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If we look at some of the things that can go wrong in a meeting, then we can learn from mistakes.

▪ inappropriate time of meeting, e.g. just before the end of the day

▪ the meeting is called at short notice

▪ poor or no agenda

▪ unclear purpose of meeting

▪ spending time during the meeting reading background reports

▪ not having enough copies of papers or reports for all participants

▪ participants arrive late

▪ wrong people present

▪ people who have authority to make decisions are not present

▪ unclear roles

▪ noisy venue; room too hot or too cold

▪ seating unhelpful for discussion

▪ some people talk too much; others talk too little

▪ participants are not prepared

▪ no follow-up from previous meeting

▪ participants do not reach conclusions or decisions

▪ participants do not decide actions or who is responsible for them

▪ poor or no chair

▪ discussion is in too much detail

▪ meeting goes on too long: no breaks

▪ new people present but no one introduces them

▪ participants use jargon that is not known to all participants

▪ participants do not really listen to one another

▪ participants talk to each other during the meeting

▪ distractions during the meeting, e.g. mobile phones ringing

▪ participants not being open to change their minds

▪ participants misinterpret others’ comments

▪ disagreement or conflict becomes personal

▪ too many people are talking at the same time

▪ technical issues

▪ decisions poorly communicated after the meeting

Most of these can be solved by:

▪ better chairing of the meeting

▪ better preparation before the meeting.

case study Larry was called in to solve the problems at the company. He was present at a meeting of the Senior Management Team (SMT). He asked them for the agenda of the meeting and was told there wasn’t one. He asked them for the actions decided at the previous meeting and was told that no minutes had been taken. It was hardly surprising that the company was in a complete mess. Fortunately, Larry knew members of the SMT well, so he could make changes easily and put structures in place, so within a few months the company was making good progress.

Most of the problems with meetings can be solved by better preparation.