Some meetings go on and on and on, and some are held with strong control by the presiding person. Here are some tips to speed meetings along effectively and efficiently by not letting them get hijacked.
First off, this applies equally to in-person and virtual meetings. Running them should be done in a similar manner.
Effective and Efficient Meeting Tips
- Start meetings on time and have a clear agenda.
- Set an ending time, whether it be a half hour, one or two hours (Ugh? Two-hour meetings. That sounds more like a conference).
- Keep meetings to a reasonable length so that a break is not necessary. That seems like an hour or hour and a half should be the maximum time.
- I know there are situations when longer meetings are necessary such as a day-long strategic planning session or a quarterly board of directors’ meeting. Those are more of working sessions or an update for multiple people in myriad roles than a meeting. Usually, meetings have a limited purpose or objective that involves multiple people. If five people sit in at an hour meeting that is at a cost of five productive hours. Consider whether the benefits or value produced is at least equivalent to those five lost hours.
- Distribute a meeting agenda beforehand along with backup reading material, charts and financials. This makes it the responsibility of the attendees to be somewhat prepared and know what to expect.
- Place the most important items and items that need decisions at the top of the agenda. If you run out of time, at least the most important decisions will be made. Note that the most important items are not necessarily the same as the most urgent items. Be thoroughly familiar with Parkinson’s Law #4 which says, “the amount of time spent on any item of the agenda will be in inverse proportion to the amount involved.” Here is a link to a previous blog post about all of Parkinson’s Laws.
- Follow Robert’s Rules of Order or the boss’s rules of order as long as everyone understands those rules. Run an orderly meeting.
What Is a Meeting Hijacker?
A hijacker is someone that diverts the focus toward themselves or their own agenda, whatever that might be. Here are some examples of a meeting hijacker and how you can identify their behaviors.
Examples of Meeting Hijacker Behaviors
- Comes late and either asks to be updated or asks questions that were previously discussed. Neither are in order and should not be responded to, and they should be told they would need to speak to someone after the meeting about what they missed. Doing otherwise prolongs the meeting and penalizes everyone that came on time in favor of the laggard.
- Did not prepare by reviewing the information provided and asks questions that were addressed in the material that was distributed.
- Wants to sound important by bringing up a matter that could have and should have been addressed with one of the attendees beforehand and not to the entire group at the meeting.
- Has a pet item they want to be addressed but did not take the care to make the effort to have it placed on the agenda. That is out of order and should not be a topic of discussion.
- Identifies problems or issues that could have been addressed with someone before the meeting rather than raising them at the meeting. It is usually something that is pertinent and fits within the agenda but could have been undertaken outside of the meeting with the resolution reported at the meeting. This is a sign they read through the material at the last minute. People attending meetings need to be responsible and prepare properly. The issues these people raise unfortunately need to be addressed. It’s best to speak with them privately afterward to tell them they need to prepare on a timelier basis.
- Wants to make a new business motion but did not prepare it beforehand and is literally wasting everyone’s time while they try to get it to say what they want. When I run committee meetings, I inform attendees that they could make any new business motions they want, but they must be submitted enough time before the meeting so that they could be included on the agenda.
The above effective meeting tips and ways to identify meeting hijacker behaviors will hopefully provide some ideas on how to better run a meeting in a more efficient manner by sticking to the agenda and the ending time. These best practices will help combat meeting hijackers by not letting them take control away from the presiding person. I personally have disdain for meeting hijackers and equal disdain for the so-called leaders that allow them to.
Contact Us
If you have any tax, business, financial or leadership or management issues you want to discuss please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] or click here.
