Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Discussion Document
December 2012
Copyright © 2012 Tata Consultancy Services Limited
Meetings: A Necessary Evil
Like
Like war,
war, meetings
meetings should
should be
be our
our last
last resort
resort
Share
information
Develop Make
plans decisions
Resolve Ensure
conflicting understanding
viewpoints and acceptance
of ideas
Get immediate
reactions on Solve critical
priority issues problems
Resolve important Recognize
issues accomplishments
Exchange or gather
information
There
There will
will always
always bebe aa need
need for
for meeting.
meeting. However,
However, itit is
is worth
worth stepping
stepping back
back to
to analyze
analyze ifif itit
is
is really
really needed
needed and
and do
do we
we have
have alternative
alternative solutions…
solutions…
Effective Meeting Management
-6-
INTERNAL
Making Meetings Work
Examples of Common Consulting Meetings
Common Meeting Customer Internal Practice
Purpose
Types Example Examples
• Proposal Presentations to
Present final reports /
Senior customers • Global Leadership meetings
Finalize or Decide upon
Management • Final Presentation of • Business Planning meeting
critical issues or initiatives
Meetings engagement • Quarterly / Annual reviews
/ Develop plans
• Tollgate reviews
Meetings
Meetings are
are toxic
toxic because
because they
they break
break workdays
workdays into
into aa series
series of
of work
work moments
moments
Arrange
• Book venue and ensure the required logistics are
5 Venue and
Logistics
arranged well in advance
• Arrange for flipcharts, whiteboards, projector, Logistics
food (if a day-long meeting) Checklist
(Click Here)
• If operating from offsite, ensure call booking,
webex, videocon as required
6 Send
Invites
agenda, date, time and venue details (also share
teleconference / webex details as needed)
• Ensure sending invitations at least a week in
advance
• Meeting Outcomes:
– Be very clear on the outcomes you want to get from the meeting: decision, input, alternatives,
actions.
– Put them in clear, short, tangible form (e.g., “List of corrections to existing document”,
“Decision on whether to do x or y”, “Agreement on approach to x”, etc.)
• Chairperson
– Coordinate with the leader, assuming you’re not the leader
• Logistics:
– Determine whether you need any special aids (flip chart or whiteboard, projector, etc.) and
make sure you have them ready
– Arrange for logistics suitable for your outcomes (rooms, facilities, etc.)
Effective Meeting Management
- 14 -
INTERNAL
Designing The Meeting
Best Practices in Common Consulting Meetings
• Ensure a crisp agenda
Senior • Face-to-face meetings are strongly preferred
Management • If operating from off site then ensure Video conference facility
Meetings • Share an update on previous meetings' action items, if any
Checklist
Is the agenda complete, clear, and appropriate for the time allowed?
Has the agenda been distributed to the participants well ahead of time?
Typical
Challenges
• If many people want to speak, keep a list of who speaks next to remind
you. Be up front, so people will know their queue position.
Manage the • Stop people from talking for too long. Be firm and consistent but not
Group Dynamics aggressive: “Can you say that in a single sentence?”
• Stop people from interrupting. Step in immediately with, “Just a
moment, Let’s let X complete their thought”
Effective Meeting Management
- 20 -
INTERNAL
Running An Effective Meeting
Challenge II: Focus—Outcome vs. Time
Drifting of the • Use the agenda as a compass to keep people on track of the purpose
topic/Objective and outcomes needed from the meeting
• Use a little tinkling bell to call people back from tea breaks; it’s pleasant
Extended
to the ear and one need not raise their voice or clap to gain attention.
breaks
Sticking to the • Appoint a timekeeper or use some interesting tools that will function as
time a stop clock and keep everyone aware of the time, such as Meeting
Kanban
• If an agenda item takes longer than planned due to extended debate
Extended and discussion use the 'parking lot'
discussion over • Take an action item on the issue, to be discussed after the meeting and
a single point updates / decisions to be provided back to the group
• Take group opinion on whether the time for an agenda item is to be
extended at the cost of other items
Making
Making no
no decision
decision is
is to
to guarantee
guarantee an
an ineffective
ineffective meeting
meeting
Coming In Late • Reward and thank those who were there on time when
they come. Welcome latecomers quickly and keep going.
