Setting Up a Successful Meeting

There are some general guidelines to follow in order to have successful and effective meetings. Identify the Objective Follow the qualification steps discussed earlier in this chapter to determine if the meeting is necessary. Determine what the outcome of the meeting is supposed to be and state it on the meeting invitation. Instead of a generic meeting title, choose one that is more descriptive. For example, change Conversion Project Team Meeting to Decision on Software Platform (Conversion Project). Identify what the meeting will cover and its desired outcome. Schedule Time and Stick to It Choose a start and stop time and ensure that the meeting adheres to those times. If the meeting is going to run over, schedule the next one or give the team an opportunity to make the decision to run over. Not releasing the resources on time and failing to adhere to the schedule sets a poor example for the project team. How can a PM expect that the resources will hit their estimates if the PM cant hit his? 116 Project Management That Works Create an Agenda Not only should the PM create an agenda, she should also assign topic owners, avoid acronyms, and set expected times for the topics. Ray, a senior PM consultant was asked to attend a meeting that was titled CRM Discussion where he was assigned the task CRM Overview. He assumed that CRM meant customer relationship management and that he would be providing an overview of the concept. There were no attendees listed, so he assumed that it was an internal meeting. When Ray arrived at the meeting, he realized that he was the only one dressed in business casual. He also noticed clients in the room and a projector set up. The slide on the projector said Change Request Management Demonstration and had Rays name next to it. He was completely unprepared. Granted, Ray made way too many assumptions, however, the meeting agenda and title were not sufficient. The agenda should include: The start and stop times of the meeting The goal of the meeting A list of participants The roles and responsibilities of the participants The location of the meeting Special considerations such as dress code, directions, or information that is pertinent to the outcome of the meeting Definitions of all acronyms used Ensure the Attendees Are Prepared It is the PMs role to ensure that all attendees understand why they are there, what is expected of them, and what their attendance means to the project. This exercise has two different purposes. When a PM is gathering the information to tell the resources why they are needed, the PM is validating that they are needed. The second purpose is to ensure that the participant brings the necessary materials and/or mindset to have a successful meeting. Successful meetings can really be quite simple. It is amazing the productivity that can be achieved by following these rules. Not only will

 Important Rules for Meetings

Timeliness One of the first and most important rules of meetings is to not let meetings drag on. One project office manager once discussed a staff meeting that would take 2.5 hours with four people attending. His input was about 20 minutes. The time lost over the other two-plus hours was an incredible blow to his productivity. Make sure that the meetings are efficient. Hold to the Purpose of the Meeting Do not allow other topics or political issues to cloud the meeting. Call another meeting to discuss the latest issue or agree to talk about it after the original meeting task is completed. Ensure That All Needed Materials Are Present Make sure that all information needed to achieve the outcome is available. If the meeting is to discuss a user interface, then make sure the interface is available for viewing. If it is a meeting to choose one vendor over another, make sure that appropriate information is available to make the decision. Document All Details and Decisions If the meeting is important enough to bring together a team, it needs to be documented. The meeting can either be documented in meeting minutes (a formal listing all conversation) or meeting notes (which are less formal and do not contain everything everyone said). Meeting notes list the key decisions and who took part in the conversation but not at the same detailed level as meeting minutes. Whichever the case, make sure the key points are documented.