Section C
Managing and Conducting Meetings
“The mutual confidence on which all else depends can be maintained only by an open mind and a brave reliance upon free discussion.”
Speech to the Board of Regents, University of the State of New York. Learned Hand, 1950s.
After the Duke of Wellington had held his first cabinet meeting as prime minister, he is said to have exclaimed: “An extraordinary affair. I gave them their orders and they wanted to stay and discuss them.”
1 Planning the Meeting
1.1
Firstly, is a meeting the best way to accomplish the defined purpose? If yes, then what process will best serve the purpose?
1.1.1
Spend some time deciding why the meeting is necessary. In a project most meetings will have been predetermined, for example, progress meetings or the project manager's meeting. These meetings will have been entered on the project calendar for a particular time and day, either weekly or monthly. So there is no excuse for non‐attendance. For extraordinary meetings, say, problem‐solving meetings, make sure that people have sufficient advance notice.
1.2
Be clear about your objectives and the results you want to achieve from the meeting. Make sure that everyone understands the real goal of the meeting. For example, the real goal may not be to solve the problem but to get the authorised manager to agree with the team's conclusion such that they will sign off on the proposed course of action.
1.3
Issue an agenda to the participants. Can any agenda items be eliminated by brief one‐to‐one conversations or a chat on the telephone?
1.4
Send a memo with the agenda telling people when and where the meeting is to take place and tell them what data, documents, and information may be required. Inform people in sufficient time before the meeting to enable people to prepare for their contribution.
1.5
Attendance at meetings should be at the lowest supervisory level empowered to make decisions. Thus, only problems that cannot be resolved at this level are passed up the next supervisory level. Similarly, only problems unresolved at this intermediate level are passed up to the project manager's meeting level.
1.6
Remember, when people are at a meeting, they are not working. Do not let people attend who are not really concerned with the objective of the meeting. They may just be looking for a reason to book man hours on their timesheet.
1.7
Try not to cancel a meeting; the lost man hours and disruption involved in rescheduling are not worth the trouble. If you cannot attend, deputize a senior member of your team to take the meeting on your behalf. Similarly, if someone else cannot attend, ask them to nominate a deputy.
2 The Agenda
2.1
Develop the agenda, listing the subjects in a logical order, grouping similar and related subjects. The agenda should not be just a list of topics, but each item should explain the circumstances of the issue and what needs to be accomplished. Develop a standard agenda for progress meetings.
2.2
Allocate some approximate times for discussion. Place a time limit on urgent items of low importance. This will enable the important items to have the maximum amount of time for discussion.
2.3
Fix the duration of the meeting, appropriate for the agenda, and announce the finishing time (this can be offset by the discussion expanding to fill the time available). Nevertheless, people are more concise and to the point if there is a demanding deadline.
2.4
Start meetings one hour (or whatever duration you have fixed for the meeting) before lunch or one hour before the time to go home. That way people are really serious if they want to expand on a topic.
3 Manage the Process and the People
3.1
Try not to have too many participants. In a project this can sometimes be difficult to achieve. Consequently, consider asking people to attend the progress meeting in stages, rather than sitting through long discussions that do not concern them.
3.2
The seating layout is important; arrange the seating so that everyone gets to see everyone else. As the chairperson, sit at the head of the table. If you know that there is an aggressive person, ask them to sit next to you (or in other circumstances go and sit next to them), not opposite them. Sit aggressive people on the same side. It is much more difficult to have an argument with someone sitting next to you rather than opposite you. I've tried it, and it works.
3.3
Introduce people (names and project roles) so that everyone knows who all the attendees are.
3.4
Start as you mean to go on. Do not wait for latecomers. Be prepared to take dramatic action for persistent latecomers or for people who come unprepared. Take a clock to the meeting, and charge their department for any time wasted!
3.5
The chairman sets the tone and process of a meeting. In a progress meeting, they will direct the use of problem‐solving and decision‐making techniques as needed (at the autocratic end of Tannenbaum and Schmidt's continuum; see the previous Section). Whereas for a problem‐solving meeting, they will adopt a neutral position and remain impartial (at, or towards, the consensus end of Tannenbaum and Schmidt's continuum). They will defer any judgment and avoid appearing to take sides. They will protect airtime, the acceptability of ideas, and the consideration of alternatives from loss or rejection without full discussion of the group. They will actively encourage involvement but regulate input from those who would monopolize the discussion.
3.6
The positive personality can be of great help and should be used, but don't let a forceful character monopolize the discussion. Stop dominant personalities taking control. Use questions to defuse any aggression and remind people what the objectives are. Remind them that we are all part of the same project team. However, aggressive people will want to have their say on a particular matter, so let them. Then ask the quiet ones what their views are.
3.6.1
An opposite approach is to ask the quieter members to give their opinions first, when a ‘senior person’ or ‘expert’ might repress the other members at the meeting and so stifle their contributions. Keep an eye on the hesitant, quieter people. When there is a suitable opportunity, ask one of them by name an easy question that they can answer well. Thank them for their opinion.
