Bosses need the gift of better leadership in meetings

Studies show that millions of meetings are held each day in the United States and that thousands of dollars are spent per meeting hour when meetings include multiple executives as attendees. Are all these meetings a business investment or a waste of time? Unfortunately, many of those same studies indicate that managers who attended meetings felt as much as half of their time investment was wasted. If the meetings are important enough to hold, then why don’t the heads of the organization insist that they be better run?

Could the gift of better meetings be this year’s top management award? If meeting leaders can learn to accomplish more in the same amount of time or less, then the answer is definitely yes. If the answer is yes, then how can this gift of better meetings come about?

There are many good training courses and books on meeting management. When looking for a good meeting leadership course, in addition to using the words “meeting management,” look for courses that include some form of leadership or facilitation in the course title. Sometimes meeting management course titles appear to be disguised as something else or meeting training is one component of a larger package offered as a more extensive workshop. The benefit of taking a course is to focus effort on learning the tools and techniques along with networking and ideas from other course participants who have the same experiences in the business world. The main disadvantage is the time away from work to attend the course, which is why many do not take advantage of this formal training option.

Reading and following a meeting management book is a viable alternative to formal training, if the meeting leader is committed to following the guidelines and the book includes usable examples or forms. One option with examples and forms is the new book “RA!RA! A Meeting Wizard’s Approach” (ISBN 1-4196-5367-9). This book and others on meeting management can be purchased through Amazon or requested at bookstores. The main advantage of informal learning from a book is that it is portable and can be read within or outside of working hours using small, scattered chunks of time rather than consecutive hours. The books often include the same benefit of tips, tools, and techniques, but in a different format than you would find in a formal course. The downside could be the lack of networking and discussion with other course participants who are learning the meeting leadership material at the same time. However, this handicap can be overcome by forming a workplace book study group or by having a regular meeting team explore the book materials and learn together how to better manage meetings.

Going back to the meeting studies, they also show that the number of meetings is increasing and so is their duration. To save money, time, and management worries, offer bosses the gift of better meetings as a direction to higher profits and higher productivity. Better meetings lead to more productive employees, less wasted time and money, and less cost means higher profit margins. Make meetings a business investment instead of a waste of time reading a book or taking a course so more people can become better meeting leaders. Give and share the gift of better gatherings this year.