Tactics for meetings

[Akela3rd]

I've just sat through a very dull meeting (Scout leaders monthly) which mainly consisted of going over ground covered before, long tangents with no bearing to the matters in hand, and discussions about issues further down the list.

22 points on the agenda and after 45 minutes we were moving onto No.3.

I made my excuses and left.

I'm not a meetings person, can't stand them and will avoid attending them if at all possible. If I'm chairing I do it with an iron fist and keep things on track, stamping out any potential divergences ruthlessly. My meetings are short and functional (and deliberately rare).

Some people love it (my best friend being one of them) and turn up with the minutes of the last meeting and meticulously pore over the detail, take endless notes and generally immerse themselves in the process. I really don't get it.

What are your tactics in meetings and how do you avoid or end them? Or are you a freak that lives for a good bulletpointed agenda?

 

 

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[HarveyBoulevard]

Meetings are to cover a set agenda and that is it.  Start a tangent or get off track and I make an example out of you.  That gets the others in line.  Finish the meeting by setting another one to check on progress and the next goal.  Done.  It better be short and to the point or I get testy.

I've been called an asshole before.  Come up with something better or move on.

Outside of meetings, I'm a generally a nice and congenial guy

[Notsocleaver]

Usually, the agenda gets approved at the beginning of the meeting. Get the stuff you care about moved to the beginning of the meeting and politely leave after those items are covered.

[MoeFOH]

Turn up early, wearing a ridiculously incongruous outfit. A hideously bright fish-patterned shirt if you can find one, everything else set to clash violently with it. This will unsettle everyone immediately, and they'll all be glad when you excuse yourself, for whatever reason, very early in proceedings.

(note: doesn't work for FOH meetings. Rob just laughs at me and pushes forward as normal. Occasionally asks where he can buy said shirt.) 

[LLC]

Make everyone understand you have a hard stop at a certain time. They need to cover what is important by then. When that time comes the meeting is over. If they don’t figure out how to manage that the first time, they will eventually and the meetings will be more focused.


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[earthson]

My clients are developers.  My favorite meetings are run by a well-educated developer who's been around the block and is not shy about hashing things out or keeping people on track.

Had a barnstormer today where people just pushed design liability back and forth for 15 minutes (it was a 45 minute meeting).  Things got heated and it was both entertaining, educational and awkward as your first hj.

I utterly hate meetings with no point, no agenda or those that serve to discuss future meetings (meetings about meetings, as it were).

[UB83]

If doing a date/event based meetings start with the furthest out event as it is less likely to be fully planned and work backwards. The event that is coming up next will have the most detail and require the most attention so finish with that, or you will never make it to the next event

[avaldes]

It is the job of the meeting host to keep it on track. In my industry there is usually a presentation to guide a meeting. It's fine to discuss some level of detail, as it is a technical industry, but the most productive are the fast paced status meetings. In depth technical meetings need to be just that, and have a small number of invitees. We don't design by committee on my projects. Luckily we hand picked all of our team at this company and we are all on the same page.

In my past at larger companies, we wasted a HUGE amount of time in worthless meetings, and meetings about meetings....and meetings about meetings about meetings!!

[El Presidente]

2 hours ago, Akela3rd said:

 

What are your tactics in meetings and how do you avoid or end them? Or are you a freak that lives for a good bulletpointed agenda

 

 

 

With PCC and or Habanos, i find the best strategy is to take off your pants before you enter the room.

9 times out of 10 the outcome of the meeting is known.  I appreciate being lubed with a few platitudes first but otherwise.......get on with the reamiing and let me go home ?

[Phillys]

Real meetings with staff or senior management (not strategy meetings with my business partner) are short and/or to the point depending on the meeting. Fixed time schedule and it ends when scheduled. Agenda a few days ahead with reading material on the subject, everyone needs to be very well prepared. Only people that contribute are invited. As soon as it goes off topic or there is a two person conversation during the meeting, they are asked to take it offline, unless it impacts the whole team (and is urgent and last minute), in that case, add it to the agenda of the next meeting or call a new one. If people aren't prepared, we cancel and make it known to the heads of business units that everyone's time was wasted and not to let it happen again (doing so repeatedly will get you fired quick).  

I also encourage people to get up and leave if they have nothing to contribute or if they just had a few points to cover. Same with people that seem bored. Get up, walk out, and get back to work. No offense taken. We run a tight ship and challenge the employees and senior management but at the same time we give them a lot of freedom and reward everyone accordingly. Most people here like it, those that don't fit in well usually leave for jobs that better fit them.  

I have found that a large portion of meetings could be handled through email, then if you need to dig deeper or get everyone in the room talking, then call a meeting.

[Fuzz]

My mantra was, "A quick meeting is a good meeting". Depending on the frequency of meetings, if you cannot provide an update in 5-10 minutes, your update is not concise enough. I held team meetings weekly, manager meetings fortnightly, and project updates monthly.

I used to give set times for each topic (I used a stopwatch), and anything that went beyond the agenda or if a topic was going off the rails, I'd call time and park that topic. It is up to the meeting organiser to reign in people when things go awry. Assign a note taker and handout meeting minutes the next day. Review topics that went awry, and call a separate meeting to discuss only those topics, but invite only essential people. Clearly state to each person attending that the meeting is to resolve the issues, not lay blame or keep tossing the ball around.

