Meeting Planning
Meeting Planning
Now that you have determined whether to have a meeting, and can determine the best meeting type, you will now learn the logistical aspects of meeting planning. These include timing, participants, location, and format.
Timing
Have you ever heard the saying, “timing is everything”? The day and time of a meeting will definitely matter to the team, not only to ensure that they can attend but to also ensure that they will participate at their best.
Fuze Communications (2019), a cloud-based meeting platform, conducted a usage study of its software spanning 2.5 million meetings worldwide. The average web meeting in the United States lasts 43 minutes. Compare that to the average meeting time worldwide being 39 minutes; ranging from Norway having the shortest (31 minutes) and Sweden having the longest (48 minutes). The most common daily meeting times in the United States varied by time zone. On the East Coast, the most common time is 10:00 a.m. On the West Coat, it is 9:00 a.m. If it’s a weekly meeting, the best time for East Coasters is 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, and 2:00 p.m. on Thursday for those on the West Coast.
When planning a meeting time, it is preferable to ask members to reserve a longer period of time for the meeting rather than a shorter one. For example, if you only ask your members to reserve 30 minutes and the meeting ends up running behind schedule, it may be difficult for members to stay any longer since they might make other commitments afterward. But if your meeting gets ahead of schedule, then any unused meeting time becomes “free time” for your members, allowing you to end early and giving them a break before their next scheduled commitment.
Programs like Doodle, Google Calendar, or Microsoft Outlook Calendar help facilitate finding a meeting time that works for everyone. There may be instances when it will not be possible for everyone to meet at an agreed upon time. There may be one or more persons who just cannot synchronize their schedules with the rest of the group. In those cases, ask the missing participants to provide their input in writing on the pertinent meeting agenda items prior to the meeting. You can then read their input when each item comes up in the actual meeting. If members can only stay for part of the meeting, make sure to plan the most relevant items to occur during the time they are in attendance, and still ask for written input on the other items.
WHO should you invite?
Invite people to the meeting who can uniquely contribute to the purpose. Remember, those invited should also have some type of interdependence among them. It is better to hold a small meeting (typically fewer than 10 attendees) with every member contributing, than a larger meeting where only a small percentage of members are engaged.
While it is important to have as many voices as possible when making a decision, there are additional risks to planning meetings with a large number of attendees. Large groups make it harder to get everyone involved, it is easier for members to engage in side discussions, and it will likely take longer to get through items on the meeting agenda.
When in doubt, two small meetings with different sets of members can help maximize each person’s contributions. If the acquired information from the two small meetings becomes difficult to cohere, then call a big meeting using the information gathered from the smaller meetings to create an effective agenda.
WHERE to Hold the Meeting
The meeting location will vary based on the meeting purpose. For information-sharing and innovation meetings, you will want a room where visual information can be shown to everyone at once. As status updates or key information are shown for decision-making, everyone will be able to see the important data and information on which to base their discussions. When brainstorming during a meeting, including some kind of accessible visual display for the entire group is necessary. An empty classroom or conference room with a computer projector should suffice.
When facilitating a team-building meeting, holding it in a typical conference room might make it feel too formal. Depending on the activities planned, feel free to be creative by having it somewhere like a courtyard, a restaurant, or some place that gets your team to feel more relaxed.
In any case, avoid choosing a location that is filled with visual, auditory, or psychological distractions. A meeting is supposed to be a focused interaction where the entire group orients their full attention to a central activity. Do not create competition between meeting goals and interaction by picking an environment that is packed with distractions.
Virtual or Face-to-Face?
Should the meeting be in-person or virtual? You will find yourself asking this question as business communication technologies become more advanced and remote work continues to grow. You may have co-workers who are never physically present in the workplace and complete all of their tasks from home. You may find a career that requires or allows you to work remotely as well, so you will need to be able to facilitate meetings both in face-to-face and virtual contexts.
There are many virtual meeting platforms available such as WebEx, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Hangouts, Skype, and others. Each platform has its own benefits, structure, and features. If you decide to hold a virtual meeting, your organization will likely have a corporate account with one of the more popular platforms. This should make your selection easier, and enable you to take advantage of all of the platform’s features without worrying about the limitations that come with unpaid versions. If your company does not have a corporate account with a virtual meeting platform, then using the free ones like Skype or Google Meet may be best.
All of the guidelines we’ve discussed so far hold true for virtual meetings. Virtual meetings should be planned carefully to engage participants and allow for monitoring participation during the meeting. Though it is convenient to be able to attend a meeting without leaving home or the office, there are risks to consider. Namely, virtual meetings are subject to technical problems. It is possible for members to have login issues, difficulty navigating the interface, poor sound quality or connectivity, as well as other related problems.
The following tips will help you manage the virtual environment of an online meeting:
Do a sound check before the meeting to make sure the audio is working appropriately. This applies to both facilitators and participants.
Be aware of background noise. The use of a headset or USB microphone will help cut down on noise. When facilitating, instruct participants to mute their microphones when not speaking so that others don’t hear typing, paper rustling, folks drinking coffee, or other noises.
Learn how to share your desktop both as a facilitator and a participant. There should be a smooth transition when sharing information to avoid breaks in the flow of the meeting.
If possible, invite a “co-host” or aide to monitor the side conversations in the chat, bring forward important comments, and monitor the hands raised so you know who should speak next. Assistance might also be useful if content, such as URLs need to be posted in the chat, or if participants encounter technical issues.
Another potential pitfall of virtual meetings is the ease at which individuals can “tune out” either by doing something else (e.g., email or social media) during the meeting, or even leaving the room while remaining logged on to create the appearance of still being there. The following are some strategies to help ensure maximum engagement by all attendees:
If you’re the facilitator, access the meeting space early to greet participants as they sign on. Encourage informal discussion before the meeting starts.
Include time on the agenda for short introductions.
Post the agenda in an attachment so that participants can download and follow along during the meeting.
Even though virtual meeting platforms can support many participants, try to limit the number of participants so that the meeting is manageable and everyone has a chance to talk (no more than 15-20 participants as a general guideline).
Encourage participants to activate the video option so everyone can see each other in real time.
Plan on showing visuals as part of the meeting. Images, Powerpoint slides, or short video clips will keep the discussion portion of the meeting active and engaging.
Face-to-face meetings are preferable when it is logistically possible for all members to attend. When all members work in the same building or area, this should be the natural choice. The face-to-face format limits the risk of technical problems and hidden side discussions. Virtual meetings should be used only when essential members cannot attend in-person due to some logistical constraint (i.e., physical distance, illness, etc.).