Do meetings make you want to run away?
Nobody loves meetings, but they are – unfortunately – part of life, especially the life of a project manager. Project managers typically need to meet with the various project streams weekly, have project management meetings, and monthly Exco meetings. On top of these meetings, there are risk review meetings and problem-solving workshops. And that is all over and above your normal duties.
So, while all these meeting will take up time, you can prevent them from being a waste of time.
Plan
As with many things in life, a failure to plan is a plan to fail. Start by planning your meetings. First, establish what the aim of the meeting is. To get information? To solve a problem? Or, is the aim to give feedback to the Steering Committee?
Once you have established the aim (and each meeting should only have one aim) you will have a clear indication whom you need to invite. You can then also set up the agenda, and ask the invitees to prepare accordingly.
Many small meetings
As mentioned above, to keep your meetings focused, each meeting must have only one aim. This means fighting the temptation to have one large meeting, as opposed to having many small, quick meetings. While you may think that one big meeting will make your life easier, it won’t. It is a waste of time for everyone else attending. They will have to sit through everybody else’s feedback, which could take hours, to give their 5 minutes’ worth of input.
It is much better to have quick 15-minute sessions with one or two members at a time. And, if you really want to make it super-efficient, don’t sit down for these meetings; have them standing in the kitchen or around a table in the canteen.
Schedule the meetings
It may be tempting to just have these 15-minute meetings ad-hoc, say when you run into the person you need. This is a trap – do not do this! You must schedule every meeting. For instance, have a pre-arranged coffee meeting every Tuesday morning in the canteen with the IT stream lead. Then, have a tea date with the maintenance stream lead on Tuesday afternoons.
Document, Document, Document
Your meeting documentation should start with a clear statement of what the meeting’s aim is, the agenda, and who is invited. Then you can send through a regularly scheduled meeting invite. Prior to each individual meeting, send a follow-up email, reminding attendees of the meeting, as well as what they are required to prepare.
Preparation is key
Giving attendees the opportunity to prepare will cut down on wasted time. This will have a snowball effect: your meetings will become faster and more efficient. Attendees will know to prepare, as this has become not only an expectation, but the norm. This means people will make the effort to attend, and be on time. And, because they have prepared, meetings will become faster still. This could potentially lead to the holy grail of all meetings: being replaced by an email.
Meeting Time
Now we are finally in the actual meeting. Start each meeting by welcoming everyone and thanking them for their time. It is then important to remind attendees of the aim of the meeting, and that there is a set agenda. It’s also a good idea to recap meeting protocols and housekeeping rules. This is particularly important for larger meetings. There is nothing more frustrating than having a 15-minute meeting be disrupted because someone takes a call.
Document, Document, Document
During the meeting, make sure to take notes. Specifically capture the following:
- Who was invited, and who attended
- What the agenda is, and what was discussed (just the highlights)
- What decisions were made
- What the next steps are
- What the action items are, who is responsible for them, and by when these need to be completed
Documenting the above will ensure that any questions that arise later can be answered easily. Being able to refer back to a specific meeting has also saved me much time, and helps us remind others what decision was made and why.
Ideally, as the project manager, you will want to capture the notes yourself. You know what is important, and what is likely to raise questions in the future.
Follow-up
After the meeting, send out the notes you created. Send these not only to the attendees, but anybody else that needs to be informed. For instance, you may want to include the project owner or the project sponsor, especially if an important decision was made. This follow-up is also one of the ways to start preparing attendees for the next meeting.
By using this approach, your meetings will not only be more efficient and effective, people will show up, and your project is much more likely to succeed.
