Effective meetings: strategies and best practices

¶ … Meetings

Under what circumstances should a meeting be avoided and problems solved by some other form of communication?

Meetings can be expensive in terms of their costs to an organization. Not only do the people spend the time in the actual meeting which represents a direct cost in terms of wages, but they also are using this time to be in a meeting as opposed to working on their other job requirements which can represent an indirect cost to the organization as well. Therefore, formal meetings should only be conducted when the situation merits the team hosting a meeting. There are many instances of organizational issues that do not necessarily need a meeting to address.

One common mistake in regard to hosting meetings is to plan a meeting for something that could be effectively managed over the phone. Generally, an employee can accomplish quite a bit with a phone call or a series of phone calls. Phone calls can be significantly more effective in regards to time than holding a formal meeting. When the issue that a group confronts is not overly complex, then it can often be handled over the phone. Even if the issue is moderately complex, then a teleconference with the group members is likely a feasible alternative as well. Therefore, before organization a formal meeting the group's leader should evaluate whether the issue could be dealt with over the phone as opposed to planning a meeting.

Another reason a meeting might be uncalled for or inefficient is if the issue can be handled by something less than the entire team. For example, if one or two members of the group have the capacity to solve the problem on their own, then there is no good reason to involve the entire group in a formal meeting. It is often the case that one or two members who specialize in an area can handle a problem without the involvement of the full group. Furthermore, if a group member has the expertise to solve the issue on their own, then it can actually be counterproductive to try to involve the entire group. Having the full groups participation can actually slow down the progress to a solution.

Another reason in which a meeting might be ineffective would be if key members of the group are unavailable. If a group member who has intimate knowledge of the content to be discussed is unavailable to make the meeting then this could render the entire meeting virtually worthless. For example, if there is an IT issue to be addressed by the group and the key IT person in the group is unavailable then the meeting would most likely be unproductive without their involvement. The group would like get stuck at points and have to wait until the IT group member is available anyway which would render the meeting an inefficient use of company time and resources.

Group meetings are most effective when there is more than one decision to be made or if a decision requires expertise from a cross-functional team. Meetings that cover a large amount of material can be extremely efficient because it allows the group to collaborate quickly and easily since they are all together. For example, if there a lot of different decisions to be made then trying to orchestrate the decisions through telephone conversations can be daunting. If the group is together then this can be conduct rather quickly. Furthermore, if the decision to be made requires the input from several members then this can be handled most effectively by bringing the group together.

Another example of when a meeting can be effective is when there will likely be either misunderstandings, reservations, or both about any particular decision to be made. Bring the group together to cover such issues in person can provide an opportunity for the group members to ask questions and have their concerns addressed. A meeting in this situation could also try to work to bring the group to consensus with would represent a position in which the members come to an agreement about the issue. In such a situation, if a meeting is not called or if the meeting is ineffective then a lot of employee resentment could be created about any particular decision that will affect the group.