Leading Meetings

Small groups do much of their work in face-to-face and virtual meetings. But when meetings are poorly planned or managed, people get frustrated, and time is wasted. When leading a group, you can ensure that meetings run smoothly by developing an agenda, encouraging participation during meetings, and following up afterwards.

MEETINGS GONE WRONG

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Whether it’s because they’re intimidating, bad tempered, or just plain bizarre, the leaders in The Devil Wears Prada, The Office, and Entourage demonstrate how meetings with coworkers or team members can go wrong. When you are leading a meeting or a group discussion, what factors are most important for making sure it goes well?
(Clockwise from top left) 20th Century Fox/Courtesy Everett; Byron Cohen/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images; Claudette Barius/© HBO/Courtesy Everett Collection

Have you ever sat in a meeting that had no apparent purpose? What about a meeting in which people talked on and on about a topic but never arrived at a decision? Or a meeting that got derailed by one person and never got back on track? If you’ve had these experiences, you’re not alone. Although meetings are critical for conducting group work, all too many are hugely unproductive.

What are the culprits behind such meetings? In one study, business professionals identified what they saw as the top five meeting problems: (1) participants get off subject, (2) there is no clear agenda, (3) meetings take too long, (4) team members come unprepared, and (5) no definitive action is taken after the meeting (Romano & Nunamaker, 2001). To combat these problems and get the most out of group meetings, leaders must take responsibility for planning, conducting, and following up on/evaluating meetings.