Conference Line or Conference Room, Make the Most of Your Meetings

Yori Nelken founded TimeBridge in 2005 to make life easier for busy professionals by providing an intuitive Web application that helps schedule and run great meetings. In this post, Nelken shares his expertise in how to run efficient and productive meetings.

I work in an office, so do you. I sometimes work remotely, you sometimes work remotely. During the work day you and I likely meet with coworkers, consultants, board members, engineering teams, clients and accountants among many many others.

In these meetings, we constantly find ourselves wrangling and moderating personalities, work styles, expectations, schedules and budgets. The idea is that by coming together and huddling around a conference table, or more often these days a conference line, we loop everyone into an important process that could not otherwise be handled efficiently by email or simple phone call.

In an age where ubiquitous personal technology is sometimes seen as leading social disconnect, an unnecessary negative stigma is attached to meetings. The reality is that these collaborative sessions are fruitful places where decisions can be made and work can get done. Meetings are necessary and important – whether or not they’re remote or in-person. While smart phones and laptop computers can lend to personal productivity and connectedness, they can also disrupt the meeting and collaborative nature of meetings.

So, no matter where your meeting is being held or how many people are dialing in, it should be noted that both meeting attendees and organizers have a responsibility to each other to keep meetings meaningful. Here are a few suggestions for you to run better meetings:

Attendees

• First off, be on time
• Be prepared to participate
• Be ready to discuss without sarcasm, interrupting or foul language
• Be up-to-date on agenda items
• Notify the organizer if you’re running late
• Do not Tweet or text message about a meeting during the meeting or after
• Turn off cell-phones
• Avoid leaving or signing off early early for “other commitments”
• When an in-person meeting is adjourned, clean up after yourself

While much of this seems like basic manners, an engaged and polite attendee is as important as a well-planned meeting. Being unprepared, aggressive or tuned-out disrupts the workflow and productivity and wastes time for everyone from the meeting leader to your teammates, clients and colleagues.

Organizer

• Be on time!
• Specify the type of meeting – brainstorm or task-oriented – so attendees know what is expected of them
• Work out logistics and meeting materials well ahead of the meeting
• Make sure all attendees have agendas – where appropriate, allot time for each item where immediate action is needed
• Make sure all attendees have been introduced if they are unacquainted with each other
• Stay on topic and address all agenda items
• Engage attendees attention and participation with relevant discussion and driven actions
• Be clear and concise to avoid wasting attendees’ time
• Summarize actions and decisions so everyone leaves with a fresh overview of the meeting

It may seem obvious, but besides organizing and handling logistics, the meeting leader has a great deal of responsibility for keeping the meeting moving. Don’t be afraid to assert your authority as the meeting leader and use digression on where to focus the discussion to stay on the agenda. You want your attendees to remember the decisions and the task at hand rather than the time wasted on an out-of-control meeting.

No matter where you fall on the issue, meetings aren’t going away. Do your part to ensure that they’re always meaningful.

TimeBridge merges the best of the desktop with the rich experience of Web services to make it easier to find a time to meet, set an agenda, coordinate logistics, conduct a phone or Web conference and document and share decisions and actions.