14/09/2016
Purposeful, effective meetings
Lesley ran a half day personal effectiveness course recently for the leadership team of a lovely Scottish company. Some leadership teams spend a fair bit of their time in formal and informal meetings, so the group spent part of the course looking at how to make their meetings more effective. Given Lesley is still involved in a couple of Boards; it was a useful reminder for her too!
They discussed:
• Getting Board papers out in good time. Helping the meeting organiser by getting paperwork to them in good time. Keeping Board papers succinct, using dashboards and charts where possible.
• Chair making it clear that Board members need to read the papers beforehand.
• Starting and ending on time, not waiting for the latecomers.
• Only attending the meetings or sessions where you need to attend.
• The Chair involving the quiet folk by asking them for their opinions.
• Enabling time for brainstorming, questions and interchange, getting out of passive listening mode.
• Having candid discussions and challenging the management team (constructively) when required. The critical Board roles of policy-making, decision-making and oversight can sometimes seem like a West End play, with actors faithfully following their assigned roles.
• Making an annual plan for the important business to be discussed.
• Following a ‘first things first’ rule:
o Getting the consent agenda dealt with quickly.
o Scheduling the important issues next, leaving less critical items to the end of the agenda.
o Using a timed agenda.
o Clearly indicating if an item is for discussion, approval, or information only.
• Not allowing AOB, the Chair managing the agenda so it is not hijacked.
• Spending a few minutes at the end of every meeting discussing how the meeting went and whether improvements can be made.
• Getting the minutes out quickly – action-oriented minutes rather than ‘he said, she said’ minutes.
Happy meetings!
