Management Meetings on the project.

In this article, I would like to note a few lessons learned on meetings and meetings that I have learned from my practice. In project management, considerable attention is focused on the management of communications, part of which is the holding of meetings and meetings. All of us, in the process of project management, participate or organize, various kinds of meetings.


Some of them turn out to be productive and, leaving the meeting room, we think with satisfaction: "Okay! We have made significant progress in solving the problem." Others, on the other hand, make us nervous even in the process, and at the end there are thoughts that the meeting did not give anything. So what needs to be done to increase the number of productive meetings and meetings and reduce unproductive ones? Let's try to figure it out.

 


First of all, any meeting or encounter should have a purpose. If you're organizing a meeting, try to figure out what you expect from it. It is unlikely that you organize a meeting just to talk to colleagues or contractors/customers. So, we come to the fact that we need to formulate the purpose of the meeting. Try to pronounce it clearly and simply, so that at the end of the meeting, you can unequivocally answer whether you have achieved the goal or not. If necessary, do not hesitate to split one difficult goal into several simple ones.


Prioritize goals. In case you have several meeting goals, prioritize them. Think about which ones are more important and which ones are less important. Highlight the most important goals, you will need to achieve them in any case.


Decide on the meeting participants. After defining the goals of the meeting, think about who can help you achieve your goals. Decide what level the discussion will be. Will it be a discussion of details with experts and technical specialists or will it be a meeting to make a management decision. In general, you need to clearly understand the list of participants. It is possible that you will have to chop one meeting for several due to the heterogeneity of the goals and, accordingly, the employees involved. At the meeting, there should not be such a moment that some employees will be involved in solving only one issue and are not involved in solving other issues.


Determine the duration of the meeting. Remember, you invite people to the meeting whose participation in this meeting is not the main job. Try to clearly define the boundaries of the meeting. Plan how long it will take you to discuss all the issues and achieve the planned goals.


Set the agenda for the meeting. Surely, performing points 1-4, you made notes on paper. Now it's time to formalize those records. Set the agenda for the meeting. The agenda should be clear to all participants and sent in advance. Remember, if you want to have a constructive discussion, participants need to prepare.
Make a few reference points and questions that allow you to develop each topic for discussion. In the case of unfamiliar people, it will be a good idea to make sketches for yourself the key points that allow you to give participants food for discussion. If you're organizing a meeting, you're the person in charge of that meeting, and doing so will help you get the discussion off the ground if necessary.


Determine the time of the meeting. After you have completed all the previous points, you need to plan the time of the meeting. The more participants, the more difficult it will be to do. Try to get from each participant several options for a convenient time for him to hold a meeting. Next, find a convenient time for all participants.


Make sure that all the necessary participants will be able to attend. Once you've made an appointment, call each participant or otherwise verify that they have received a meeting invitation and will be able to come.


Monitor the turnout of participants. If you set up an appointment in advance (a few days/weeks in advance), monitor the turnout of the participants. Call them a few hours in advance and warn them that you are waiting for them at the agreed time.


Make sure you have everything you need for the meeting. Make sure that the booked meeting room is not busy. If you need a flipchart or other tools, check their readiness.
Stick to the agenda. Don't let the meeting get away. Remember, you have a limited amount of time and during this time you need to achieve your planned goals.
Listen to others. This point is one of the most important, unfortunately, it is often neglected. Not everyone knows how to express their thoughts clearly and clearly, and many are embarrassed to speak at meetings, however, it is from them that the solution of your tests can come, and with the same probability as from other participants in the meeting. You need to listen to other participants in the meeting and try to understand what exactly was meant.


Take notes. During the meeting, be sure to take notes. Capture all decisions and key points. You can use this to reconstruct the course of the meeting from the recordings in the future. At a minimum, this will be useful for drawing up the minutes of the meeting.


Take stock. After discussing each issue, take stock. All participants should clearly understand what exactly you agreed on, what conclusions you came to and what decisions you made.


Thank the participants and voice the next steps. At the end of the meeting, thank the participants for their help. Do not forget about this simple action, it will greatly improve the impression of you. Also voice your next steps. Participants in the meeting should see how this meeting will help in the long term.
Take minutes of the meeting and distribute it to the participants. This must be done. In the future, this will be a documentary confirmation of the decisions taken at the meeting. Do not forget to indicate in the minutes those present at the meeting and absent persons.