Project Management - Meetings Eveyone Hates Them
If you ask most people they will likely say that they hate meetings, they are too long, nothing gets done, they are boring, redundant, you can fill in the blank. I disagree, if these are the types of meetings you attend, then you are at the wrong meetings OR the meetings are not being held in the best way.
If your meetings are too long, then you are not controlling the meeting, if nothing gets done in your meetings then they are not controlled meetings. Meetings should have an agenda (in most cases), this does not mean that it has to be written down, but you should know going into your meeting what it is you want to accomplish and how you are going to get it done. And don’t let things get off track, not that conversations can’t take place, but if your meeting topic is about the new implementation of SCCM 2007, you should not spend 15 minutes talking about Exchange 2007.
Holding effective meetings for a PM is essential. You can get information out, get feedback, input, set time lines, line up resources, and update all your stakeholders in just a few minutes, something it would take days to accomplish one-on-one or in email. But your meetings should be efficient, not a complaint session, although sometimes that is what your team needs to do as well.
Some rules I try to follow for meetings:
Always have an agenda and make sure everyone has a copy. This can be notes in the meeting request or a real agenda.
Manage the meeting. Don’t let someone else take over your meeting, it doesn’t matter what their title is, it is your meeting. Again, you can let people bring things up but always know that you can jump in and say “I will take that as a action item, and get back to you on it but lets move on for now.” Most people know what that means and will realize at that point that they have gotten off topic and move on.
Review and Summary. Review the agenda before you get started, and make sure that you summarize the action items or decisions before you leave the table. This gives everyone a reminder of why you are here, and at the end it makes sure everyone knows what they are supposed to take as an action item and what was decided.
Start and stop on time. I can’t tell you how annoying this is to others. This is probably the biggest complaint I hear about meetings. If your meeting is scheduled to start at 10AM, make sure you are there at 9:55, while others may not get their until 10:05, if it is your meeting you need to be early. And if you meeting is set for 1 hour, don’t let it turn into 1:30. Respect the time of your attendees. They may have other meetings, other items, need coffee, who knows, but most people will stay later but then you are imposing upon their day. This is where your agenda and management skills come in. Can you really control your meeting.
None of these rules are set in stone. They are all broken but are a great guide for the typical meeting. I find that they work well for me as a rule of thumb.
Sorry my postings have been so irregular lately. I have am part of a $xx,xxx.xx project and most of my time is spent away from my desk in a server room or conference room for the last several weeks. Hopefully by next week things will return to normal as they begin stress testing. BTW I will be in Jeremy Moskowitz two day GPO class in Phoenix on Thursday and Friday. So if you work/live in the Phoenix area shoot me an email and we can meet up for lunch or dinner.
05:13 - Oct 10, 2006
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