“Meeting” Your Leadership Expectations
If I could offer you one easy way to improve your credibility and reputation within your company, would you be interested in that advice? What if I told you that not only would you be viewed as a more effective leader, but that you would be saving your organization money and increasing employee job satisfaction while you were at it? Interested? If you want to do all of that, start investing in your meeting management skills.
I can hear the groan now; you wanted something more sexy, more glamorous to invest in. But, be honest with yourself. Are your meetings something you are known for—at least in a positive way?
Do people come prepared to your meetings?
Do you know what you want to accomplish and how to do it?
Do people leave the meeting satisfied that they invested their time wisely?
Do people know what is expected of them in between meetings? Do they do it?
If you cannot answer a resounding “Yes!” to these questions, then I encourage you to take responsibility for the meetings you hold.
While there are many best practices, here are some of my favorite quick tips:
Don’t just ask yourself what content to cover. Ask how you want people to feel about the content. Do you want people to leave inspired, motivated, awed, angry, or satisfied? Knowing what you want makes it much easier to plan for it.
Your agenda should include not only the topics being covered, but how you intend to cover them. Include your process, such as reporting, brainstorming, or consensus building.
Keep track of actions, decisions, and items deferred. Distribute your meeting notes right away and review every meeting. (A tool to help with this is referenced below.)
Do a process check – hold everyone accountable for the outcome of the meeting. Over time, quality improvement will be second nature.
I am happy to share three meeting-specific resources on my website. Check them out and call me for meeting management training for your organization. Let me know your questions about meeting management in the comments and I will be happy to provide some guidance.