Invite only essential people to meetings. Non-essential people may attend, but they have no say or time. Make sure all attendees have a clear understanding of the purpose of the meeting. If the purpose is to give updates, then that is it. Any new business is to be noted at the end of the meeting and discussed if there is still time, or taken offline for another meeting. If the purpose is to resolves issues, then I tell everyone that they had better have their for/against arguments clearly presented. If their argument is "I just don't like it" or something to that effect, you are shutdown and we move on to the next person. Start pointless arguing, I close the meeting and walk. Nobody has time to be stuck in a meeting that is going nowhere.

I was a bit of a hard arse (and a short one too), when it came to meetings.

[dragn270]

I work for a Japanese company and they really know how to drag a meeting on. Especially when it’s late at night or super early in the morning for me. The worst is the meeting before the real meeting. Almost as bad is being invite (and getting the stink eye if you don’t attend) to meetings that you have absolutely no input on. 

[dobbs]

my guess is that your monthly scout meetings are with volunteers...

you can find all kinds of meeting "best practices" published on the web or otherwise, but i'd guess that most people don't have a whole lot of experience with meetings at a volunteer organization; it is very different. much advice on how i or other high-pressure industries run meetings won't apply, as volunteers are rarely punished for poor performance.

long story short: someone (you?) has to rally everyone around a dedication to focused meetings: sell the concept, provide direction (advice above is great, select what you think may work), and firmly, but gently, keep everyone on-track. it is hard and unappreciated work, which is why it is rarely implemented. at a volunteer organization i was a part of it was difficult to say the least, but not impossible.

good luck,

-dobbs

[grizzlee]

No agenda with specific desired outcomes, time boxed topics and associated reading materials well in advance (minimum of 48 hours), I decline the invitation as it would be a rarity if that meeting was not a waste of time. Time is a limited and precious commodity, not to wasted in a pointless discussion in disguise of a meeting.  I'm flexible about a lot in business as S#$% Happens, but not about meetings.

And yes, I've been called an ass because of the above.  

[tigger]

I find turning the thermostat way down helps push things along.  

[Shelby07]

Have a meeting on how to have a meeting. 

[Fuzz]

28 minutes ago, Shelby07 said:

Have a meeting on how to have a meeting. 

No, you need a 10 step plan:

1. Create a focus group on "How to have a meeting"
2. Hire consultants to conduct research on the best meeting format
3. Test several different meeting formats
4. Write up an instruction manual
5. Organise seminars and coaching
6. Implement "How to have a meeting V2.0"
7. Hire analytical consults to review the success of "How to have a meeting V2.0"
8. Announce to the company the successful rollout of "How to have a meeting V2.0"
9. Congratulate yourself for all the hard work you have done over the past 2 years working on "How to have a meeting 2.0"
10. Go back to step 1 when nobody reads or follows the instruction manual, to begin work on "How to have a meeting V2.1"

[LordAnubis]

Remove all chairs from the place. Make the meetings require standing. That’ll make it super fast. I go so far as to not have a spare seat in my office. If you want to talk bout something we’ll stand and you’ll talk fast. Only time I allow a chair to come into my office is if I have to show someone how to do something.

[Fuzz]

At your next meeting, put up this sign.

 

[Akela3rd]

my guess is that your monthly scout meetings are with volunteers...
you can find all kinds of meeting "best practices" published on the web or otherwise, but i'd guess that most people don't have a whole lot of experience with meetings at a volunteer organization; it is very different. much advice on how i or other high-pressure industries run meetings won't apply, as volunteers are rarely punished for poor performance.
long story short: someone (you?) has to rally everyone around a dedication to focused meetings: sell the concept, provide direction (advice above is great, select what you think may work), and firmly, but gently, keep everyone on-track. it is hard and unappreciated work, which is why it is rarely implemented. at a volunteer organization i was a part of it was difficult to say the least, but not impossible.
good luck,
-dobbs

Spot on. Yeah, it's generally people who regard it as a social event and that's fine to a degree. But you can't assume that all volunteers aren't used to the process, a number of mine hold prominent positions outside of what they do with us.
But I'm digressing - back to the point - I'd love to airhorn anyone who starts rambling on.

Sent from 47171 Lempo 

[Akela3rd]

At your next meeting, put up this sign.

 

There's no I in Team, but there is a U in ( finish this yourselves).

Sent from 47171 Lempo 

[Shelby07]

15 hours ago, Fuzz said:

No, you need a 10 step plan:

1. Create a focus group on "How to have a meeting"
2. Hire consultants to conduct research on the best meeting format
3. Test several different meeting formats
4. Write up an instruction manual
5. Organise seminars and coaching
6. Implement "How to have a meeting V2.0"
7. Hire analytical consults to review the success of "How to have a meeting V2.0"
8. Announce to the company the successful rollout of "How to have a meeting V2.0"
9. Congratulate yourself for all the hard work you have done over the past 2 years working on "How to have a meeting 2.0"
10. Go back to step 1 when nobody reads or follows the instruction manual, to begin work on "How to have a meeting V2.1"

This has already been done. I remember attending a 3 day seminar on the results. 

[Akela3rd]

This has already been done. I remember attending a 3 day seminar on the results. 

Was I invited?

Sent from 47171 Lempo 

[Shelby07]

26 minutes ago, Akela3rd said:

Was I invited?

Sent from 47171 Lempo 
 

That depends. How deeply is your company invested in “why do I feel the way I feel today” classes?

[Puros Y Vino]

Back in my Telus days I had to fly to Calgary for meetings.  We hired independent meeting facilitators to run them.  Best, fruitful meetings I've ever attended.  They would keep us on agenda, on schedule and on point with actual follow ups being assigned and seen through.