We have all experienced them.
The kind of meeting where the clock, if it seems to move at all crawls at a glacial pace. Far from being productive, the attendees have long since stopped paying attention and only want to find an escape so they can get some real work done.
Extreme? Maybe not. If people were able to be more honest with their managers everyone would realize it happens far more often than it doesn’t. Whether small, medium or large organizations any kind of organization can easily be plagued by ineffective and boring meetings.
Ineffective meetings frustrate everyone, the people attending them and the people running them.
In my opinion, boring meetings are a precursor to organizational failure. Boring meetings are just a symptom of ineffective and underperforming teams.
The first step to resolution is to recognize the warning signs and then start today rectifying the situation.
Does your organization have a team charter?
A team charter is a code of conduct. The best ones are those created by the team itself to establish responsibility, respect, honesty, and fairness. As new people join an organization, the team charter should be presented and if necessary updated. A living document, a team charter might be the most important tool your people have to get things accomplished in meetings.
Are people paying attention?
If people in the meeting are checking their phones, using a laptop, and even working on things unrelated to the meeting, your meeting is failing. Responsibility and respect for other members of the team come from listening and being present mentally as well as physically whenever someone else is talking. This should be in your team charter.
Too many people are unnecessarily connecting online.
Covid 19 forced organizations to adapt and overcome. Online meetings have become a fact of life and there are many advantages to using this tool. However, in-person meetings are still much better as they allow visual interaction and nuance. When virtual meetings are unavoidable ensure that everyone has their camera on.
When a question is asked, no one responds.
This is difficulty is common in many meetings. No one wants to answer a question incorrectly or to look “bad.” This trust issue can be resolved by purposely making your meeting a “safe” space and encouraging people to participate. Additionally, when a wrong answer is presented, reassure and build the confidence of the responder. Another useful tool for simple Yes/No responses are utilizing the “roman” method of voting with a thumbs up or thumbs down.
Nobody disagrees with anything.
This is another manifestation of the lack of trust as well as a fear of conflict. Effective teams thrive on constructive criticism and holding each other accountable. If your organization has a fear of conflict or is fearful of retribution your organization will suffer and be dominated by one or two strong personalities. Recognizing and addressing this will encourage more participation and strengthen your entire staff.
Are your agendas too full?
An easy trap for leaders is having too much on the agenda. Instead of accomplishing the desired purpose, too often people feel disconnected, unheard, and overwhelmed. An easy way to overcome this problem is to share the presentation duties with other people and lighten the agenda to encourage interaction and discussion.
Staff receives mixed messages.
I have seen multiple people attend a meeting, and each comes away remembering something different. The mixed messages are relayed to other staff and as a result, people are confused and frustrated. By taking time to recap important points from the previous meeting and then at the finish of the meeting, stressing the new three or four key points, people are reminded and are more likely to speak with one voice.
No clear purpose for a meeting.
All meetings should have a clear and concise purpose. If there isn’t a compelling reason to have a meeting … don’t. Everyone is busy and if this point is forgotten, too many people will become apathetic and frustrated with your meetings. The same thing is true for each person invited to the meeting. Agree in the team charter about who needs and doesn’t need to be invited to your meetings.
Meetings don’t start on time or run late.
A key element of effective teams and good meetings is respect. If meetings don’t start on time or run later, it can be perceived as a lack of respect for the attendees. It is better to prioritize the agenda and end on time than it is to run long just so everything can be covered.
Always looking outside your organization for solutions.
When presented with an issue or problem, good leaders use the combined skills and experiences of their key people to find solutions. If the team cannot resolve the issue, then leaders turn to external sources. Too often ineffective leaders make the original issue worse and create morale issues by immediately bypassing their team in favor of external resources.
Ignoring obvious warning signs
Are people in your meetings apathetic, do they lack engagement, do they complain about low morale? Each of those is a warning sign and you risk organizational decline and issues with staff retention. Make your meetings interesting, change up the order of discussion, introduce variety and make a conscious effort to win them back. Too many leaders follow the same routine in every meeting. Mix it up, and even something as simple as asking people questions randomly will help.
No opportunity for open discussion.
Have a “vent” meeting. A vent meeting is an open forum where people can complain without repercussion about things that are wrong with the organization. Some controls are necessary, such as no personal attacks; however, allowing for venting will alleviate many of your simmering hidden issues. Leaders need to take notes and avoid defending the status quo at these meetings.
Meeting Hijackers go unpunished.
As much as open forums and free discussions are important, meeting leaders and facilitators must keep the meeting within the parameters set in the team charter. There are always people with a tangential agenda that chose to disrupt meetings for their individual goals rather than those of the team. Without being rude, team leaders must be able to address hijackers and allow meetings to stay on track.
Anyone can experience a bad meeting.
Ignoring the warning signs though will lead to more than just an occasional poor meeting. The danger signs warn of morale and staff retention problems combined with all of the other issues that organizations face today. Fortunately, each of these warning signs can be dealt with today relatively easily.
Avoiding apathy and lack of engagement starts with a basic team charter of ground rules. Listen to what your people are saying verbally and also to what their body language is telling you. Start with the obvious and in each meeting try to resolve one issue at a time.
Before long your meetings with be noticeably better and your team’s effectiveness will start to improve.
Good luck,
Paul.
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