William,
Meetings need a leader and who is the meeting manager. If the leader establishes this rapport the meeting can be kept on task. If you desire you can have a meeting speaks at the end of the regular meeting. This usually helps by where the opportunity is at the end. If your agenda has been met then the final moments of the meeting can be for items outside the agenda. People who are needing to go can leave the meeting.
Dr. Gary Carlson
William,
There are meetings for direction, information, input, strategy planning etc. Don't try to mix the meeting intentions. I would encourage people who have agenda items at the last minute see you after the meeting to see after discussion if a meeting is necessary and what are their intentions.
Dr. Gary Carlson
William,
The main purpose of the meeting is to reach the expectations of the planned meeting. If someone is off track and the contribution has nothing to do with the topic you need to tell them. Move on with the topic at hand. Be assured you would be happy to discuss this topic at a later time but after the both of you discuss it first.
Dr. Gary Carlson
William,
This is where I used sub-committees to come back with an organized though process on how to present the topic. I used this many times with the many Boards I have Chaired over the years.
Dr. Gary Carlson
William,
Meetings with agendas should mean time, space and outcomes should be planned. Glitches could come up but when they do it is time for plan B which can be of many different forms. If it is a management decision and is being communicated for information there is no need for plan B. If it is internal and needs more research you should move it off the agenda until more research has been done.
Dr. Gary Carlson
William,
All meetings should be very aware of time constraints of the participants. The main atmosphere for participants is to make it safe. Participants should not feel intimidated by others or the leader. All items should be dealt with in a professional manner. Meetings are of two kinds professional or unprofessional. The meetings of the second kind are the ones where the issues get out of hand and time management is lost.
Dr. Gary Carlson
William,
You are definitely correct. There are many modems of communication we can use to conduct courses, meetings and activities. I personally work with colleges covering the United States and Europe. I am weekly communicating through Skype, Got to Meeting and Webcast.
Dr. Gary Carlson
I think the hardest part of preparing for a meeting is sorting out what issues should be delt with by the group, and which are better settled one on one
eric,
There are different types of meetings. They are: information, direction,brainstorming and strategy meetings. Each meeting has its own character. If your meeting is strictly information and direction very little discussion is necessary. If anything comes up of interest or glitches you can form a sub-committee to research the issue to report at the next meeting. The importance for the participants is good time management and to get the information communicated. There are new ways of having meetings with the technology available today.
Dr. Gary Carlson
I feel that possibly the most challenging task is determining beforehand how much interest will be generated by a particular subject and how much of the allotted time should be allowed for discussion of it. Also, what course of action would be best to take if it appears that the allotted time is going to be greatly exceeded by good, meaningful ideas. These situations can sometimes be capitalized upon if the members of the meeting are ready, willing, and in the right frame of mind to produce some very insightful ideas. In a case such as this would it be wise to move on to another subject or continue and disregard the allocated time for the subject?
Robert,
Meetings are meant to be for a direct purpose of disseminating information and direction. If your meetings are for input consideration should be given to wether you need a single meeting for the topic or not. Ad hoc committees to report back t the main committee helps with time and substance. I have used ad hoc committees for topics that need research and more time.
Dr. Gary Carlson
My co-workers are instructors at a training facility, the hardest thing is to get them to behave the way a student should act. They are disruptive and sometimes it is hard to get them to settle down. I handle this by asking them to treat me the way they would like to be treated by their students. Then it makes keeping the timing on course.
James,
Meetings require good planning before the meeting. Expectations of the meeting should be shared. Priority items put on the agenda first. Anytime you have an attendee off the subject you need to call them on it and move back to the point. Each meeting needs to have a start up acitivity that will bring people to the point and start on time.
Dr. Gary Carlson
The hardest task in preparing for a meeting is setting a date that everyone is available to meet. I try to provide plenty of time in advance in order to receive a good tern out. sometimes I send a save a date out as well.
I have to say this really is a challenge for many of us since there are so many inputs, ideas, concerns and so forth. However, I feel these meetings may be really benefiting in the long run since they bring out strong points more often than not.
Carmella,
You are so right about getting everyone at your meeting, There are meetings that are scheduled that are not on anybodies calendar yet and there are meetings where they are regular scheduled meetings set for everyone to attend on the calendars for the year. The scheduled meetings that were in advance should not be missed. Obviously there may come an event where the meeting may need to be cancelled or a participant has an unavoidable conflict. These should be far and few between the normal. People who miss meetings should have an additional small group get together with you to catch them up.
Dr. Gary Carlson
Carmella,
Remember there are many ways to communicate to your staff. Sometimes a meeting may not be warranted. Information sharing can be done in other ways than a meeting. Meetings accomplish more than just information sharing. It is a time for team building, ownership of the direction and input possibility for communication in front of their peers. Meetings gives you a good perspective of who are in support and who is not on the train.
Dr. Gary Carlson
I led a volunteer group and in the past have had trouble respecting both their desire to share as well as their time and things would go long. Within the organization I now lead a new group and facilitated a much more effective meeting this weekend. I curtailed conversation that wandered off topic and used body language and non-verbal cues in an attempt to shape behavior I wanted to extinguish.
The realization that planning an effective meeting is more important than attending a meeting has helped. I keep thinking back to a comment in this course that said in effect, 'If you don't have time to plan the meeting cancel it.' At least that is what stuck with me and it's powerful. And no, I haven't cancelled any meetings lately.
Melanie,
Good for you, your technique becomes the norm when you are consistent. Stay with what works for you.
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Dr. Gary Carlson
