issue as they
discuss it.
What does “consensus” mean?

All group members can commit to support the decision.

Not all group members have to 100% agree with the decision.

Note: Consensus takes more time and requires stronger skills in exploring
differences of opinion than other decision-making methods.
Process:
1. Make sure that the group understands what is being recommended. Clarify all
terms and underlying assumptions.
2. Each group member signifies their initial reaction to the recommendation:

GO: I am at least 70% comfortable with the decision and will 100% support
it.

NOT SURE: I am not sure and have the following specific questions that I
need to have answered in order to make my decision:
___________________________.

STOP: I cannot support the decision at this time, and here is why:
___________________________.
3. For NOT SURE and STOP responses, the group will explore the questions and
concerns, then check for group reaction again.
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Conducting the Meeting: Group Management
Techniques
The facilitator is mostly responsible for process, and the group is mostly responsible
for content—but both share both responsibilities.

Manage timing
 Enforce starting and ending on time (also can be a cultural thing)
 Have contingency plans ready to shorten or lengthen timing
 Take things offline as appropriate

Know when to take something offline (Is the discussion taking them toward
their expected outcomes? Do the expected outcomes need to change, or does
the issue need to go offline?)

Use the agenda and expected outcomes on the wall to visually keep the group
on track

Group memory: If it’s not on the wall, it was never said.

Record side issues and off-topic comments so that the person can see it up
there and move past the need to discuss it.

Use the group norms to stay productive—consider what type of discussion you
want when developing the norms.

The power of “noticing out loud”

Be aware of Cog’s Ladder, and bring it up if needed.

Bring out the quiet people: “Would you like to expand on that last point?”
“What would you like to add?” “How do you feel about what’s been said so
far?”

Ask open-ended questions to open the group up and closed-ended questions to
shut things down.
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Individual Behavior in Meetings: Personality
Styles
Extroverted
Energized by external world of people,
events and things
Introverted
Energized by internal world of thoughts
and ideas
Like to think out loud—will express
thoughts that are in their formative
stages (the speaker may or may not be
committed to the idea)
Need time to think before speaking—
words that come out are further along in
the thought process
Like to bounce ideas off other people
Prefer to process information internally
Sensing
Trust what is tangible and concrete
Intuitive
Like working with theory and abstract
thoughts
Need to see the details in order to get a
complete view of the situation
Need to have the context that is provided
by looking at the “big picture”
Feel that the “big picture” doesn’t
provide much useful information
Don’t want to get bogged down in details
See distinctions, how things are different
See relationships, how things are similar
Objective
Focus on objective criteria for making
decisions
Subjective
Put themselves into the situation when
making decisions
Concerned about the impact on the
business
Concerned about “impact on people”
Tend to not take things personally
Tend to take things personally
Structured
Like to organize and have things be
organized
Flexible
Prefer to be flexible and go with the flow
Like structure
Feel locked in by structure
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Individual Behavior in Meetings: Personality
Styles
With your group, answer the following questions about the personality types assigned
to you, and be prepared to share your answers with the class.
Type: __________________ / ___________________
How is each perspective useful in a meeting?
How might each type be more of a challenge in a meeting?
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Individual Behavior in Meetings: Dealing with
Dysfunctional Behavior
Discussion Notes:
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Closing the Meeting
People appreciate meetings that end on time, but no meeting should adjourn without:
Tying up any loose ends
Sometimes it is impossible to cover every item on the agenda. However, avoid
hasty decisions that you may regret later. Instead, table unresolved issues until
the next meeting—or for another forum (remember to ask if a meeting is
necessary).
Follow-up assignments
To help guarantee that action is taken on decisions, it is important to know:
WHO is responsible for carrying out the decision.
WHAT is to be done.
HOW the action is to be carried out.
WHEN the work should be completed.
A summary of decisions
To help refresh the memories of group members, a quick recap of decisions
made and actions to be taken can be helpful. This review can also help prevent
confusion later.
Planning the next meeting
To get a head start on the next meeting, plan now.
Set the date.
Select the place.
Develop a preliminary agenda.
Evaluating the meeting
If the meeting is a recurring, frequent meeting, there may not be an evaluation
every meeting. But periodic evaluations of the group process will be beneficial.
After the meeting ends, plans must be put into action.
Review minutes or memos of the meeting, if they are available.
Complete any assignments you’ve been given. Unless you take your responsibility
seriously, the time everyone has invested may be wasted.
Ask questions about anything in the memos or minutes that confuses you. Seek help if
you don’t understand your assignment.
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Special Situations: Last Minute Meetings

Do the preparation activities as a group at the beginning of the meeting
(agenda, expected outcomes, group norms, name the roles, set up the room).

Postpone the meeting if you can’t have an effective meeting (when you don’t
have the people or information that you need, or when you can’t agree on
what to do).
Special Situations: One-on-One Meetings
How much “meeting management” you decide to do in a given one-on-one meeting
depends on the topic, your relationship to the other person, etc. At a minimum, it
helps to:

Take a minute at the beginning of the discussion to clarify how much time you
have available and what you want to accomplish.

Record decisions and assign action items, and determine how action items and
issues that come up will be resolved.
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Special Situations: Typical Staff Meetings
Many of the activities we have covered will be used in a staff meeting. For example:

Developing the agenda before the meeting

Identifying and preparing participants

Preparing the meeting room and facilities

Filling the roles of facilitator. Some teams rotate these roles every meeting,
some keep a person in the role longer.

Facilitating the discussion

Recording and following up on decisions, action items and issues
Some of the activities mentioned are not necessary to do in every meeting. Instead,
take some time to define them initially, then revisit them periodically. For example:

Overall purpose and expected outcomes of the meeting

Group norms

Introductions

Meeting evaluation
Each item on the staff meeting agenda can be treated like a mini-meeting:

Define the expected outcomes (why are we talking about this topic and what
do we want to accomplish—make a decision, get input, inform each other, etc.)

Determine the time allowed

Identify the discussion leader for the item
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If You Want to Learn More
Books
Doyle, Michael and David Straus. How to Make Meetings Work. New York: Jove Books,
1976.
Higgins, James M. 101 Creative Problem Solving Techniques: The Handbook of New
Ideas for Business. Winter Park, Fla.: New Management Publishing, 1994.
Scholtes, Peter R. The Team Handbook: How to Use Teams to Improve Quality.
Madison, Wis.: Joiner Associates, 1988.
Schwarz, Roger M. The Skilled Facilitator: Practical Wisdom for Developing Effective
Groups. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994.
Workshops from Human Resources
http://hr.vanderbilt.edu/training
Conflict: Moving from Misunderstanding to Resolution
Dealing with Difficult People
Managing Conflict for Leaders
Six Thinking Hats
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator
Consulting
Call Human Resources Organizational Effectiveness Team at 322-8320 for details.
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