In a course I teach on Meeting Management and Facilitation Skills, I was asked, “Are there any additional techniques to keep meetings short?”

This triggered a memory for me of a client who insisted on his group’s meetings being held standing up.  No chairs provided.  It definitely shortened meetings since people were less comfortable and less likely to dawdle.  Recently, I read a Wall Street Journal article about a software development firm that holds company meetings in which everyone has to stand up.  Here’s the link to the article:  http://tinyurl.com/8ysbl7w

The object, of course, is to eliminate rambling, off-point discussions that waste the group’s time.  Their meetings last about five minutes!  One study mentioned in the article was by Professor Allen Bluedorn of the University of Missouri who found in a 1998 study that standing meetings tend to be about 30% shorter than sitting meetings. He claims that the quality of decision-making is about the same.

As with all meetings, you need to think ahead of time about what your objective is.  A standing meeting might be the optimal solution to traditional staff meetings where the purpose is to catch up on what everyone is doing. However, if your meeting purpose is to gain insights into a client situation or to generate creative ideas, standing up may be counter-productive.  Creative thinking requires attendees to be free to share beginning ideas rather than fully-formed ones and those beginning ideas are developed through discussion and exploration with others in the meeting.  Further, second-generation ideas (as opposed to first-generation ideas that people bring to the meeting) often are more innovative than the initial thoughts.  Those deeper thoughts will not emerge if everyone is standing and waiting to rush back to his/her desk.  Nor will they emerge if participants are wishing they could sit down.

So when is a stand-up meeting the perfect solution?  When there is a specific challenge or problem that requires quick response.  When there is a major announcement to share with the team (one-way communication primarily).  When you have to cover very specific topics in a very focused way. When the focus is hearing from individuals about the work being done so the full group is informed.

If the latter is your objective, then try a stand-up meeting.  You might like it!

Remember these words of wisdom:  The length of a meeting is inversely proportional to the number of attendees without chairs! (Kent’s Law)

When you are arranging a meeting, give thought to what size room is necessary for the full group.  Also, how should the furniture be arranged to support the meeting topic and set the tone you desire?  Is a boardroom style better than a U-shape arrangement?  Would a casual, living room-style setup be more appropriate?

Make sure the chairs are comfortable if you’re asking people to stay for more than an hour.

Also, decide if the meeting is best held on-site or off-site.  Off-site locations tend to be best for creative problem solving or brainstorming because the new environment and fewer interruptions enhance focus and creative thinking.

I responded with one important tip and it was selected as the Editors’ Favorite!   My suggestion was printed in the January 2012 edition of Success Magazine in the Letters to the Editor section.  I was rewarded with a free copy of the magazine publisher’s (Darren Hardy) book  The Compound Effect.  Below is the tip that won the prize!

One recommendation I make to my clients on improving their meetings is to institute a Decision Board (often replaces meeting minutes).  This captures on a flipchart what decisions were made on each agenda item along with the appropriate next steps.  These become the meeting minutes and, when reviewed at the end of the meeting, remind people of what has been achieved and their commitments going forward.

I describe this technique in earlier blog posts such as Meeting Minutes Made Easy and Meeting Minutes Made Actionable and undoubtedly will talk about it more in future posts.

Many people, especially Americans as those familiar with several cultures tell me, are uncomfortable with silence in a meeting.  Oftentimes, a silence tempts you to start talking – to fill the silence.  Resist this temptation.

Silences may have different causes and meanings. The group may be considering a point that was made.  The group may be tired, confused, bored, or hungry.  Their biorhythms may be kicking in – you know, as with the mid-afternoon sluggishness.

What should you do?  Ask the group what is happening. You might say, “It’s quiet – are you all thinking or just wondering what to say?”  If you are comfortable with humor, you might say, “Usually, our problem is that we all speak at once!  Now what’s going on?”  Then wait for an answer.  Again, you will be tempted to keep talking.  Don’t.  Let people tell you what’s happening.

If the silence continues, you might give the group several options.  “Well, we could review what we’ve already covered on this topic and see what makes sense as a next step.  On the other hand, we could go around the table and have each person offer their point of view on the subject.  Alternatively, we could take a break, get some caffeine, and come back and start up again.  Which course of action seems most appropriate to you?”

If you are a moderator or chairperson of the meeting, you may be very sensitive to the silence. Nevertheless, frequently, the participants are feeling very busy thinking about the discussion, so they do not experience the silence with the same intensity that you do.  Be patient.  Train yourself to wait. The words will begin again!

Have you been in a meeting intended to figure out how to get from where you or the organization are to where you want to be?  One way to achieve your objective is to do a Gap Analysis. Businesses often use this technique to compare actual performance with potential performance.  The analysis provides insight into areas that can be improved to achieve a goal.

What is a Gap Analysis? It’s a way to identify the obstacles preventing achievement of a desired goal.

