How To Get Better At Leading Meetings

Some people love meetings—they can jump the entire day from one meeting to the next believing all of them are important. There’s another group of people who absolutely hate meetings—they avoid meetings, express their disdain when they do have to attend one and consider them a complete waste of time. Then there are people in the middle who neither love nor hate them—they understand that some meetings are necessary to resolve conflicts, avoid confusion and seek alignment. They are an opportunity to come together, iron out our differences and commit to moving in the same direction. 

Meetings are important. Without them, it will be impossible to make good decisions, align on common goals and make progress on projects and tasks. Meetings can unlock productivity, make teams more performant and develop a strong sense of camaraderie that can make work less boring and more fun. They can prevent mistakes from happening, generate a diverse set of ideas and provide an opportunity to challenge the status quo. 

But for meetings to be effective, there has to be a conscious effort from people who lead these meetings. Without focusing on what makes a meeting useful, it’s easy to suck into people’s time and energy. It’s easy to conduct discussions that don’t end in a conclusion or have clear action items. It’s easy to mistake silence for approval or lack of questions for clarity. Unprepared, unstructured and unplanned meetings can be a disaster. If you’re the one conducting it, you have to respect other people’s time. 

While it is true that much of the time we currently spend in meetings is largely wasted, the solution is not to stop having meetings, but rather to make them better. Because when properly utilized, meetings are actually time savers. That’s right. Good meetings provide opportunities to improve execution by accelerating decision making and eliminating the need to revisit issues again and again. But they also produce a subtle but enormous benefit by reducing unnecessarily repetitive motion and communication in the organization.
― Patrick Lencioni, Death by Meeting

Becoming significantly better at leading meetings can’t happen in a day, but if you keep following these 5 practices, you’ll see tremendous improvements in how your meetings are perceived and the results you achieve as a group. 

Schedule consciously 

It may be tempting to call a meeting for every idea, issue or discussion, thinking that getting together as a group will expedite the process of decision-making and help you reach a quick conclusion. However, meetings distract others from doing focused work—people need dedicated blocks of time to be productive, which keeps getting disrupted with meetings popping out every now and then.  

For things that can be communicated or discussed over email or chat, making everyone walk up to a room and sort things out is unnecessary. Async communication not only gives an opportunity to others to respond at their own time, it also prevents the energy drain that comes with attending too many meetings. 

So, before you decide to block a spot on others calendars, take a moment to determine if you really need one. Is there another way to convey what you need to say? Can you get others’ inputs without meeting them face-to-face? What additional value will you bring by getting them together?

If you absolutely need a meeting, don’t invite entire teams or a large group of people. Keep the invite limited to a few people—Who has knowledge and information that’s relevant to the discussion? Who are the key decision makers and important stakeholders? Who all needs the context and details of what’s going to be discussed? Who’s required to act on it?     

Imagine that everyone who shows up represents fifty dollars. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but if you invite the wrong two people, or two people come to an unnecessary meeting every day, then you’ve wasted one hundred dollars and prevented two people from providing more value by remaining at their desks and getting their work done. Say this happens once a day; that’s one hundred dollars a day, multiplied by 250 operating days. That is $25,000 a year that disappeared because you invited the wrong people to a meeting. If this goes on for years then it could cost your company hundreds of thousands of dollars. That’s only if you’re inviting two people wrongly. Imagine if the majority of people attending meetings in the company shouldn’t be?
— Cameron Herold, Meetings Suck

Don’t hold a meeting just because you think this is what you should do. Minimize the number of meetings and the number of people who need to get together to accomplish anything. 

Have a clear agenda 

A meeting without a clear line-up of what needs to be discussed can easily go off-track or get hijacked by a random topic. When people don’t know what’s in and out of scope, they may bring their own agendas to the meeting. Without a proper structure, meeting looks like a random exchange of messages that lacks value and substance—with a lot of talk, less alignment and more friction. 

Not having a set agenda from the beginning also makes it hard for others to contribute—they may not be able to share their best ideas when put on the spot or may fear speaking up without an opportunity to think things through. Ideas get lost and concerns are withheld as people end up sharing what seems right in that moment, not what’s necessary. Being unprepared can also lead to scheduling many follow-up discussions as people need more time to think, analyze and share their perspective. Decisions are delayed, projects drag on and timelines are missed when meetings lack clear intent and focus.   

