Hi! Managers: Meetings are useful but you must make them meet your expectations

Having said that, how many times have we finished a business meeting and felt that it did not meet the expectations we had when we organised it or when we were asked to attend? Many managers see meetings as an interruption of their “real” work, boring, ineffective, a block to productivity or a necessary “evil”. This is the case despite the use of widely accepted principles of effective meetings such as ensuring that:
1 The meeting has clear objectives and a clear agenda;
2 The right people attend the meeting;
3 Any necessary preparation is indicated with reasonable advance notice;
4 Time management is handled strictly but flexibly and considerately;
5 The agenda is adhered to; and
6 Decisions and action points are recorded and sent to participants soon after meeting.

The implementation of the above principles should be the minimum standard that managers are entitled to expect from a meeting. Yet, sometimes, even when meetings are run efficiently and in a business-like manner and the above principles are implemented, many managers still complain. The reason may be that, although the meetings are run well, they do not fully engage the participants.
Engagement can be defined as “the phenomenon that occurs when a person expresses what is true for him and listens attentively to what is true for others” (Craig and Patricia Neal, “The Art of Convening”). Participants are engaged when they do not just show up to a meeting, make their presentations and offer a few suggestions, but are fully present and contributing to the whole, and thereby creating a feeling of connectedness. This leads to a more meaningful meeting that can sometimes achieve results beyond the originally envisaged agenda or objectives.

In “Stop Workplace Drama”, Marlene Chism cites five possible reasons for lack of engagement of employees during meetings:
1 They feel that their ideas won’t be taken seriously;
2 Peer pressure. It’s more “cool” to have an “us against them” mentality;
3 The questions are framed too broadly and do not allow for participation;
4 Fear of rejection; and
5 Lack of feedback or recognition when suggestions are given.

She also suggests ways to improve employee engagement during meetings, such as framing questions more narrowly to allow participants to focus and offer suggestions, asking each person to come up with ideas, asking for positive feedback first before discussing problems, using smaller break-out groups, rewarding good ideas and participation, and always showing respect.
Apart from increasing engagement during a meeting, we should also consider whether the persons invited are appropriate. If a person does not have sufficient information, or is not in a position to make a contribution or does not need to know about the topic first-hand, then this person is less likely to be engaged in the meeting and their presence may dilute the level of engagement in such meeting.
While it is important to ensure that only the relevant persons are invited to meetings, care should be exercised when deciding which managers to exclude. Despite their complaints about meetings, many managers react adversely when they are not included in certain meetings. In the article “Why We Secretly Love Meetings: The Status and Social Drive Beyond the Agenda”, Ron Ashkenas identifies several reasons for managers actually liking meetings. Meetings are an important social outlet and help managers feel part of a community and make, reinforce and expand personal and political connections. They are also important sources of information, both formally (as in the content of the meeting) and informally (as in the networking opportunities during the meeting and the breaks) and imply a certain status.
In the end, meetings that meet expectations are those that are well-run, adhere to the basic principles of effective meetings, achieve the objectives of the meeting and engage the participants. Meetings exceed expectations when they achieve a level of engagement of the sort described in “Briefing Notes: Effective Strategies to Increase Engagement in Meetings”: the “most important feature of a good meeting is feeling like you’re part of a rich conversation, in which participants build on one another’s insights while still able to surface and work through significant differences”.

Celina Chew is senior Bayer representative for the Country Group North Asean and managing director of Bayer Thai.