Checklist
Start on time
Review and confirm your objectives, agenda and state time limits
Review the evaluation and action items from the previous meeting
Establish meeting roles (as appropriate)
Stick to the agenda and the time commitments
Stay focused
Change techniques when you feel stuck
Establish action items and responsibilities
Summarize the session
Set the date, place, and objectives for the next meeting
End the meeting crisply, positively and on time
Ideas
Ideas don’t
don’t bring
bring their
their own
own commitment
commitment or
or perseverance,
perseverance, only
only humans
humans do
do that
that
• Develop and circulate an action tracker for carrying out action items
Develop Action Plan or assignments
& Assign Owners
• Assign owners to each action item along with target dates
• Did the meeting follow the agenda? Were all items adequately covered? If
not, why not?
• Were you able to keep to your timetable for each item on the agenda and for
the meeting itself?
Objective of Post- Meeting Analysis
• Was the meeting well"Did
focused,
you getor
thedid it drift and
meeting's ramble?
outcomes?”
• Do you need another meeting, either to complete the agenda or to deal with
new issues that arose during the meeting?
• Equal Participation - Each person should express his own views, rather
than speaking for others at the table or attributing motives to them
References
• https://knowmax.ultimatix.net/sites/arc/L-Bank/How To/Approve Terminated/How To Organiz
e Effective Meetings.doc
• https://knowmax.ultimatix.net/sites/knowmax_community/Deployment/perfmgmt/Lists/KM B
enefit Instances/DispForm.aspx?ID=4263
• http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ve
d=0CCMQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Flibrary.state.or.us%2Fservices%2Ftraining%2FDAST
raining_Materials%2FFiles%2FEffectiveMeetingsPart1TheFundamentals.pdf&ei=-bt7UJ2-G
4zprQfmkYC4AQ&usg=AFQjCNEsBeM07ZcHsftw_dERsh9Atpxl_
Brainstorming
•A participative technique for •Generating lists of problems and topics,
generating a list of ideas potential solutions, or items to monitor
about an issue •Stimulating group participation and energy
Parking Lot •A list on the wall that the •Keeping the meeting on track and in focus
group uses to save valuable •Being diplomatic and polite
tangents for later •Points not relevant to the topic or agenda,
consideration but too valuable to lose
Action Plan / •A map used to identify what •Assigning accountability and responsibility
Work Out needs to be accomplished, •Visualizing as a group the steps needed to
who will do it, and by what accomplish the tasks ahead
date •Monitoring the team's progress
PROS CONS
•Great emphasis on team work. • If the team is not committed then process
collapses
• Team learns and contributes throughout • The management's comfort level in
the process delegation of tasks
• Team becomes autonomous and strives • Emotional impact of failure on team
for excellence members if the project fails
• Rotation of leadership depending on the • The size of the team is restricted due to the
phase gives a distributed nature of project involvement of all team members
execution
• Creates an open environment and • Suited for development of new products
encourages feedback and not for enhancements
• Evaluation of effort and subsequent
rewards are based on the team
performance
• Schedule a short meeting with the person you want to talk with. Make it clear that the
meeting will only last a minute or so
• Make it clear that the meeting has one topic, and one topic only
• Send your message: give clear and simple direction, provide simple feedback. In other
words, address the topic in a couple of sentences.
• Designer’s copy:
• Participant’s copy:
• Carefully planned well in advance, with advanced agenda and outcomes sent out ahead of time.
• Requires thoughtful attention to logistics: break-out rooms, wall space, food and refreshments,
supporting materials (e.g., flip charts, markers, etc.).
• Must attend to two client groups: ISU and its client; may have competing needs or wants
– Implies a “meeting before the meeting” to understand ISU needs, wants, perspectives and gain
alignment