Effective Meeting Practices

1. Our meetings are regularly planned events (not just ad hoc).

   1. We're too busy "putting out fires" to plan effective meetings.
   2. Some of our meetings are planned, most are not.
   3. We have regularly scheduled meetings that have a specific purpose that is good for the organization overall (not just good for some people).

2. Those who attend our meetings always know the purpose of the meeting before they arrive.

   1. Not really.
   2. Sometimes we give the meeting a "name" like budget meeting.
   3. Yes, those attending know the purpose of the meeting and how to prepare n order to fully participate.

3. We meet only when other methods of information dissemination or decision making would be less effective.

   1. Meetings are always the best way to get information "out there" and to make decisions.
   2. We let each of our leaders or managers decide what they think is best - some like to meet a lot and others hate the idea so they avoid it.
   3. We have meetings only when necessary because input in needed prior to decision making or clarification of information is required prior to dissemination.

4. We have a plan to keep our meetings "on track" and for dealing with problems that arise during a meeting.

   1. Not really, we usually handle things the same way we've always done it, but we rarely complete a whole meeting agenda.
   2. For the most part we don't have problems in our meetings.
   3. Yes, we have an established plan to keep our meetings "on track" and an alternative should it be necessary to remain on a particular topic of the meeting long than anticipated.

5. We have an established way of following up on action items determined during a meeting.

   1. Sometimes we don't remember what the action items were until we get to the next meeting and find things left undone.
   2. Someone usually writes down what we plan to do, but we don't have a systematic way of following up so sometimes things "fall through the cracks."
   3. Action items are agreed upon (including person the item is assigned to and the date they will complete it) and recorded during the meeting. Then, a follow-up is conducted either at the next meeting or at a pre-determined date if necessary.

6. We keep our meetings "on track" and "on time" to minimize disruption from our employees regular duties.

   1. There always seem to be more agenda left at the end of our meetings - we never seem to get everything covered in the time allotted.
   2. This seems to depend on who is running the meeting. But, the most effective ones at running our meetings are often the least popular in our organization because they don't allow much (if any) input from others. Most of the time the meetings are used just to keep others informed about items that have already been decided.
   3. Since everyone is on time and prepared and the agenda is clear, it is easy to keep our meetings "on track" and "on time." Only occasionally will we need to table an agenda items for additional discussion later.

7. Our meetings always start on time, with everyone present and prepared.

   1. We rarely start our meetings on time because key people are often missing at the designated start time. People rarely come prepared and just do the best they can at the meeting.
   2. This only happens when the meetings are for a very small group of people who come to a regular meeting.
   3. Since everyone knows in advance what to do to prepare for the meetings, where and when the meetings are, we are able to start our meetings on time.

8. We evaluate our meeting effectiveness regularly to determine how we could improve.

   1. We don't know how to do that, so we'd say, "no."
   2. Sometimes we ask people what they think about our meetings.
   3. We regularly solicit input from meeting participants to determine how we could improve our meeting process and implement their suggestions.

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