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Death by MeetingLecture 7.3

University of Alberta

ALES 204

Nancy Bray

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Housekeeping

Assignment #2 Questions

Labs next week: bring a copy of your fact sheet for peer review

Guest lecture on Monday - no PowerPoint!

Practice speeches - start week of March 11

Second half of ALES 204

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Lecture Outline

1.How to write a business letter

2.What are meetings?

3.How do meetings work?

4.How can you make meetings better

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1. How to write a business letter

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DateRecipient address

Salutation

Body

Closing

Signature block

Enclosure

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2. What are meetings?

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The bad news...

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Boring lectures will

be replaced with

boring meetings

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11 million meetings/day in the U.S.

62 meetings/months for average professionals

37% of employee time spent in meetings

professionals estimate 50% of meetings are a waste of time

31 hours a month lost to unproductive meetings

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Professionals admit to... Daydreaming (91%)

Missing meetings (96%)

Missing parts of meetings (95%)

Bringing other work to meetings (73%)

Falling asleep (39%)

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Professionals complain that... They don’t know why they were invited

The presenter reads from the PowerPoint slides.

Meetings last too long

The flow of the meeting is disturbed by technology

No problems are ever solved

Employees are told what is wrong, but no chance to input

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A meeting is: A group of people thinking purposefully together to

Exchange and evaluate information

Solve problems

Resolve conflicts

Inspire

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Why meet?

In-person discussion could help

Read non-verbal behaviour

Fair decision-making is difficult on e-mail

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Types of meetings

Informal Formal

• Spontaneous• Conversation• “Water Cooler”

• Planned• Legal consequences

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Types of meeting

Less formal More formal•Water cooler•Stand ups•Daily or weekly updates

•Monthly planning

•Annual Planning

•Shareholder’s meeting

•Board meeting•Parliamentary meeting

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Rules of order

Robert’s Rules of Order

Parliamentary Rules of Order

Informal Formal

Increased use of formal meeting procedures (rules of order)

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Robert’s Rules of Order Used by 85% of organizations in the U.S.

Rules determine: who can speak what type of motions can be put forward

how many people are needed to make a decision

the process to make decisions

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3. How do meetings work?

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The main characters The Chair

The Administrator (secretary, minute-taker)

Meeting participants

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The Chair should: Communicate the purpose of the meeting

Direct the conversation during the meeting and make sure that timing is respected

Give the group a sense of security

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Chair must decide S- Situation (time/place)

P- Purpose (goals)

A- Audience (who)

M- Method (way to accomplish goal)

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The Agenda

The Chair is responsible for setting the agenda (written program)

Agenda set in advance

Chair gets agenda items from meeting participants

Sends out agenda before meeting

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Agenda should include

Time/Venue

Who will not be able to attend (absences/regrets)

Minutes of previous meeting

Matters arising from previous meeting

Other items to discuss

Reports from sub-committees

Guest speakers

Date/venue for next meeting

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Date and time

Agenda items

Follow up

Discussion items

New business

Next meeting

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Tips:

Most difficult items should be placed in the middle third of the meeting

No longer than 90 minutes

Allocate time for each item

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Opening the meeting

Start on time

State purpose of the meeting

Make introductions

Announce procedures and timings

Discuss one item at a time

Finish on time

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Managing the meeting

Diverting tangents

“That’s an interesting idea, but I don’t think we’re advancing our goals.”

“We’re talking about a new topic- do we want to swap out an agenda item to continue discussing it?”

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Managing the meeting

Getting to the right input:

Manage dominant personalities Give credit for ideas Manage quiet members Don’t dismiss ideas or take sides Look out for disparaging comments When questions are asked of you- turn it back to the group

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Managing the meeting

Aim for consensus

Make a note of open items

Summarize the action items at the end of the meeting

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQW1fEwYZVA&feature=fvwre

ExampleA meeting turns into chaos because of a poor chair

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The Administrator Assists the chair in planning the meeting

Takes care of the logistics for a meeting (i.e., room, time, food)

Takes minutes during the meeting

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Title

Attendees

Action Items

Next meeting

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Title

Chair

Meeting agenda

Discussion items

Summary of discussion

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List of minute elements

Title of Group / project Date / location / time Present: List all those present. Apologizes: List all those who gave apologizes. Review of minutes from last meeting. Include date and time that minutes were accepted

Discussion items Action items Other business items Date, time, chair of next meeting

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How to take minutes Taking minutes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brPtSs04r1Y&feature=relmfu

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The Participants Drama Queen

The Grouch / Silent One

One-Track Mind

Peter PowerPoint

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Drama Queen

Interrupts

Brings up the worst-case scenario

Self-appointed spokesperson

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How to handle the drama queen

Re-focus to the topic at hand

Focus the attention on someone who does not speak as often

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The Grouch

Crossed arms

Eyes rolling

No comments

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How to deal with the grouch Call on this person

Ask if they have a different opinion

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One-track mind Wants to be acknowledged

Says, “But let’s remember...”

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How to handle one-track mind Acknowledge the importance of the issue

Summarize the steps to resolve the issue

Keep to the agenda

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Peter PowerPointReads from his long-winded PowerPoint slides word for word

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How to handle Peter PowerPoint

Set limits on PowerPoint (number of words on slide)

Don’t allow PowerPoint at all

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Can meetings get better?

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Why meetings fail

The meeting is unnecessary

The meeting is held for the wrong reason

The objective of the meeting is unclear

Lack of preparation

The wrong people are there

Lack of proper control

Poor environment

Poor timing

No follow up

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Remember

Every meeting is unique

A meeting’s success judged by the actions which result

Managing the meeting is everyone’s responsibility

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Shake things up

If a meeting isn’t necessary, don’t have one.

Try different and “new” types of meetings

Look for and provoke sources of legitimate conflict

Take notes

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Take away

Meetings are important form of communication

Don’t waste participants’ time

Know your role

Take responsibility for the productivity of the meeting no matter which role you play

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