photo credit: Adrianne Harris
“we’ve run out of time to discuss that item”
(but we would have had time if we hadn’t discussed the annual shutdown for so long)
“if you would just listen and hold your questions til the end”
(but I thought I was invited to comment on the proposal, not just hear what had been decided)
“right, we’re all agreed then”
(as the chair looks at the agenda and not around the room at the faces of those at the meeting and misses the eye rolling and raised eyebrows)
These are all common meetings scenarios and we often hear those words spoken by our meeting leaders. We don’t discuss the important items first, we try to bang out a few points before running out of time to discuss the substantial agenda items. We invite people to meetings, just to be able to talk at them. We don’t really want their input, but want to make it look like they are involved. We don’t test for consensus because confrontation and further discussion will make our meeting run late, and well I’m the chair and when I say we all agree, then we all agree.
Empowering people to participate in meetings is the key element in getting everyone involved. A strong chairperson will state the aim of the meeting and let everyone know why they are there and how they need to be involved in the meeting. In fact, a strong chairperson will tell me this in advance of the meeting.
My favourite tools when compiling an agenda are action verbs. These are doing words and indicate to those coming to your meeting, what you will be doing. So if you invite me to a meeting, I want to know am I there to:
- Comment on a proposal or an idea
- Provide advice from my area of expertise
- Report on the outcomes of another meeting
- Report on the progress of a project
- Contribute to the development of an idea
- Listen to or hear an update on something
Next time you put together an agenda, let people know why you want them to come along. It will help everyone get the best out of their time together and wont leave people feeling frustrated or confused as to why they were there.
Article written by Adrianne Harris, June 2016
Adrianne Harris has often been called “the meeting queen” as she is passionate about efficient and effective meetings. Supporting and coaching meeting leaders to clarify the meeting aim and to encourage participation is her way of improving the leadership skills of our chairs and to improve the culture of meetings in organisations.
The next Meeting Leadership Workshop will be held on the 23rd of August. Registration details can be found here.