To lead meetings effectively, start with a clear agenda—list down 4-5 items that will be the key focus area. Share documentation and other relevant material to read up. State the expectations, if any, from specific people so that they can come prepared. State the outcome and what you wish to achieve from the meeting so that everyone can stay focused on the objectives and the end results.  

Agendas serve several purposes. The main ones are keeping the meeting running in the correct sequence and covering the right topics. However, another major role of the agenda is to let the meeting participants know what the meeting will be about and also what it won’t cover. 
— Heather Baker, Successful Minute Taking and Writing

A meeting is only as good as its agenda. Share the agenda beforehand—give participants time to think and prepare. 

Set the ground rules

A clear agenda sets the direction for the meeting. It paves the way for a productive discussion. However, many things can still derail a meeting and prevent you from achieving the desired outcomes. These things may seem like basic communication etiquette, but without reminding people about them, most tend to go wild. 

People may interrupt others when they’re talking. This not only breaks their chain of thought, but can also lower their confidence. Passing mean remarks or being disrespectful can turn a healthy debate into a war room. Saying things that are irrelevant to the topic at hand can distract others and take the meeting off-track. Going into lengthy explanations or sharing too much information which aren’t really necessary can waste everyone’s time. 

A productive meeting requires clear, concise, respectful and thoughtful communication. And this can’t be achieved if people in the meeting don’t understand the difference between useful callouts and unhealthy interruptions. If they don’t understand how decisions will be made or who has the final authority, differences of opinion can lead to long debates, causing meeting agenda to go out the window. If they haven’t been told about which behaviors are acceptable and what won’t be tolerated, they may say or do things that puts some people off. 

Setting the ground rules at the beginning of the meeting can prevent some of these problems by reminding everyone to focus on the agenda, while keeping their egos, biases, personal grudges and other differences aside. 

Effective communication is shaped by human nature and is subject to the complexities, inconsistencies, and particularities which characterize human behavior. Since communication is intended to change the way people think and feel and what they understand, know, and do, it will invariably be shaped by human emotions.
― Helio Fred Garcia, The Power of Communication

Meetings with behavioral expectations reduce the possibility of people engaging in unruly ways towards each other. It makes them more likely to present themselves with calm, poise and a friendly demeanor.

Give everyone a chance to speak

There are two types of people in a meeting—loudspeakers and observers. 

Loud ones try to dominate the conversation by speaking non-stop, imposing their views and talking over others thereby preventing them from fully expressing their views. In short, they hog the conversation not leaving enough room for anyone else to share their thoughts. 

Quiet ones stay silent, often observing and listening to others viewpoints while holding themselves back from contributing out of fear that their ideas will not be valued or that they will make a mistake in front of others. Not speaking up or being sidelined by the loud ones can get their ideas, thoughts and concerns overlooked.  

Just because observers don’t object doesn’t mean they agree. Don’t mistake their silence for compliance, lack of interest or incompetence. They may bring fresh perspective or creative solutions which if left unshared will prevent everyone from capitalizing on their valuable insights. 

To create space for the silent ones to speak up, put a pause on the loud voices. Say this:

Let’s give everyone a chance to speak. I’d like to hear from others who haven’t had a chance to share yet.

I value your enthusiasm, but let’s give some others a moment to share their thoughts.

Let’s make sure everyone has a chance to contribute. How about we hear from someone who hasn’t shared yet?

Great points, but let’s step back and hear from others so we can broaden the discussion.

We have some quiet voices in the room and their perspectives are important, so let’s listen for a moment.

If the silent members still don’t chime in, call them out one by one and encourage them to share their thoughts openly. Remind them of the impact of not speaking up. Show them that their perspective is valued. Say this:

By staying silent, you might limit the team’s ability to make informed decisions.

Without everyone’s input, we might overlook potential solutions that could solve the problem more effectively.

Not expressing concerns or suggestions can lead to solving problems with incomplete knowledge, which could lead to mistakes down the line.

