Meetings are among the most overused and underutilized of all management tools, yet planning and conducting a meetings is not difficult. While there are no magic formulas to guarantee success, there are a number of simple procedures that effective managers employ to improve the quality of their meetings.

There are, of course, many different kinds of meetings, ranging from two-person interchanges all the way up to industry-wide conventions with thousands of participants. Most management meetings, however, involve relatively small groups of people in a single organization. This training will concentrate on a number of techniques for running these kinds of management meetings more effectively.

Our program is divided into the planning activities to carry out before a meeting and the leadership activities to engage in during the meeting. Both kinds of work are essential: the most thorough preparation in the world will be wasted if you are careless during the meeting, while even outstanding meeting leadership rarely overcomes poor planning.

Objectives

• Show the importance of pre-meeting planning to determine goals and objectives.
• Understand the need for proper timing and location of meetings to minimize distractions and increase productivity.
• Recognize the important points to include on an agenda and how to carry out their discussion.
• Learn the important leadership skills for navigating the course of discussion in a meeting.
• Develop and apply problem solving skills to learn how to effectively manage different personality styles.
• Practice the techniques of idea orchestration to create solutions.
• Learn the pitfalls of "group-think."
• Establish follow-up procedures to review post-meeting progress.
• Practice, role-play, problem-solve and discuss.
• Translate what you learn into action.

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Testimonials

"Mr. Schwartz is sharp, quick, has a great attitude that makes you think and gets you involved."
Tara Smith, Project Engineer Ransom Environmental Consultants

"I enjoyed the group interaction and the leader's energy level while presenting the material. The session was excellent."
Edwina Lambert, Retail Banking Bank of Bermuda

"The course was well planned and moved quickly. My interest was maintained as Andrew spent just enough time on each portion."
Joy Highrum, Training Service Coordinator Central Middlesex

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MEETING TIPS

Have someone present to take concise notes for any necessary distribution. -- Distribute minutes promptly, within 24 hours. -- Try holding some meetings with everyone standing. More gets done in less time. -- Minimize "small talk." Do not contribute to unnecessary conversation yourself. -- Spend a few minutes at the end to critique the meeting just concluded. -- Read a good book on how to conduct better meetings. -- Be prepared for the meeting. Resist tangents. Stay on course. -- Consider alternatives to meetings, such as telephone conference calls.

MANAGING MEETINGS -- BEING PREPARED MAKES A DIFFERENCE

You can schedule all the meetings you want to, and if you are not prepared to take charge then you’re wasting your time. The time you invest planning a meeting is time well spent. The sooner you take action, the sooner you can enjoy the fruit of a productive meeting. Before you schedule a meeting, determine its purpose and necessity. Document specifically what you expect to accomplish during the meeting (including goals and objectives). A clearly written plan allows you to focus solely on the issues you need to address. Next, determine whether this purpose can be more efficiently achieved by some other means, such as a phone call, a written memo, or an informal conversation.

MANAGING SMALL MEETINGS

Keep the size of the meeting as small as possible. The larger the group, the more complicated communication becomes and the more garbled the purpose may get. For example, with a group of two, there are two communication channels, add a third person and six channels have been created. With each additional person, the number of communication channels increases expedientially. When selecting participants for the meeting, consider the following criteria: -- expertise in the topics -- contribution to the discussion -- pre-existing personal conflicts -need for new information.