1 Everyone has heard the complaint (or voiced it themselves) – “we took too long over that item on the Agenda:.
2 If many Meeting Members complain about a high proportion of the items then the Members feel unhappy with the way the Meeting functions. What then can Meeting Members do to improve everyone’s performance at Meetings?
What causes and remedies can meeting Members find, and use, to reduce their Unhappiness about Meetings
Encourage Members to Understand, Accept, and Use Two Important Ideas
3 Assumption: Different Meeting Members have different interests in the topics of any Meeting.
4 All Members should become more tolerant about the fact that what interests them will not necessarily interest other Members.
5 Further, each Member has the right to contribute on topics which interest them. Meeting Members who have no interest in the topic can “switch off” from the discussion and try to do something else (e.g. doodle, sign correspondence, correct notes).
6 On a more constructive level, they can observe the meeting in case they can help the procedure. They may have no interest in the path which the Meeting aims to go down but they can try to help members get down that path faster and/or more accurately define the end result (usually some decision).
7 Assumption: Members have different abilities to speak clearly, briefly, and interestingly.
8 Members can try to influence the way a Member contributes. The Chairperson might say to a Speaker “Would you mind getting to the point” or “Can you summarise your viewpoint” or “Does this sentence summarise your view?” and so on.
9 However again this element calls for some tolerance on the part of Members. If they believe that everyone has the right to contribute they will not feel so unhappy with the contributions of less-skilful Members.
Use the Following Ideas More Often in Meetings
10 The ability to have a satisfying Meeting depends on
(a) items which come from outside the Meeting. (Examples – motions, problems, priority of time) and
(b) activities which occur inside the Meetings. Examples – the type and complexity of problems which the Meeting tries to solve (because someone dumps a problem on it because of poor preparation before the meeting) and the ability to express ideas clearly (including decisions/motions).
11 Often the motions/decisions/recommendations (with which Meetings deal) come from other Meetings or an earlier Meeting of the same group (e.g. last month).
12 Members often do not seem to realise that their need to finish a Meeting encourages people to give too little attention to recording clearly what they want to do. (“We all know what we mean – let the Secretary write it.”) Time saved in one meeting often costs time (and often even more time) in the next Meeting of the group.
Possible Remedies and Solutions
Recommendation: Spend More Time on the Careful Framing of Decisions/Motions
13 Meeting Members should learn to appreciate the Member in the Meeting who picks up the lack of clearness in motions and/or that a motion can mean different things. They should listen to those points and try to clear them up BEFORE they finally vote on the decision – at that Meeting.
14 If follows that where an individual or a group prepares recommendations to put to a Meeting they should also draft them carefully.
15 Often Meetings waste considerable time because the framers of motions/decisions have not: (a) thought what they want to achieve and/or (b) expressed it clearly.
16 Further, the people (e.g. a Sub-Committee) who put motions before another group (e.g. a Committee) should frame them in the same way that the particular group would frame the motion in their records (minutes).
17 Example. The ABC Sub-Committee recommends that the Committee pass the following motion – Then put the Sub-Committee’s motion in the same terms that the Committee can record it in its minutes.
Recommendation - Spend More Time Ensuring the Secretary has Time to Record Decisions and Checks them with the Group
18 The importance of clearly recording decisions means that the Chairperson and the Secretary need to work closely together. Secretaries should have priority over all other Members for meeting time until they have recorded carefully the particular motion(s) that the Meeting may, or may not, pass.
Recommendation: Use a Blackboard (Whiteboard) for recording Unclear Motions Upon which the Meeting has to Work
19 Meetings will always face situations where they have a poorly-worded motion before them. When they have to make a decision at that Meeting they should aim to improve the wording. The same point applies when a Meeting will not accept a particular motion and so must formulate a new one.
20 Under these circumstances, Members should consider how they go about producing a set of words with which most (or everyone) agree.
Recommendation: Provide a Means Whereby Everyone Can See the Current Draft Motion (Decision)
21 Some Meetings have a Secretary who can record what Members have said about improving a motion. Unfortunately, irrespective of the skill of the person concerned, few others can see what they write. Thus Members have to interrupt other people to say: “Could we have the motion read again Mr. Chairman?” Or they do not ask and they try to improve the ideas without recalling them correctly.
22 If someone records the proposed motion on a board, the Chairperson can take one point at a time and get a decision from the group. Further, the whole group can work towards improving the clearness of a particular set of words. Everyone can see the process going on, contribute if they want to do so, and see the suggested improvements made by others – in relation to the overall idea.
23 If a Meeting votes informally on each suggestion, it can build up something with which the whole Meeting (or a large proportion) agrees.
24 Meetings which use the formal rules of debate must rely on one individual to put forward a wise motion. Various people can certainly add or subtract from it by moving amendments but many people do not prove skilled in that particular approach. Further, the ideas of one person will help another person get a better idea. While formal amendments might sometimes achieve the same objective, the process lacks the flexibility for different people to contribute spontaneously and for others to agree quickly that they like particular ideas.
Recommendation: Keep the Discussion on One Topic at a Time
25 Meetings often take a longer time to achieve anything because the meetings tend to butterfly from one sub-topic to another. This situation occurs because the Chairperson does not control the situation and/or Meeting Members want to talk about something which interests them – not necessarily the idea(s) contained in the contribution of previous Speakers.
Recommendation: Use a Blackboard (Whiteboard) for recording Unclear Motions Upon which the Meeting has to Work
19 Meetings will always face situations where they have a poorly-worded motion before them. When they have to make a decision at that Meeting they should aim to improve the wording. The same point applies when a Meeting will not accept a particular motion and so must formulate a new one.
20 Under these circumstances, Members should consider how they go about producing a set of words with which most (or everyone) agree.
Recommendation: Provide a Means Whereby Everyone Can See the Current Draft Motion (Decision)
21 Some Meetings have a Secretary who can record what Members have said about improving a motion. Unfortunately, irrespective of the skill of the person concerned, few others can see what they write. Thus Members have to interrupt other people to say: “Could we have the motion read again Mr. Chairman?” Or they do not ask and they try to improve the ideas without recalling them correctly.
22 If someone records the proposed motion on a board, the Chairperson can take one point at a time and get a decision from the group. Further, the whole group can work towards improving the clearness of a particular set of words. Everyone can see the process going on, contribute if they want to do so, and see the suggested improvements made by others – in relation to the overall idea.
23 If a Meeting votes informally on each suggestion, it can build up something with which the whole Meeting (or a large proportion) agrees.
24 Meetings which use the formal rules of debate must rely on one individual to put forward a wise motion. Various people can certainly add or subtract from it by moving amendments but many people do not prove skilled in that particular approach. Further, the ideas of one person will help another person get a better idea. While formal amendments might sometimes achieve the same objective, the process lacks the flexibility for different people to contribute spontaneously and for others to agree quickly that they like particular ideas.
Recommendation: Keep the Discussion on One Topic at a Time
25 Meetings often take a longer time to achieve anything because the meetings tend to butterfly from one sub-topic to another. This situation occurs because the Chairperson does not control the situation and/or Meeting Members want to talk about something which interests them – not necessarily the idea(s) contained in the contribution of previous Speakers.
Filed under: Improving Meetings Tagged: a-both, Achieve, agenda, Chairman, Decision Making, frustration, Ideas, Meeting, Objectives, Reduce