If you can think of meetings you’ve attended, you can probably recall a time – plenty of times – when the opinion of the most dynamic or talkative person prevailed to the detriment of all.
― Susan Cain, Quiet

Anyone in a meeting can come up with an insight that can lead to a better solution, decision or a better outcome. Don’t let the loudspeakers prevent you from seeking diverse perspectives. Silent them to create space for other voices. Balance dominant voices with quieter ones.  

End with clear action items and follow-ups

One of the most critical things to the success of any meeting is the outcome—what did people take away from the discussion? Were they clear about the decisions made? Do they know and understand the next steps? Are they clear on the action items? Do they need any follow-up meetings? What are the timelines to close pending issues and who all need to be involved?

When these aspects are left undiscussed or they aren’t clearly documented and shared, it leaves people feeling confused, disoriented and puzzled. They leave the meeting not knowing what to do next, or worse, making wrong assumptions about their goals and priorities. Decisions fail to achieve the desired outcomes because people who’re required to support them and act on them aren’t aligned and don’t share the same view of their expectations. Meetings drag on, projects get delayed and mismatch of expectations leads to frustration, anger and resentment amongst people. More time is spent in blame games, finger pointing, complaining and sobbing and less in working together and resolving problems. 

Leading an effective meeting requires closing with impact so decisions stick and actions happen. It requires identifying and clearly communicating action items and the next steps—what’s expected from each person or a group, who’s responsible for it, when each action item must be closed, what’s the timeline to resolve pending issues and who all needs to be a part of it. 

Clarity brings a sense of harmony—when they aren’t worked up about who’s right and who’s wrong, they can dedicate their energy to thinking creatively, finding solutions and implementing their best ideas. Clarity can also drive connection—when everyone is working towards the same goals, it binds them and brings them closer through common understanding, shared knowledge and mutual respect. 

Once the meeting is over….nail down exactly what happened by sending out minutes that summarize the discussion that occurred, the decision made, and the actions to be taken. And it’s very important that attendees get the minutes quickly, before they forget what happened. The minutes should also be as clear and as specific as possible, telling the reading what is to be done, who is to do it, and when. All this may seem like too much trouble, but if the meeting was worth calling in the first place, the work needed to produce the minutes is a small additional investment (an activity with high leverage) to ensure that full benefit is obtained from what was done.
— Andy Grove, High Output Management

Repeating the decisions or action items after the meeting helps set the record straight. It creates alignment and understanding, which makes it easier to move forward together. Don’t take this part for granted as it’s the most critical aspect of any meeting and one that’s often the most neglected. 

Summary 

1. Meetings aren’t necessarily bad when done with the intent to seek alignment, solve problems and make progress on goals. They can unlock creative solutions, prevent mistakes from happening and reduce misunderstandings and confusion. But, for meetings to be productive, the person conducting it has to follow the right practices to ensure there’s tremendous value generated from the discussion and it isn’t a complete waste of time.  
2. Too many meetings can disrupt the focus and attention required to complete tasks. When people keep jumping from one meeting to the next, they have less time available to do real work. That’s why the person conducting the meeting has to be really conscious of their decision—do they really need everyone together face-to-face or can the outcome be achieved through email or chat? Conduct a meeting only if it’s absolutely necessary.
3. Meetings without a clear agenda may not only go beyond scheduled time, they may end without any meaningful progress. Without a proper structure, time is wasted on topics that are either irrelevant or not important. Key issues that need discussion are sidelined as other random conversations take over. To protect meeting time and achieve desired results, define a clear agenda and communicate it up front.
4. How people behave in a meeting is crucial as personal egos, biases and interests can derail meeting agenda. Setting ground rules on what will and will not be tolerated can reduce friction by telling everyone to approach conversations with thoughtfulness, respect and consideration of others feelings.
5. Loud voices can dominate a meeting if they aren’t put to rest. They can hijack the conversation, interrupt others or not give an opportunity for others to speak. Silent ones may have crucial insights and not hearing them out can lead to poor choices and bad decisions. Make way for everyone to contribute. Invite diverse perspectives by quietening the loud ones. 
6. Finally, no meeting can be successful without clear action items, follow-ups and the next steps. When people are clear on what’s expected from them and others, they can focus their energy on solving problems and moving forward. Document the action items and the next steps clearly. Ensure everyone leaves the meeting knowing what’s expected from them. 

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