Many companies in our country suffer from a very serious problem that is the management of their work meetings; We constantly hear workers complaining because in their work they suffer from - "junctitis" - "together for this", "together for that", and "together for the rest" - "in my company we have meetings for everything"; “Only time is wasted with so many meetings”; "I do not know why so many meetings, if nothing is ever done", etc, etc.
It's true, meetings are a real calamity for many executives and employees, many discussions, much blah, blah, blah, and few agreements, few commitments.
Unfortunately, on many occasions, meetings are considered as a necessary evil, a space where we have the opportunity to learn about the latest company gossip, or the place where this or that person takes the opportunity to scold others, or to show off and grab the mic in front of the boss.
According to Fran Rees, 70% of the facilitators of a meeting have not received a comprehensive formal training on how to manage a meeting effectively, which has repercussions, as we said before, in demotivation, chaos, lack of commitment and low productivity many times. If we consider that 60% to 90% of an executive's time is invested in meetings and work meetings, it is important, rather, it is mandatory, that said executives (facilitators) are capable of managing a meeting effectively.
Gaskets have been found to typically fail because of one or more of these considerations:
- Poor planning (inappropriate time, place and participants) The purpose of the meeting is not clear to the meeting attendees Time is not managed properly and this makes them eternally boring and unproductive The content to be discussed is too ambitious, of So that what should be discussed or analyzed in several meetings is to be discussed in a very short time. The agreements and commitments acquired are not adequately followed up. Work roles and participation are not assigned for the meeting. Discussing the subject too long of - “miscellaneous” -, which only causes the meeting to lose its original focus and disperse the attention and concentration of the meeting participants.
There are very good reasons for being able to carry out successful meetings, however, a meeting hardly becomes productive if each of the participants in it is unaware of and does not master its elements and reality.
Knowing the elements of a successful meeting, the key resources for facilitating it, and knowing the evaluation and decision-making process become extremely important aspects in order to achieve the effectiveness of the entire meeting. That is why, before calling a work meeting, first of all we ask ourselves: What type of meeting is it that we are going to have to carry out? Is it a periodic, follow-up meeting? A communication meeting ? Or maybe a strategic board? Different types of boards demand different types of work methodologies.
Once this question has been resolved, then the following points to evaluate should be:
- Who should participate in the meeting What should be the topics to be discussed What should be the duration of each topic, and of the meeting in general Day, place and time of the meeting How the minutes of agreements will be managed and controlled and how to follow up on How the meeting's roles and responsibilities will be assigned.
Throughout my career as a consultant, I have had the opportunity to attend many work meetings with my clients, and in the vast majority of them, there has not been an assignment of responsibilities to facilitate and expedite these meetings. This assignment of roles and responsibilities is a key element for its success, normally the roles that must be assigned are:
- Meeting Coordinator - The person responsible for the meeting. Facilitator - He is the one who moderates the meeting and assigns the floor to the participants. Secretary - The person responsible for documenting the meeting in the corresponding minutes. Timekeeper - Who measures the time spent on each topic of the meeting Participants - the meeting attendees.
When these elements are taken into account in your company at the time of holding a business meeting, I can assure you that your business meetings will be much more profitable and productive.
