Let’s say you have an on-going problem in your business or maybe you have an outstanding growth opportunity before you.  What could be better than holding a meeting to bring together all of your true experts (your experienced managers and employees) to discuss the problem or the opportunity and come to a quick and balanced solution to win the day?

 Well, in theory, nothing could be better than holding such a meeting.  You could argue that it would be even better to hold such meetings regularly so you would actually be anticipating business obstacles and planning actions to take advantage of opportunities and monitor the entire business environment.  It would seem you would almost be crazy not to hold such brain-trusts every chance you get!  Right?

 If this makes so much sense, why is it that “meetings” are the single most ridiculed and criticized “business event” in popular culture?  Whether it’s a sit-com, late night standup or a film, someone is always making fun of meetings; showing them to be the lame, brainless offspring of some college-educated executive boob.  The modern company meeting is too often the retreat of the uninspired; a corporate wasteland where creative juices are boxed into a redundant and stifling group exercise. 

 Why are meetings so picked upon?  How could such a valuable management tool be so derided and ridiculed?  The answer is quite simple – too often meetings deserve the reputation they have.  They deserve it!

 

 Do You Really Need A Meeting?

 Before we jump into the variations on why meetings fail, let’s first touch on an area so obvious it often goes unexplored; does the issue before you really require a meeting in order to be resolved?  Shouldn’t this be the very first critical thought?  Are you scheduling a meeting for the right reason (i.e. you need the “mind power” that only a group can bring) or is it just a historical knee-jerk response? (e.g. that’s the way we always do it).  Before choosing the pricey management tool of a meeting, make certain the value which you’ll receive is greater than the investment in energy it requires and the interruption to work flow it produces.

 

Why Meetings Fail

 There are many reasons why most meetings fail to live up to their potential.  Some have to do with the mix of “talent” within the room while others have failed because the subject matter wasn’t right for a team-solution.  Here’s a short list of the “structural failures” that commonly plague a small business:

 

-         Destination Unknown.  No one can agree what the meeting is about or define the boundaries to be enforced.  Therefore, no one knows when you’re out of bounds or the objective has been met.  Too many meetings wander, leaderless, until they just unceremoniously fizzle out.

 

-         Too Many People.  You cannot play basketball with 9 players a side.  Heads bonk, elbows land and everyone is out of position.  Pick just the core team to go against any issue.  Less is always better.  Great meetings can happen with just 2 or 3 solid participants.

 

-         The Wrong People.  Sticking with the basketball scenario, your meeting is doomed if the floor is filled with only long-range shooters, or worse, bulked-up football players.  Stock your team wisely by bringing in only the people who are best positioned to help.  Bringing in earthmovers (football players) for a finesse job can only go wildly wrong.

 

-         No Accountability.  If your gatherings don’t capture the best ideas on paper, if your meetings don’t have clear assignments of responsibility, if you don’t play around with a few “what-if scenarios” or discuss a budget or a firm deadline, then what you are holding is closer to an afternoon tea than a serious business meeting.

 

Great Meetings Rarely “Happen”

 Not every company is full of snickering employees sharpening their sarcastic remarks when a meeting is called.  Office games like “buzzword bingo” (where bored to distractive employees keep track of senior management’s favorite expressions) and other meeting-avoidance tricks have their origins in seemingly endless and useless meetings.  Believe it or not, there are organizations out there where meetings are gladly anticipated by the staff as opportunities to freely share ideas and test their problem-solving skills.  In almost every case, a staff, which embraces regular meetings as positive experiences, has been progressively “trained” by management’s actions, not just by empty words.  These team players have grown into honest-to-goodness Meeting Advocates.  What’s their secret?

 

Great Meetings are Made

 The best meetings – the ones where a singular objective is met head-on by a group of purposeful and engaged employees – rarely just “happen.”  Fully realized and successful meetings are well-planned events where the organization’s resources are thoughtfully gathered and fully prepared to contain an issue or leverage a great response to an opportunity.  This kind of magic does have a recipe for success and it goes far beyond picking a day, date and time for the meeting!   Like so many things in life it is all about preparation and process.  Try these straightforward steps for that next all-important meeting:

 

1.       What’s the issue?  What’s at stake?  In calling the meeting are you fact-finding or trouble-shooting?  Is there a big job out there just begging to be taken off the street or a troublesome quality issue creating bottlenecks in the shop?  Put your mind to work and start assembling the most powerful “group” you can.  Remember the basketball scenario?  Stock your team with the best players for each situation or “opponent.” 

 

2.       Put together a clear and tight agenda and share it well ahead of time, if possible.  The first item on the agenda should always be “Purpose of Our Meeting” and the last three (3) agenda items should always be “Names of Responsible Team Members”, “Deadline for Completion” and “Path Forward – Next Meeting Date.”  

 

3.       Create the right meeting environment.  Give meetings their best chance for success by holding them at the right time and in the right place.  If there’s just no way to do it without interruption or interference, go off-site.  Do some research and schedule it to be in synch with the office, shop, sales and installation crews.  Start them on time and end them on time even if things are going well.  Short, frequent meetings are so much better received than monthly midnight marathons.

 

4.       Define everyone’s roles and responsibilities for the meeting.  Who’s in charge?  Who captures the ideas on paper?  Who plays Devil’s Advocate?  Who keeps everyone on track with the agenda and the clock?  Don’t let anyone fly under the radar!

 

5.       Energize the goal or objective.  If you’re meeting to increase sales to a certain market segment, then the session should end with some pumped up marketing and sales people who are salivating at the thought of bringing creative concepts to bear on a targeted group.  If the meeting was about shutting down a problem, your group should be champing at the bit to get traction and fix the process.  Enthusiasm can be injected into the meeting to heighten your chances of success.  Remember, all the world’s a stage.  If you treat important meetings like a playwright, you will end up great characters, amazing dialogue and a whiz-bang ending! 

 

The Hard and Soft Costs of Bad Meetings

 

Running a string of ineffective meetings will really put you in the red.  How far?  First you have to count up all the salary costs plus the costs of perks and benefits for every meeting participant.  Your group of meeting participants most likely includes some of your top earners.  Then there are the much harder to calculate “opportunity costs” which ring up all the while in the background.  Opportunity costs are the projects, which might have been worked on instead of the string of meetings.  For instance, in lieu of preparing for the meeting, what if your team had written a sales brochure to potential customers.  Or, what if everyone had taken that time to chase sales by calling all customers with open quotes or if you had everyone calling madly for delinquent accounts receivable?  Certainly, all of these activities have merit and a positive effect on your company’s bottom line. This may be tricky unconventional accounting but it’s hard to argue its value.  

 

As you’ve seen, there’s more than simple red ink that will collect due to a poor meeting process: bad morale, broken promises to customers, missed deadlines, frustrated management, a bad reputation, etc.  Yes, it’s all mind-boggling and you can end up paralyzed by thoughts and potential costs like these!  But what else can you do?  Calling off future business meetings is not an option.  This extra analysis will keep you from being blindsided.

 

In the new millennium it’s been well established that the company with the best “talk show” wins.  Effective communication, at all levels, is a critical competency that your organization must possess or quickly learn.  Your meetings must be well designed and packaged for success.  There are basic rules for great interpersonal communication and meeting design – some of the most important ones are shown above.  Use them to renew your commitment to excellent meetings. 

 Remember – it’s all in the preparation and the process!

 

Traci Totino, PhD