Have you ever had a boss who just simply couldn't run a meeting? I mean really, this person was terrible at it. It was negatively impacting productivity, employees were complaining about wasted time... Oh, this is your current boss? All the better! You have a great opportunity to help your boss and yourself. Here at Trumpet, we’re always brainstorming ways to make your job run more smoothly and more productive. We’ve come up with a few ideas about how to run more effective meetings. Let’s take a look as to why meetings aren't working out as planned and how you can help keep your boss 'managed up' on meetings.
Problem | Solution |
Meetings constantly get derailed |
|
Meetings are always running later than scheduled |
|
Meetings are not productive |
|
Meetings consistently begin late |
|
Just as some people are not effective at running meetings, some are not effective at attending meetings. When you send your agenda to meeting participants, consider including a list of ‘Meeting Ground Rules’ such as:
- Debate the issue, not the person
- Begin and end on time
- Be present - no distractions (no email, no texting)
- Share all relevant information
- Disagree without being disagreeable
- Listen to understand
- Participate 100%
Whether you’re mentoring a manager or a participant, your coaching will have exponential impact as management and staff alike will benefit from productive, timely meetings attended by mutually respectful and focused staff. Just remember to coach outside the meeting. Otherwise, your colleagues might take you to task for not sticking to the agenda.