How to Lead an Effective Meeting (and get the results you want)

It seems these days that everyone hates meetings. How many times have you heard someone say, "We have too many meetings," or "I am booked so solid every day in meetings I never have time to get anything done," or "I'm back-to-back..." But when you talk to people, it isn't that they hate meetings; it's that they don't like meetings in which nothing gets done. No one is sure why the meeting was called, or why half the people are in the room, or what exactly is supposed to get done, or what was decided. We complain about meetings, but we seem to attend more and more of them. This book is for people who need to lead effective meetings, in any context. It is a blueprint for how to have your meetings work, defined as, meetings that achieve the results you want to achieve, in the meeting and afterwards. It's a how-to guide for using the time you spend planning, organizing and conducting meetings wisely. It's about getting results through meetings. Why are effective meetings important? Meeting quality matters. Well-run organizations have well-run meetings. Sloppily run organizations have sloppily run meetings. What are the signs of a bad meeting? The meeting starts late. There is no agenda. The meeting runs over. No one is sure what if anything was decided or accomplished. The same meeting to discuss the same topic seems to be held over and over again. No one knows what the next steps are or who is supposed to follow up whom for what. Someone monopolizes the meeting and someone else talks in circles, while yet someone else seems to simply rephrase and repeat what has already been said. Nothing discourages people, whether volunteers or employees, like feeling they are wasting their time. Too many meetings waste time. They sap morale, and leave people frustrated or irritated. This is a shame, as leading an effective meeting is not rocket science once you have a blueprint. If you have an allergic reaction to wasting time in meetings, this book is for you. It is divided into five principal sections: - Preparation - Invitation - Agenda - Delivery - Follow Up The sections outline the five phases of a meeting. For your meeting to be successful (again, defined as, a meeting that achieves the results you want to achieve), you must execute each phase successfully. Meetings versus Presentations The tips in this book are intended to apply to both meetings, in which various people interact in a more-or-less informal setting, and presentations, occasions on which a speaker presents material to an audience in a structured, more-or-less formal setting. Some principles apply more directly to meetings, others to presentations. All are relevant to both.
About the Author: A trusted advisor to senior executives for more than twenty-five years, Dick Massimilian works with business leaders committed to exceptional performance. An expert in organizational architecture and leadership development, Dick consults top management on sensitive issues related to team and organizational effectiveness. He is also executive coach to leaders of Fortune 100 corporations and professional services firms in North and South America, Europe and Asia. Dick has directed large-scale change initiatives in the telecommunications, banking and retail industries in the US and Europe. His prior consulting experience includes integrating European acquisitions for a multi-billion dollar US-based fiber and cable manufacturer, coaching the head of largest division of a telecommunications manufacturer through a two-year culture change initiative and directing project teams in Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium. He has in-depth experience in the technology, oil and gas, pharmaceutical and financial services industries. His clients have included Hewlett Packard, Xerox, Corning, Oasis Petroleum, CR Bard, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb, JP Morgan Chase, HSBC, Merrill Lynch, UniCredit Banca, The Limited and Reebok. Dick has an M.B.A. in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from Yale. He is a former Wharton Public Policy Fellow, and serves as President of the North Texas Chapter of US Lacrosse. He was an adjunct faculty member in the Masters of Organization Development and Leadership Program at St. Joseph's University. Dick co-founded a fitness facility in Bronxville, New York. In addition to his experience working with multinational firms, Dick brings the perspective of a small business owner to his consulting practice. Dick has authored numerous published articles, including "Notes from the M&A Trenches" for the Journal of Business Strategy, "The New Language Barrier" for Business Horizons, the Journal of the Indiana University Graduate School of Business, "From Excellent to Extraordinary: Key Attributes of High Performing Organizations" in Manager's Magazine, and "Vision Impaired: How to Tell When the Team's Confused" for The President. Most recently, he co-authored "Resonant Leadership: A New Kind of Leadership for the Digital Age" published in the Ivey Business Journal. Dick lives in Dallas with his wife Jeri, their sons Domenic and Kyle and their daughter Tai.