Most people hate meetings. I can’t honestly say I “enjoy” them; I’d be nuts if I did. But I think that most business meetings are not run as efficiently as they could be, and this leads to the common perception that they are boring and a waste of time. Today I pulled off a very successful meeting, despite all the forces working against me. I was able to get all the necessary parties in one room, discuss our issues, come up with a solution and close the meeting. And I did it in under 45 minutes, start to finish (including time for introductions and a business card exchange). I was worried it would take all afternoon, not accomplish much, and leave me feeling drained. Instead I’m done early and feel great, and as I ponder on what went right, I thought I’d share some thoughts.

One of the most important things I did was to send out a clear agenda to all involved parties more than a week ago. This doesn’t mean we followed it perfectly or in order. But it gave us the bullet points we needed to discuss, and the reasons why we were meeting. This allowed people to decide if they really needed to attend, and for managers to choose the right people to send. As a result, I had the all right people in the room, and no one who didn’t need to be there.

Another thing that is important is to control the “tangent factor” and keep the meeting on topic, or keep people from going on and on and on. This requires that whoever is “in charge” have a strong personality (not afraid to politely cut someone off or redirect them, if necessary) and be on top of the subject (be prepared) so they can keep things focussed on what needs to be discussed. Fortunately, this was not much of an issue this time. I was well prepared, and due to the agenda and other reasons I’ve already mentioned, everyone was ready.

I mentioned that we came up with a solution to the issue at hand. In a nutshell, our agency obtains certain electronic documents from another agency. However, it’s difficult to get at those documents, and they’re not always ready in a timely manner. Because we had all the right people in the room, we were able to figure out what it is that everyone needs, and then come up with a more efficient way to obtain the documents. If we had not come up with a solution, the meeting would’ve been a waste. Of course, that also means it is critical to document the solution so that it can be followed through to implementation.

Anyway, I’m no meeting expert, I just know I’ve sat through many torture sessions, so I do my best to make sure any meeting I’m in charge of is useful and productive. Of course, I do tend to ramble, so maybe they’re still boring…