Michael Saltzstein: What Makes a Meeting Effective?

There are good meetings, and there are bad meetings, says Michael Saltzstein. Bad meetings go on forever; they never seem to get to the point, and you leave wondering why you were even there. Effective ones leave you motivated and feeling that you've accomplished something.

If you structure your meeting preparation, planning, execution, and follow-up around the three basic criteria below, the result will be an effective meeting.

Set a Clear Objective

An effective meeting serves a purpose, notes Michael Saltzstein. It means that you achieve the desired result. For a meeting to meet this objective, you must be clear about what it is.

Too often, people call a meeting to discuss an agenda without considering the desired outcome.

Use Time Wisely

Time is a valuable resource, and no one wants their time wasted, Michael Saltzstein points out. With the time spent in meetings, you owe it to yourself and your team members to streamline the meeting as much as possible.

Starting with your objective, everything that happens in the meeting should further that objective, notes Michael Saltzstein. If it doesn't, it's unnecessary and should not be included.

To ensure that you cover only the essential items and stick to relevant topics, you need to create an agenda. You will refer to the agenda to keep the meeting on time and on target.

Get Feedback

Once you have an agenda prepared, you need to distribute it to all the participants and get their feedback. Running a meeting should not be a dictatorial role: you have to be participative from the start.

There may be something important that a team member has to add. Perhaps you have allotted too little or too much time for a particular item. There may even be some problems you've included that have been sorted out already and can be taken off the list.

Whatever the reason, it is important you get feedback from the participants about your proposed agenda, says Michael Saltzstein.

Michael Saltzstein spearheads global risk services, financial structures, multi-line claims, and strategic planning and enterprise initiatives. For more on Michael and his insights, click this link.