What does it do? Gap Analysis encourages exploration of the gap, or obstacles or blocks that are in the way of your objective.  It forces a realistic look at where you are at present and helps identify the specific actions needed to be taken in order to be successful

How does it work? Gap Analysis creates alignment among team members through discussion of each obstacle because people begin to understand what steps are open to them and make decisions given that shared understanding.

Steps of Gap Analysis:

1.  Identify the desired objective. You might do some visioning on this or imagine magazine articles detailing the achievement or use any approach that captures a mental picture of where the group wants to be in future.  Post the picture or phrases on a flipchart and place it on the wall.

2.  Identify the present situation. Create a detailed picture of what exists today.  If possible, see what the elements identified in Step 1 look like today.  Again, write this on flipchart paper and post it on the wall.

3.  Focus on the gap between what is now and what is desired.  Identify the gaps/barriers.  Is anything missing that is necessary to bridge the two mental pictures?  (This can be done in small groups so that you move forward quickly.)

4.  If the group was broken into sub-groups, come together into one group and share the identified gaps/blocks/obstacles.  Again, write these up on a flipchart and post them.

5.  Have the group review all the gaps and reach a rough agreement on the key problem ingredients.

6.  Divide the group into smaller groups and have each sub-group focus on a gap and generate ideas to address it.

7.  Come back together as a single group and share recommendations and action plans.  Get new ideas from the full group on what they hear.

8.  Create an overall action plan that will move the group forward to addressing the gap between where they are now and where they want to be.

Patrick Lencioni, author of Death By Meeting, recommends adding drama and appreciating conflict in meetings.  How might you add drama and energy to your meetings?

He recommends learning from movies that are interactive and engaging:

1.  Set a “plot” at the beginning of the meeting.  Highlight a competitive threat.  Emphasize the danger of making a wrong decision.  Appeal to the larger mission. Describe the impact on all stakeholders.

2.  Give participants a reason to CARE – about the meeting and its consequences.

Further, Lencioni points out that disagreements are natural and resolving them is what makes meetings productive, engaging, and fun.

Reading this, ask yourself, “What, specifically, can I do to add energy to my meetings?“

Sometimes a group will resist being facilitated. Perhaps some people feel it is too formal while others prefer a loose, free-flowing discussion.

What can you do if your role is to facilitate this group?

1. Calmly and clearly state what a facilitator does (that is, what YOU will be doing) and does not do and how some attention paid to the process of the meeting prevents totally wasting time on random discussion.

2. Accept the input and facilitate from a seat at the table rather than from the front of the room. Offer ideas for how to process discussion.

3. Take on related roles: timekeeper, scribe, summarizer. Be low-key.

Do not allow the group to flounder. They will not thank you for doing nothing even though you are following their request. Instead, offer to step in if they begin to be unproductive. Have a few suggestions ready for how the group can move forward in the remaining time. If they are successful without a full facilitator, congratulate them and consider that this group might be good at managing itself.  Ask if they achieved their objectives for the meeting.  Suggest if they think a topic requires stronger process management, they might consider a facilitator for that meeting.

In addition to the situations described in the prior blog post, here are more scenarios that call for a facilitator.

• If full participation is important (everyone needs to be engaged and focused)
• When internal politics are strong
• When neutrality and objectivity are crucial
• If bringing in someone “from the outside” will lend importance to the topic
• If you’re leaving meetings frustrated
• When group commitment is essential

Having a meeting facilitator can free you and your team from the worry of staying focused, note-taking, and time-keeping.  You will be able to listen more intently and keep your attention on the task at hand.

For your next important meeting, consider bringing in a professional facilitator or having a skilled, unbiased staff member fill that role.

Facilitation is a skill that focuses on upgrading the process of meetings in order to improve the quality of the meeting results. A trained and experienced facilitator understands meeting dynamics and brings to bear techniques to ensure the meeting leads to the desired outcome. She or he is responsible for harnessing the group’s energy and setting it to work on a given task.

It makes sense to have staff trained as facilitators.  And sometimes it makes sense to bring in someone from outside the organization.  A professional facilitator can help a team or organization move forward productively, whether on a single topic or a strategic plan. Typical instances where a facilitator can make a big difference include:

• If you are scheduling a strategic planning “retreat” to decide where your
company, organization or department is going over the next three to five years

• If you want innovative thinking on a recurring task

• If critical meetings go on and on without a decision

• When you have lots of ideas but can’t get them to solution stage

I’ll have more on this topic in the next post.

At the start of any meeting, make sure everyone is clear about the purpose of the meeting by:

• Reviewing the agenda
• Giving a brief background on why the meeting was called, especially if a special meeting
• Letting people know how they can add value to the session by giving ideas, sharing information, etc.
• Share with participants how this meeting or agenda item matters to them, i.e., “We need ideas for this situation because the final decision will affect how we process claims.”
• Distribute relevant materials early so they can absorb the information and participate fully.