I have yet to work for a company where people complained about having too few meetings.  And I have yet to end a week where I say, “gosh if I only had a few more hours this week, I would add some meetings.” If you have chosen to attend a meeting during the week, get the most out of your attendance.  The following outlines help you decide which meetings to attend, help you understand the expectations of you in those meetings, guide you in preparing for the meeting, and provide some simple tactics for delivering on expectations and getting what you need from the meetings you attend.

Be selfish when investing your time to attend meetings

Before attending a meeting, consider the following:

• Are you empowered to choose your attendance at a meeting? If so, you need to weigh the value of attending the meeting against other priorities.
• If there is no agenda or key outcomes, ask that this be provided before committing to attend. Having this documented and shared will be better for all attendees.
• If you are not expected to contribute and feel you can gain the information elsewhere, ask for a summary of the decisions and action items. Instead of attending the meeting, commit your time to another high priority item that requires your attention.
• If you can delegate your authority to someone else, and you won’t be missed, do so. This is an opportunity to provide a delegee with a chance to gain responsibility.

Understanding Your Role

One way to understand what is expected of you in a meeting is to conduct a quick “What’s in it for me?” exercise.  Though this sounds selfish, it ensures that you are delivering on the expectations others have of you.  If you still have questions, speak with the organizer for clarification.

• What are the meetings expected outcomes? How do they support my needs?
• Are there key decisions being made? What role do I play in the decision-making process? Do I have a point of view already?
• Is there vital information being shared? Will the meeting inform the approach to my responsibilities? Am I the gatekeeper to the information others need?

Inform Yourself

Know the Outcomes and Decisions that are expected from the meeting.  Answer the following questions to inform your opinion. Keep your mind open to new information.

• What is the problem you(they) are trying to solve?
• How do you measure progress?
• Have other people faced similar situations? What did they do?

Attending Remotely?

There is a high likelihood that you will attend virtual meetings.  Are you tactically prepared to attend the meeting?

• Is there teleconference software that needs to be installed?
• Are you in a place where you can effectively participate? Can you avoid distractions and stay focused on the meeting?  Is the location quiet enough to allow for your participation in the meeting?
• Do you have the information you need to participate in the meeting?

Attending the Meeting

Having done the preparation for the meeting, make sure that when you attend the meeting you are investing your time and attention on the meeting itself.

1. Communicate expectations with anyone that may have an urgent need for your time that conflicts with the meeting. Be proactive, notify those that may have an urgent need for your time of a delegate who can handle those needs.  This is especially important with longer commitments of time.  You owe it to your fellow meeting attendees to avoid the distractions that may pull you from the meeting.
2. Avoid opening additional channels of communication during the meeting. Instant messaging tools, real time email, and texting have become a valuable asset for communication during a busy day.  When at the meeting avoid the distraction by turning these channels off.
3. If you want to communicate covertly with someone else in the meeting room, ask to be excused to have that conversation. If it is not important enough to interrupt the flow of the meeting, it is probably best left unsaid.
4. If you find yourself in a meeting that is poorly run, don’t support the dysfunction. Politely provide the feedback to the meeting organizer.  Do not delegate the attendance to someone else where it just consumes their time.
5. When taking notes, don’t be a scrivener. Notes are to reinforce your memory.  They should include decisions made, questions that require further attention, and where appropriate, key points of view from stakeholders that you may reference in the future.  Taking notes immediately after the meeting can be an effective approach.  Avoid taking detailed notes during the meeting and missing a conversation because you are distracted by the note taking effort.
6. During especially long or especially difficult meetings, play the question game. Ask thoughtful, open ended questions.  Clarify your understanding with more questions.  Ask questions like “What else did you consider before choosing this option?” or “Have we seen this situation before? What did we do then?”
7. Clarify action items and due dates for those items assigned to you. Use the meeting to ensure you have the dependencies you need to complete your assigned actions.
8. Share your opinion if it informs the meeting. If you are simply concurring with a well-presented point, say “I agree.”  Further supporting information is nice to have, but seldom changes the concurrence already reached.
9. Don’t lob hand grenades. Once an agreement has been reached, interjecting a “What about” type statement adds little value.  Instead say “We need to consider the following should it manifest” and move on.
10. Lastly, if you disagreed with a decision from the meeting, you need to support the decision made. You had your chance to sway the decision or it was not your decision to make.  Either way, the decision has been made and you need to move on.

Post Script

I will admit, I don’t like attending a large number of meetings on a given day.  I enjoy the social aspect that comes from attending meetings, but I loathe the amount of catching up I need to do to make up for the time invested.

Much of what I covered in this article are tactical basics that you probably already practice.  If there is new information for you here, take advantage of it.  If you are coaching someone who is new to the corporate world, share this document with them to help them succeed.  If you find the meetings you conduct with your team are less effective, share this article with them and be sure to read the article on conducting effective meetings.

Most important of all, avoid attending meetings simply because they may inform you, help you be smarter, or may cover your ass.  If you are going to make the investment to attend a meeting, you owe it to yourself to be the most prepared, most engaged, and most effective participant in the room.

Editorial Support Acknowledgment

Bill Elser and I worked together for much of the last 5 years.  Bill is a friend, colleague, and sounding board for the strange and wacky leadership ideas that bubble in my mind.  Bill and I have had many discussions on leadership style, mentoring, and team dynamics.  I value Bill’s opinion.

Bill’s editorial support on many of my blog posts have allowed me to focus on getting concept on paper.  Having strong confidence that Bill will review, edit, and make better the points that I am trying to convey.  Thanks Bill.

Bill is a champion of the fight against Asthma, COPD, lung cancer, and air pollution.  You can support Bill in his fight for this cause at Climb for Clean Air – Bill Elser

If you would like to know more about Bill, check out his LinkedIn profile at https://www.linkedin.com/in/billelser/

Photo Attribution

The photos in this article come from the website startupstockphotos.com

If I have made an error in attribution please let me know.