They Are Happy To Come To My Meetings
After An Effective Meeting

You have just held an effective meeting. Congratulations!

You accomplished this by:

• Creating a clear objective with unambiguous criteria to measure success.
• You invited the right people. They each had something to contribute to achieving the objective.
• The logistics were well prepared.
• The agenda set appropriate expectations for the meeting.
• The announcement included “Preparation Required” which caused everyone to arrive at the meeting ready to contribute.
• The meeting started on time.
• You facilitated the meeting process so that the content was relevant; the people stayed focused on interacting with the content; and interacting with each other around the content.
• You maintained the pace so that you could reach the objective.
• The attendees reached the objective and you can prove it.
• You summarized the meeting so that everyone is on the same page as to what was accomplished, what decisions were made, the action items and responsibilities and any next steps.
• The meeting ended on time!
• Everyone left with a feeling of accomplishment.

After The Meeting
The attendees returned to their desks piled high with things that they were in the middle of when they left to go to the meeting plus some new items. They dove back into their daily work.

I know that you are also going back to your desk piled high with things hat you were in the middle of. You want to dive back in too.

But hold on a minute.

You have one more opportunity to cement the effectiveness of the meeting. Do not over look it. Publish succinct “Meeting Results”. This is not a recitation of every discussion that took place. It is a re-statement of decisions made, action items and responsibilities and any next steps.

This serves four purposes.

1. It documents the outcome.
2. It reminds people that the meeting did accomplish something. This makes them more willing to come to your next meeting.
3. It gives the attendees a final opportunity to question any points that they disagree with.
4. If there are next steps, it reminds them to put them on their to-do list, while their to-do list is right in front of them.

There are times when, after receiving the meeting results, people have said, “That is not what we agreed to” or “I didn’t sign up for that action item.” Sending meeting results gives them their final opportunity to raise their issue. If they leave it unchallenged, it becomes a fact.

Wait! You are not done yet!

You need to continuously improve your meeting process. Perform an “After Action Report”. Evaluate the meeting looking for ways to improve your next meeting.

• What went right in the meeting? Why?
• What went wrong in the meeting? Why?
• What should you Start, Stop, Continue in your next meeting?

Write theses items down and file them. Pull them out when you are planning your next meeting.

Now you are done!

A good effective meeting takes a little more work than a bad meeting. I think you will agree that a meeting that actually gets something done is very valuable to your organization. It is also valuable to you and your status. When you get a reputation for holding effective meetings, there will be no grumbling when you call one.

They Are Happy To Come To My Meetings! Are they happy to come to your meetings?