I’m currently sitting in a meeting for the local chapter of a sizable professional organization. The fact that I’m writing this probably suggests to you that I’m not all that excited about what’s going on. The reason is that despite being a supposed professional organization that as part of it’s “agenda” promotes good management, communications, and other process, nobody in this group has ever put together a good quality meeting in their lives.
Look at the agenda:
- 8:30 – 8:45: “Warm up”
- 8:45 – 8:50: Opening, welcome and introductions
- 8:50 – 9:00: Meeting agenda and organization
- 9:00 – 9:55: Department introductions, 6-8 minutes each
- 9:55 – 10:00: Team formation
- 10:00 – 10:10: Break
- 10:10 – 11:00: Breakout Sessions
- 11:00 – 11:10: Closing
What do you think is wrong?
Well, let’s start with the obvious. What is the purpose of this meeting? Can you even divine this from the agenda?
OK, I’ll clue you in. The purpose was to get volunteers involved in the organization and assigned to specific responsibilities.
Can you see on the agenda where this would come across?
Can you see how this agenda drives towards that ultimate purpose?
Neither can I.
And not surprisingly, the meeting is wasting a lot of time and heading towards being a complete failure.
Here’s my agenda, should anybody ever ask me for one:
Purpose: To introduce volunteers to the organization and allow them to select an appropriate volunteer opportunity.
Homework: Review the attached powerpoint describing each of the departments, it’s functions and its volunteer needs. Please complete this before the meeting as we will not have time for review.
Schedule:
- 8:30 – 9:00: Bagels and coffee.
- 9:00 – 9:05 : Welcome and quick agenda overview
- 9:05 – 9:20 : Quick intro of each department's needs by the director, 1-2 minutes each. (Reminder, we expect you to have reviewed the background information provided in advance for details.)
- 9:20 – 9:30 : Break
- 9:30 - -10:10 : Department roundtable #1, select one of the departments you may be interested in volunteering for and speak with the director about opportunities in a small group setting. Identify opportunities and fit.
- 10:10 - 10:15 : Quick break and reorganize
- 10:15 – 10:55 : Department roundtable #2, same as the first roundtable, in a second department.
- 10:55 – 11:00 : Closure and review next steps/action items
Action Items::
- Directors to follow up with volunteers to confirm choices and assignments.
- Additional action items to be agreed to between directors and volunteers.
- Other items resulting from meeting
Next steps: Be prepared to present final teams, assignments and expectations at next board meeting on [date]...
[Off topic. I am now listening to one regularly self-interested participant who has hijacked the meeting to discuss his pet topics. Nobody is telling him: “not on the agenda, we need to table this, shut up.” But running meetings is a topic for another day.]
Why is my agenda better?
- It's more than just a schedule of events. It states what's going to happen and provides a roadmap for how we're going to get there. At it's core, that's what an agenda is supposed to do. Putting one together should make the meeting organizer think about what needs to happen and who needs to be there. Often, putting together a carefully crafted agenda will reveal what or who is missing, as well as what or who can be left out. That simple process -- advance planning -- tends to make things far more successful than they otherwise would be.
- Purpose. I state one. Always. If there’s no clearly stated purpose, there’s no reason to have a meeting. The purpose, by the way, needs to be a real accomplishment. “Share information” is not a purpose. Most of us do that all day long without being stuck in a cramped room with people you really don’t want to talk to. With a stated purpose, there are no questions about why we are there or what we are expected to deliver.
- Homework. Nobody shows up to my meetings without being prepared. In fact, I’m usually quite blunt about the fact that if you can’t be bothered to do the homework (in this case, review a powerpoint), don’t bother to show up because you won’t get anything out of it and will likely become an impediment to everybody else there accomplishing what they need to. Meetings don’t exist to allow people a forum to just talk. That kind of information can be disseminated by far more efficient means.
- There is time for somewhat social activities at the beginning. I don’t usually designate such things optional, but most people realize they are. I find that for meetings like this one, or for kickoffs and other situations where people can’t be expected to know each other, it’s nice to allow for it. Not everybody shows up for it, which is OK. Some people are not social by nature (I’m one of them) and forcing them isn’t good for anybody. (As to the original agenda, I have no idea what a "warm up" period is.
- By not allocating an hour to speeches, I allow people to actually be involved in discussions of opportunities for twice as long and to familiarize themselves with two different departments in the organization. People don’t show up to listen to speeches, they show up to participate. Allow this. Disseminate the information that would otherwise be presented in a long-winded speech in advance.
- Not only this, but by disseminating the “speech” information in advance and in writing, I force the would-be speakers to think carefully about what they want to say and how they want to say it. Lots of people choose to “wing it” when asked to introduce something at a meeting. They don’t do this – in fact they can’t do this -- when they have to write it out and make a compelling case in advance.
- I call out exactly what’s going to happen in those roundtables. I force both the directors and the participants to think about this in advance. By giving them information in advance I actually promote this kind of pre-thinking. It’s amazing to me how much more effective meetings tend to be when people have thought about things and are prepared.
- I point out from the start that there will be both action items and next steps. Don’t bother showing up if you think it’s over the minute you walk out the door.
- The agenda and homework would be sent out about a week in advance, with a reminder two days in advance. It would not be handed to you as you walk in the door. Again, you get far more useful participation when people can think and plan ahead.
- You don’t end up with a frustrated roomful of people like me typing on laptops while others are droning on, disseminating information that you should have had a week ago…
Andy Grove once wrote that meetings were improperly perceived in most places as being a waste of time. Meetings like the one I’m sitting in are the reason. He argued, instead, that meetings were “the language of business” and the place where the most important work could and should be done. His point, was that meetings need to be interactive and involving. Long speeches and introductions are not effective use of anybody’s time.
A boss of mine at Intel (back then it had one of the best “meeting cultures” I ever worked in, in large part due to Grove’s influence) had a simple rule. With the exception of “emergency” meetings that had to be called on short notice, you were to consider a meeting to be canceled if you didn’t have the agenda and homework assignment at least 24 hours in advance. Just don’t show up. No explanations or excuses necessary. He correctly noted that meetings that weren’t properly prepared typically produced no results. It was true a decade ago when I encountered that rule, and it’s true today.
It’s why I can’t be bothered to be on the board of this particular organization anymore.
