Get More Done & Talk Less

So many of us have sat in those meetings where the person running the show has completely lost control. The attendees are having side conversations; people are talking about their upcoming weekend plans, others are commiserating about their child’s eating habits, some are falling asleep at the table, and the facilitator has crawled under the table and is sucking his thumb. How do we maintain control and actually accomplish something by the end of these meetings besides converting oxygen into carbon dioxide? What might be missing from our meetings? It could be a meeting agenda.

An agenda provides structure to the meeting. It is simply creating an outline of what you want to discuss, in the order you want to discuss it in, and distributing it ahead of time. This allows the attendees some time to prepare and come to the meeting ready with what they need to talk about. This is especially beneficial for the processor personalities on the team who always have those great ideas the day after the meeting. Hopefully now when the facilitator asks someone for their comments or feedback they don’t receive a blank stare in return.

How is an agenda structured? It depends on what you are hoping to accomplish. An agenda for an event planning meeting, for example, can be arranged in a variety of ways. It can be structured so the team receives updates by department and include: registration, meeting space, exhibit hall, production, food & beverage, VIP management, and the like. Or, it can be structured to dive into minute-by-minute program planning and have an agenda that includes discussions about number of speakers, length of a general session, stage design, soundcheck schedule, and more. It can even be structured to report on the project timeline to ensure nothing is falling behind at the 6-month, 3-month, 2-month, and 1-month milestone markers.

Having the right facilitator is also important. Not everyone is comfortable interrupting a meeting attendee who is droning on about the upcoming event. The facilitator needs to be able to command the room and move the group from item to item while ensuring the important points are discussed. It is also beneficial to have one person at the meeting designated as the stenographer; someone with wicked typing skills and the ability to listen and type at the same time who can capture notes of what was discussed to share with the team.

Assigning a second person to help the facilitator keep track of the time will also help the agenda move along. Once it is determined what items must be covered and how many people need to be involved, the facilitator can estimate how long each agenda item might take. Since the facilitator is not concerned about watching the clock, they can focus on keeping the meeting discussions to items on the agenda.

Once your team gets into the routine of creating and sticking to an agenda you will wonder how you managed to function without it. And, now that your meetings are running more efficiently, just imagine what you might be able to accomplish with all the extra time you’ll have, like leaving work on time, beating rush hour traffic, sleeping a full night…

Has your team evolved from chaos into an agenda? If so, I’d love to hear how you did it! Share with us here or send me an email!

Lets see how many planners we can get this blog to so they don’t have to learn these lessons the hard way! Share with your friends and on your social media!

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