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Cardinal Rules For Meetings
By Will Turner
Be prepared.
Do homework and come to the table with all the necessary information for effective decision-making. If possible, an agenda for the meeting should be circulated to all participants in advance.
Share responsibilities.
To keep a meeting on target, you can enlist the help of those in attendance. Make sure you have a facilitator and a scribe. You may want to assign other responsibilities as well, such as a taskmaster, devil’s advocate or creative catalyst.
Set ground rules.
Let the group decide what is acceptable behavior for the meeting. The dynamics of meetings may be different; you don’t have to run them all the same way. Set the ground rules for the meeting through group consensus. The ground rules should include consequences for breaking the rules.
Stay focused.
Use an agenda and stay on course. Avoid tangents that are not true to the agenda item being discussed. If necessary, set time limits for topics or speakers.
Communicate your purpose.
Every item should be on the agenda for a reason. It may be to inform or it may be to make a group decision. Make sure the group understands what is to be accomplished with each item.
Commit to action.
Based on the purpose of the agenda item, determine the next step(s) to take, who is responsible and a timeline for completion.
Follow-up.
Make sure that everyone gets a summary of the meeting minutes and an action-plan for what was agreed to in the meeting.
Be open to change.
Meetings don’t always have to be run the same way. Be open to new dynamics and fresh approaches. Look for ways to make ideas work.
Have fun.
Brainstorm ways that you can handle issues that will make the meetings interesting and fun for the participants.
© Dancing Elephants Achievement Group 2003