Guest Post: Anuj Gupta

Anuj is one of Chris' Summer 2010 Professional Speaking students. This is his second guest post on the blog. Here he writes about real-world meetings.

“Meeting. Not again.” This used to be the general reaction of my team mates when we used to get an invite of a meeting from our manager. It was because most of our meetings were without any purpose, direction or agenda. People who didn’t have any role or participation in the meeting were also invited. There was no respect for the schedule as almost every meeting overshot the stipulated time. In fact, we had a joke going around that the person who could survive our manager’s meeting could survive any meeting in the world. The idea here is not to get rid of the meeting but to keep it effective and efficient.

Meetings are an indispensable part of the corporate set up. According to a survey done in the UK, more than 5 years of our careers are spent in meetings. It can prove to be a really effective tool in getting things moving forward. However, most professionals don’t know the art of conducting effective meetings. The answers to the below mentioned questions will definitely help you in conducting effective meetings.

1. Do we need a meeting? The answer to this question will eliminate the meetings which were never required. If a meeting can be avoided with the help of emails or other modes of communication, it should never be conducted.

2. What is the purpose of the meeting? Every participant of the meeting should have a clear understanding of the objective of the meeting. The convener should clearly mention the purpose at the beginning of the meeting.

3. What is the agenda of the meeting? The list of the items that need to be discussed in the meeting should be sent in advance. It will give you the opportunity to take the feedback from participants and add any missing points. The points in the agenda should be prioritized based on the importance. Agenda gives direction to the meeting and acts as roadmap to stay on point. Therefore any digression should be dealt with appropriately to make the meeting a success.

4. Who should be invited to the meeting? People who can effectively contribute to the proceedings of the meeting should be invited. People who you think will have a say in the final decision or who will add value to the meeting should definitely be called.

5. What preparation is required for the meeting? If you are a convener you should make sure that the place where meeting is scheduled has all the required logistics. If you are a participant you should come well prepared with all the details which will make your contribution to the meeting useful and effective.

6. What actions came out of the meeting? As Professor Labash aptly mentioned, “A meeting without action is not a meeting, but a conversation.” Every meeting should end with some action points. People should be identified to complete these next steps.