If you are like most Product Managers that I know, you spend more time than you like in meetings. In the best of worlds, meetings can be productive endeavours where decisions get made and progress happens. Sadly, I don’t live in the best of worlds. Meetings in my world are sometimes useful. They can impart information, allow for vigorous dialogue and keep everyone’s priorities and effort in alignment. They can also be a colossal waste of time, especially when attendees are late or absent altogether.
As a participant, you don’t always have control over what happens in the meeting, but if you are running things, you need to make sure that attendees don’t think your meeting is a waste of time. Scott Berkun made a post on his blog about how to start a meeting on time and keep it moving. I have paraphrased his key points below, but you can get the full details on his post. I don’t agree with all of them and have added comments to each to give my $0.025.
- If you called the meeting, you run the show
- get there on time
- write/distribute a bullet list agenda
- manage the conversation so everyone has a voice
- table side issues so that they can be discussed outside of the current meeting
IVAN’S COMMENTS: As the meeting planner, you get out of it what you put into it. If you can’t get to your own meeting on time, why should anyone else? Show others that you are committed to the meeting and that you value their time, too.
If you make the effort to have a meeting agenda (even if it is just one item), it will be easier to keep folks on task and make sure that all of the issues that you called the meeting for are addressed before the meeting ends.
Item number 3 is hard, especially if there are many attendees. Not everyone needs to be vocal in the meeting (some are there just for information), but if you think that someone may have valuable input that they are are unable to disclosed due to others, query that person. I have found the using statements such as, “Jeremy, how does this issue impact your team?” or “Cleo, does the solution that Amit proposed sound like it will work for the customer?” This allows the person an avenue to enter the dialogue unimpeded. They may choose not to, but you have given them the opportunity.
If one or more people are hi-jacking the discussion, wait for a pause in the discourse and then direct the conversation back to the agenda. This doesn’t always work, especially if the person you are trying to corral doesn’t get the hint. Politely remind them of the agenda items and ask them to discuss their topic with you after the close of the meeting.
- Meetings start when the senior person(s) arrives.
Most meetings won’t start until they arrive and other attendees will take their cue from the senior managers. If the VP is never late, no one else will be either. If the VP is always 10 minutes behind, everyone else will follow. If you’re a team manager, and meetings always start late, know (and blame) thyself.
IVAN’S COMMENTS: I don’t agree with Scott on this. If you have a quorum (read: enough and the correct people to make the meeting useful), then start when it is scheduled. Latecomers can catch up afterwards or in the context of the meeting. Everyone gets caught up with other commitments: urgent issues, other meetings, phone calls, traffic, etc., but waiting until the senior staff arrives to start disrespects everyone else’s time.
If you truly cannot have the meeting until someone arrives and they are more than 5 minutes late, then reschedule the meeting. And make sure you follow up with perpetual latecomers. They may decided to opt-out of the discussion or when put on the spot, change their behavior (at least for your meetings).
- Watch the time.
Someone should be assigned to watch the clock. Attendees can chat for a substantial amount of time on topics unrelated to the meeting.
IVAN’S COMMENTS: Scott says someone, but I say YOU. It’s your meeting. You own the agenda and are responsible for keeping things on track. If it’s a big meeting and there are lots of topics, go ahead and ask someone to help you keep track of time, but really it’s on your shoulders. Knowing when to encourage discussion and when attendees are just talking in circles is a skill learned with practice, so get used to closing out unproductive discussion.
- Plan to end 5 minutes early.
If you always go to the last second, or go over, guess what you’re doing? You’re screwing over the next batch of meetings people need to get to. You’ll make unexpected friends by always ending early, which is easy if you watch the clock.
IVAN’S COMMENTS: In companies with a large office footprint, this is a general courtesy, but if you work in a smaller company, I think it’s more of a guideline then a rule. What’s more important is only scheduling a meeting for the time you need. Don’t schedule an hour-long meeting for a topic that only requires 20 minutes. Equally important, don’t schedule a half-hour meeting for a topic that needs and hour or more. Accurately judging the amount of time you need to discuss the topic gives attendees confidence that you know the scope of the issue and that you can effectively use rather than abuse their time.
- Only have meetings that matter.
Learn how to make the meeting worthy of attendees time and effort, or don’t have the meeting.
IVAN’S COMMENTS: The most effective tool for running a meeting is to not have the meeting to start with. Do you really need to have a meeting for this issue? Ask yourself if you could discuss the issue or solve the problem by walking over to talk to someone or by calling them on the phone. Be honest. Because if you having meetings to discuss every mundane detail, you will find that your meetings will be less frequently attended, as everyone will figure out that the meeting isn’t really that important.