A Meeting of the Minds

A Meeting of the Minds
Meetings offer managers the chance to unify the workforce,
communicate important messages, and create an organized
forum for employee concerns. Therefore, meetings are a
crucial aspect of running a business. Unfortunately, many
managers treat meetings as ad hoc events and fail to
properly prepare. Preparation, however, is the key to
holding a successful meeting. Without clear objectives,
managers flounder. Without rules and protocols, meeting
participants can transform a quiet company gathering into a
chaotic brawl. To avoid such a disaster, managers must
learn to take charge of the meeting from the planning stage
through to the conclusion. Proper preparation is all it
takes to affect a meeting of the minds every time.

Most of us have sat through meetings where managers never
make a point. And most of us walk away from such meetings
feeling frustrated and confused. After all, no one likes
to invest their time just to come up empty handed.
Aggravated employees, however, are far from the only hazard
of poor planning. Ambiguous presentations require
employees to fill in the blanks that their managers have
left incomplete. Without clear guidelines, it's easy for
employees to draw erroneous conclusions about their
manager's expectations.

An unclear agenda also leaves room for one disgruntled
employee to transform a quiet gathering into an emotional
battlefield. Envision how this plays out: A manager
begins to discuss a controversial topic when one employee
interrupts with a probing question. As the manager
struggles to answer, the meeting participants begin to talk
amongst themselves. Suddenly the crowd becomes quite
animated. Order devolves into pandemonium as one employee
after another drills the manager about an unpopular company
policy. In this case, the lack of preparation allowed
meeting participants to override the manager's objectives
and unveil negative sentiments.

By investing time up-front, managers can avoid these
inherent dangers of poor-planning. Before calling a
meeting, managers must develop a clear and concise agenda.
Attempting to pack too much into one meeting will obscure
the bottom line, and prevent employees from grasping the
intended message. Managers should always provide meeting
participants with an advanced copy of the agenda.
Distributing the agenda prior to the meeting gives
participants the chance to prepare on-point question. It
also ensures that participants will not feel blindsided by
a controversial meeting topic. Well-informed participants
are more likely to engage with the meeting organizer,
creating a fluid and comfortable atmosphere. Finally,
attendees will appreciate knowing how their managers intend
to spend their time.

Planning puts managers on the right track but effective
facilitation ensures they hit the mark. Effective
facilitation has substantive and procedural components.
Success on the substantive side requires that managers
prepare talking points that track the previously
distributed agenda. Talking points help managers stay on
course when interruptions and disturbances threaten the
meeting's progress. They also help with time management
because managers can highlight the sub-topics they must
cover and address them first.

On the procedural side, meetings must have set time-limits.
Participants lose focus when meetings drag on and are more
likely to remain engaged when they know that a meeting has
a definite end. Time-parameters make it easier for
managers to refuse to entertain an off-topic question,
which helps to eliminate a major cause of unproductive
meetings.

Good preparation and effective facilitation are all it
takes to run a successful meeting. By investing time in
planning and strategizing, managers avoid stuttering
through difficult topics. A clear agenda not only helps
managers deliver their message, but it also helps attendees
receive the message. Planning offers comfort, which builds
confidence and a take-charge attitude. Pushovers get swept
under the rug, but self-assured managers captivate their
audiences from beginning to end. With foresight and
fortitude managers can avoid the hiccups that cause
meetings to go awry.

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Linda Finkle, CEO of Incedo Group, works closely with
leaders and management to create sustainable productivity
and organizational strength. She holds a Master Certified
Coach designation through the International Coaching
Federation. For more information on Linda and Incedo Group,
please go to http://www.MakeSomeDamnMistakes.com