Tips on running an efficient meeting

One of the four-points of the Main Street & Elm Street approach is organization. This area largely pertains to the internal committee functions, like board governance, fundraising and training.

To that end, I wanted to share a file sent to me by my co-worker, Danielle Josephs. Danielle is the Vice President of Mission Councils at the Chamber (specifically, Danielle works with the Executive Women's Council and Small Business Council). As anyone who has ever been to a Chamber event or taken part in one of our councils can tell you, we have LOTS of meetings. Lots of them. The same absolutely goes for Main Street and BBRP communities. Accordingly, running an efficient and effective meeting is absolutely critical to our success. A good meeting allows people to discuss ideas but is efficient and uses a volunteer's time in the best way possible.

Accordingly, below is a document titled "Tips on running an efficient meeting." Take a look and enjoy!

TIPS FOR RUNNING AN EFFICIENT MEETING

Every meeting should be enjoyable, efficiently run, and build organizations morale. Efficient meetings respect people’s time as their most valuable resource.

1. Circulate an agenda and stick to it: An agenda should have the planned steps that get the meeting from “here” to “there”. Open discussion can be healthy, but you cannot let it dominate the meeting. Groups have a tendency to wander far from the original agenda. When you hear the discussion wandering off, ring it to the group’s attention. You can say, “That’s an interesting issue, but perhaps we should get back to the original matter of discussion.” Also, avoid repeating information for those who haven’t arrived on time or haven’t read the information sent to them prior to the meeting. If important items are brought up that aren’t relevant for the current discussion, record them in a “parking lot’ top be addressed later.

2. Start the Meeting Promptly: Do not penalize those who did come on time by starting a meeting late. However, for very large meetings, plan to start within 10-15 minutes of the official start time. For smaller meetings, particularly regular organizations committee meetings, start exactly on time.

3. Stay on Target: Any item that can be resolved between a couple people offline or that does not require the knowledge, consent, or input of the majority of the group should be scotched immediately. As soon as the needed permission, notification or task assignment is completed, just move on to the next item.

4. Avoid overly-detailed decision making: Frequently It is easier for a group to discus the color of napkins that it is the real issues it is facing. Avoid getting immersed in details, suggesting instead that the committee make the decisions, resolve the issue.

5. Move to Action: Meetings should not only provide an opportunity for people to talk, but should also challenge them to take action. Meetings should plan effective actions to build the event.

6. Seek Commitments: Getting commitments for future involvement is usually a goal of most meetings. Make sure that adequate time is allocated to seeking commitment. For small meetings, write people’s names next to the task they agreed to undertake. The chairperson may want to ask each person directly how he or she wants to help. One rule of thumb, especially for meetings with less than ten people, is that everyone should leave the meeting with something to do.

7. Bring closure to discussions. Most groups will discuss items much longer than needed. The facilitator is responsible for recognizing when a group is basically in agreement and move the discussion forward.