In a large teleconference, it also can be confusing to remember who is speaking, so the leader should remind people to say their name when they start speaking. Groups should try to meet in person at least once before holding teleconferences, Fabick says. Teleconferences can be challenging because there are no visual cues or body language signals that help establish a meeting's flow. Google Docs also is a convenient way to edit documents in real time so someone can keep notes and a list of action items that everyone can see during the meeting, he says. Participants should not surf the Web, log onto Facebook or check email, but laptops can be useful for viewing the agenda or supporting documents during a meeting, Chambers says. Laptops and smartphones can help or hinder a meeting, depending on how they are used. "You want to set a tone of inclusiveness and diversity of opinion but also efficiency."Ī leader can ask for input from people who haven't spoken, or participants can take turns going around the table so everyone is included in the discussion, Chambers says. "It's important to not be passive about running a meeting," he says. Meetings shouldn't be dominated by the most aggressive or talkative members, so a leader must be assertive and diplomatically redirect the conversation so everyone has a chance to be heard, Fabick says. "I've certainly been part of a group where the meetings go on and on, and the morale is horrendous," he says. Meetings typically shouldn't last more than an hour or attention will start to wane, Fabick says. "If you get in the habit of starting late, you're inadvertently encouraging people to come later and later to the next meeting," he says. Meetings should start on time unless there is an understandable reason to wait for latecomers, such as a snowstorm that snarls traffic, says Stephen Fabick, EdD, a clinical and consulting psychologist and business coach in Birmingham, Michigan. That rule also applies to meetings where pizza isn't on the menu, Dattner says. He likes Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's "two-pizza rule." Don't invite more people to a meeting than can be fed with two pizzas. Only invite people who really need to be there because "each additional person brings additional complexity and air time," says Dattner, who writes a blog for Harvard Business Review. "Meetings fall apart when they don't have structure to them," says Richard Chambers, a doctoral candidate in industrial-organizational psychology at Louisiana Tech University who leads projects for AROS Consulting, a university-based consulting organization. Attendees won't have time to review a 100-page document if it was emailed the night before the meeting. The Boy Scouts' motto applies to meeting facilitators, who should distribute an agenda and background materials with adequate time before the meeting. Here is advice gleaned from industrial-organizational psychologists, executive coaches and student leaders to help keep your next meeting from veering off the rails. "It's always an art rather than a science on how you balance being flexible and open without being disorganized or meandering."įew psychology graduate programs offer any advice on how to lead a meeting. "In a way, meetings are like a microcosm of the team dynamic," he says. Meetings can feel like a group therapy session for a leader who must deal with vastly different personalities and potential land mines from office or university politics, Dattner says. Almost half of employees would rather do any unpleasant activity rather than sit through a meeting, including waiting in line at the DMV or watching paint dry, the poll found. employees spend an average of nine hours a week preparing for or attending team meetings, but more than a third of employees believe those meetings are a waste of time, according to a nationwide poll by Clarizen, a software company. The leader should be ultimately accountable for having a well-run meeting, but everyone who attends the meeting has a role to play." "There aren't clear agendas and timetables, and they tend to ramble and not achieve their goals. "Meetings take up a lot of people's time, and they are often inefficient," says Ben Dattner, PhD, an executive coach and adjunct psychology professor at New York University. Without an efficient leader, meetings can quickly become a soul-sucking waste of time for anyone stuck in a seat around a conference table.
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