How to Run Meetings People Want to Attend

If you work in higher education then you have meetings. Lots of meetings. Long meetings, unproductive meetings, meetings about meetings. Don’t be part of the meeting problem, be part of the solution!

You may not be able to control how someone else runs a meeting, but if you’re the host, you can follow a few tips to ensure that when your meeting is over, the participants aren’t running for the hills or sound asleep.

The point of a meeting is to have a conversation about an issue or topic and come to a decision. Sometimes there are multiple topics and multiple decisions to be made. As the meeting organizer, you are the facilitator of the conversation and the guide leading the participants toward the decision.

Give Them Something to Talk About

Ahead of the meeting, send out the agenda and include whatever it is that is up for discussion. Whether that’s a policy draft, a project timeline, a list of goals, a link to related information, etc. It’s easier for the conversation to get going when there is something participants can react to. This allows the meeting to get right to the point, rather than waste time waiting for everyone to read a draft or review information. It also lets everyone know ahead of time how many topics are on the agenda.

Be Observant

Pay attention to who is talking and who isn’t talking. If the meeting is in person, watch how participants react to what is being said. If someone seems to squirm in their chair or cringe, ask them what they think. They may have a useful counter opinion.

If the meeting is online, watch for people to mark their hand raised and be sure to call on them. You may have to cut someone off who jumps in without raising their hand, but you can do so politely. Keep the chat window open in case anything gets added there that needs to be brought to everyone’s attention. If you don’t think you can do all those things at once, elect someone to watch the chat for you.

Watch the Clock

In addition to paying attention to the participants, pay attention to the time. Keep your agenda in front of you so you can see what is left to discuss. If the conversation is going on longer than you expected, but is productive, you may have to save one of the agenda items for another meeting. Conversely, be willing to end the meeting early if the discussion didn’t take the full time. If the conversation is straying off topic, it’s your job to let everyone know when it’s time to move to the next item.

Consider what can be accomplished offline. When time runs short, be flexible about what has to get done in the meeting and what can be done via email or shared documents outside of the meeting.

Listen

Just because you called the meeting, doesn’t mean you have to talk the whole time. As I said before, I see a meeting as a conversation. If all you want to do is present information, that doesn’t necessarily require a meeting. Gathering people together implies you want to hear what they have to say. As organizer, you pose the questions and then sit back and listen.

Know When to Step In

Sometimes one participant dominates the conversation or has an unending supply of questions. While you don’t want to skip over that person or ignore them, you may have to rein them in. A few ways of doing that are to say something like, “I hear you saying (briefly summarize their point), does anyone else want to comment?” You can cut in with, “Joe/Susie/whoever has had their hand raised for a while now, let’s hear what they have to say.” If the end of the monologue is nowhere in sight, you can interrupt the participant and let them know you’d be happy to talk with them offline, but that you need to keep the meeting going.

If time is running short and people’s hands are still raised, you need to decide whether to end the discussion and call for a decision or table the decision for next time. Either of those options is better than letting the meeting run long.

Take What You Can Get

Sometimes a final decision can’t be reached in the meeting. Instead, look for action items that will move the issue forward. If more research is needed, ask for a volunteer or assign the task to someone. If the document needs to reflect suggested edits from the meeting, have the scribe (which might be you) make the edits and send the document back out before the next meeting. If there isn’t a next meeting on the calendar, try to set one up while everyone is there. Often, that is easier than trying to get everyone to give you their availability via email or polling.

Follow-Up

When the meeting results in action items, it’s helpful to send an email to the participants afterwards with a list of who is doing what and when it is due. If several people missed the meeting and there was important information they will need before the next meeting, provide a summary or minutes that everyone can access. This allows you to post the information once for everyone to read, rather than wasting time at the beginning of the next meeting bringing everyone up to speed.

What things do you do to ensure your meetings are purposeful and productive?