Running Great Meetings

There are meetings that make you cringe. Make you think of procrastinated work , that
your heart wishes to make more urgent. And then, there are some meetings that you forward to. That you want to be in time for. Don't you wish you could run meetings like that? Meetings everyone compliments are uber smooth. This is what you can do.

• Agenda is the key. Announce the agenda at start, stick to it during the meeting and conclude concisely at the end

• Timing sets the mood. Good meetings start and end in time. No one likes to waste their time waiting for late comers, don't you think.

• Moderation should not be left to maturity of the participants. It is an important task, as much as the note taker, and requires conscientious effort. Assign a moderator at the start of the meeting (it could be the person presiding over the meeting) or anyone else. Make this person responsible for mitigating differences in opinion, and moving on to the next agenda item without beating a dead horse.

• White boarding an idea, a concept or a topic of discussion works best to look at it in a breadth first, depth later manner. It works well specially when audience comes from varied contexts and backgrounds.

• Breaks are essential in mentally engrossing or long discussions. Ordering lunch if the hour demands so or giving participants a breather for coffee is good.

• Minutes offer a feeling of accomplishment to everybody, of work done during the involved hour. Follow up with Minutes on the same day, or the next morning if the meeting ends late in the day.