Tips for Focused Meetings

Have you ever left a meeting feeling that it was unorganized, poorly planned, or a waste of time? Have you been the person in charge of planning a meeting that didn't go as expected? This posting discusses 4 steps you can take to turn those unproductive meetings into lucrative sessions.

What can I do to make my meetings successful?

1. Have a good action agenda that outlines methods and approaches for the meeting
   
2. Assign roles in the meeting itself and share the leadership of the meeting


3. Ensure action items are captured


4. Follow-up after the meeting to insure people are executing their commitment

Questions: You Asked and We Answered

How do I make sure that people actually do what they agreed to do in the meeting?

• Make sure you send out the action item list


• For critical areas, call the individual responsible and ask them to review what they are doing to achieve the objective. Ask if they need more resources to complete the assigned task

I’ve tried using agendas in my meetings and I can’t get people to stay focused…now what?

• Be sure that you only have the necessary people in the meeting that can contribute to the topic.


• You may want to assign a gatekeeper who’s job it is to pull the group back to the agenda topic. This will help the group stay focused.


• Another thing to try is to have an engaging process that involves the participants in the discussion.

Our meeting minutes are long and look like a dissertation. No one ever reads them. What can I do?

• You should only capture the agreements for action and decisions made on a standard action item form. To download a free action item form template, visit our website www.microburstlearning.com/knowledgecenter.php


• I would insure that team members realize that at the beginning of every meeting that you are going to review the action item list to determine if each of the action items is on schedule