3.6.2
Acknowledge the experience of the person who is being uncooperative and let them feel that you depend on their help for the success of the meeting.
3.6.3
The talkative person may be of real value if they are well informed and so should not necessarily be discouraged. However, if they are allowed to go on for too long, they may get boring. So, interrupt politely and ask a direct question of someone else.
3.6.4
The ‘academic’ type needs to be kept to the point, and it may be necessary to paraphrase what they have said for the benefit of the rest of the meeting.
3.6.5
The person who knows it all may not know it all. Ask them to back up their opinion with reasons. If they are valid, move on. If they are faulty, ask others to comment.
3.6.6
The person who is constantly asking questions may be trying to catch you out. Pass the questions back to the meeting, and then ask for their own views.
3.6.7
If someone is disinterested, occasionally ask for their advice based on their experience. Try and give the impression that their opinion is needed.
3.6.8
Don't allow anyone to become personal.
3.7
In a progress meeting, the participants should know the type of information needed. However, they will need to respond to questions concisely and correctly. Try to avoid suppressing contributions.
3.8
In a problem‐solving meeting, people need to participate, get involved, and share information and ideas freely. They must defer all judgment until ideas and suggestions have been fully considered.
3.9
A requisite skill required of people is listening. If everyone is to have a say, then people will be required to listen for most of the time.
3.10
Be observant and check that people have understood the issues and conclusions.
3.11
See Section E, Personal Skills, subsections 1 to 8 Interactions with Others.
4 Control the Discussion
4.1
Remind everyone what the meeting relates to and what the objectives are (see 1.2 above).
4.1.1
Explain why each topic is being discussed as the meeting progresses, and make clear the result that you hope to achieve from each part of the discussion.
4.2
Margaret Thatcher started every meeting with: “What are the facts?” Facts trump opinions.
4.3
As in a project, structure the discussion in phases: collect all the information and facts and then analyse the data and information. Then, using the synergy of the group process, construct decisions about the action to be taken.
4.4
Stop people changing the subject or going back and revisiting something that has already been decided.
4.5
Another danger is people raising irrelevant issues and wandering onto other topics on the agenda. Do not allow excessive discussion on unimportant detail. Bring the meeting back to the issue being dealt with.
4.6
Stop people having separate discussions/meetings. Ask the people concerned to share the issues with the whole meeting.
4.7
Clarify obscure statements. If you don't understand what someone has said, ask them to explain it again in a different way.
4.8
When generalisations are used; ask the meeting if it is everyone's experience.
4.9
Remain objective and listen to both sides of an argument. Consider throwing questions back to the meeting before expressing your point of view. Don't prejudice the discussion by imposing your point of view. Keep your views to a minimum.
4.10
Try to make sure that every contribution is relevant and moves the discussion towards a resolution.
4.11
As the meeting progresses, it is useful to check with the group on how well the meeting is achieving its goals.
4.12
Tell the meeting when it is approaching the end, and decide what will be the best use of the remaining time.
4.13
Do not let your chairmanship become oppressive by controlling too tightly.
5 Construct Decisions and Summarize
5.1
Let everyone have their say. Pull together similar contributions. Check around the meeting to make sure no one has been left out.
5.2
When brainstorming (see Section J, subsection 1), record all ideas and suggestions.
5.3
Generate ideas from each other. Look for alternatives – don't undermine people or their ideas.
5.4
Combine ideas into an acceptable solution. Don't chase a consensus; it is too time consuming (see Section B, Paragraph 1.2). Do not let the pressure to get a unanimous agreement create a groupthink decision.
5.5
Summarize and express things in a different way, but don't elaborate excessively. Check that everyone still understands the issue.
6 Record and Notify
6.1
Organize someone (from the project controls group) to take notes during the meeting, preferably someone who can write up the minutes, briefly and unambiguously, as you progress.
6.2
The minutes should be in a consistent format that should be the same for all meetings. They should be complete in themselves and preferably not refer to other documents.
6.2.1
Record all decisions in the minutes and the names of the people responsible for the actions. Set target dates for when action items are to be completed.
6.3
Make sure that you review the minutes and edit them as necessary. The person taking the minutes is responsible for ensuring that the minutes are agreed by the parties involved and issued within a day or so.
6.4
Distribute copies of the minutes to the attendees and in accordance with the distribution matrix. Highlight to individuals the actions that they are responsible for.
6.5
Remember that minutes of a meeting with a client are agreements that are contractually binding unless you have made an agreement to the contrary. In which case, the published minutes will need a statement on each page stating that they ‘do not intend to form a contract.’
6.6
After difficult meetings, you may overhear negative mutterings as the attendees leave the room. Alternatively, dissenters during the meeting may later renege on the agreements made. In these circumstances, you may need to get everyone to sign off on the agreements made.