Sorry, what was the question?

Does it ever seem like you spend your entire day in meetings where you accomplish nothing? Where the only clear outcome of a one or two or even four hour meeting is that someone is going to schedule another meeting?

There are a number of factors that affect the efficacy of a meeting, but one key component I wanted to write about today is a good set of ground rules.

I know, I know. Most people shudder when I first say that, but hear me out.

A general goal of any meeting is to make sure that the participants of the meeting are on the same page, right? Whether the meeting is just meant to inform or whether it’s a forum for making a key decision, we are putting a group of people in a room in order to have a common understanding and even consensus.

So … how is it possible to get the participants on the same page when half the room isn’t paying attention? When you have four different conversations going on and six participants are typing away on their laptops? When you have to ask an attendee the same question multiple times because they weren’t listening?

The answer is that it’s not possible. If your participants aren’t paying attention, then there’s no point in having the meeting. Period.

So why aren’t your participants paying attention? One common reason is that some of your attendees don’t actually need to be in the meeting. Maybe you were trying to be a good business partner and included a lot of optional attendees, but now those people are there distracting the people you really need to be participating. They might be hiding out in your meeting because it’s a good chance to get work done, or maybe they just like the free lunch. The good news is that, by establishing ground rules, these attendees will naturally opt out of attending in the future. One problem solved.

Now that you’re down to the people that you actually need to be in the meeting, why might they not be participating? The simplest way to get that answer is to ask. Maybe you feel YOU need them to be there, but they don’t understand why. Maybe they understand why but don’t agree. Maybe they understand and agree they need to be there, but are feeling so overwhelmed with other work that the only way they know how to keep their noses above water is to multi-task through every meeting. Maybe they don’t feel like they can safely voice an opinion.

The possible reasons for non-participation are endless, and the only way to know for sure what challenges you’re facing is to ask. Then, work together to come up with a game plan to eliminate the road blocks to full participation.

As I said, there are many factors that affect the efficacy of a meeting, and I’ll be posting about others in the future, but ground rules provide a critical foundation for ensuring that people feel like time spent in your meetings is time well spent.

Running an effective meeting is a skill set that can be learned. Contact me — I’d love to help.