In their book “How to Communicate,” Patrick Flanning, Matthew McKay, Ph.D., and Martha Davis, Ph.D. discuss group meetings and the dynamics of communication. They define a business meeting as being a task-oriented group activity where group problems take precedence over individual needs. Yet one of the most common complaints about meetings, as noted in a recent post, is that “individuals dominate.”
A review of www.bestmind.com will reveal that “the best meetings are the ones where attention is paid to content, design, and process.” Yet data indicates that more than half of all business meetings in the U.S. are unproductive… and lack of planning is the biggest reason for poor meetings; and the most common reason given for not having planned a meeting or created an agenda is, “I didn’t have time.”
So here’s a simple solution—which is free: Create and use a template for creating meeting agendas.
This template should be simple, and should be used “on the go” so that recurring meetings can be planned a little-at-a-time as issues come up, as observations expose organizational or team needs, or as new ideas arise.
A free sample is available on our website.