Leadership development: Effective Meeting Management

Your supervisor tells you to be at a meeting. It's a discussion, but several people in the group do all the talking.  The rest of the group is silent. The meeting leader does not appear to notice this.  What is the impact of this on the group, and on the bottom line?

First, some meetings are to share important news, not to discuss matters. That's fine - if it only happens rarely. (Sharing news can also be done by e-mail.)

Second, a leader who allows many people to sit silently during discussions may not know why there is so little participation, what the cost of this is, and strategies to change this.

People are quiet for various reasons. Among them is a lack of interest in the topic, a lack of new information to share because the topic is ancillary to their job (and they may not be appropriate attendees), a fear of speaking in public (and a group to these people is considered to be speaking in public), hearing loss and a lack of certainty as to what was just discussed, or other reasons.

The cost to the company of minimal participation is considerable.  There is a Cost of Meeting Clock, which determines the cost based on the number of attendees, average hourly pay rate, and length of the meeting. This determines the entire financial cost of the meeting. However, think about the amount of work that is not getting done because of the meeting, and the boredom factor of attendees who want to be anywhere but in that meeting. In addition, helpful information is not being shared among the attendees.

According to a new Gallup study, 50% of employees leave because of their supervisor. Often this has to do with poor leadership communication skills. Employee turnover is extremely expensive to a company, involving recruiting and training costs, as well.

What can a leader do to be more effective in eliciting participation at meetings? The solution depends on the problem's cause, of course.  To start, look at the reason for the meeting, and determine if the meeting needs to actually be held, or if an e-mail would be sufficient. Which participants really need to attend? Do they know in advance what to bring or prepare to talk about?

Does the leader know how to control participation by encouraging quiet people to talk, and talkative people to give others a chance to contribute? 

Techniques to resolve these issues  with meetings can be found on pages 10 - 11 of  the e-book, Executive Communication Strategies. On other pages, you'll  learn about Customer Services/Persuasion, Decision Making Paradigm, Questions Leaders Should Consider, Professional Listening Skills, Public Speaking Techniques for Leaders, and more! Get Executive Communication Strategies now and find out the practical, easy-to-use strategies to improve your communication skills!

Nervous about Speaking in Departmental Meetings?

Many people report that they are nervous about speaking in departmental meetings. They are concerned that their ideas will not be accepted, or worse,  ignored and then presented again by another member of the group who takes credit for them. As a result, they are quiet when in fact they may have a valuable contribution to make to the discussion.

If you are one of the "silent ones", here are 3 strategies for speaking up at meetings.

1. Rehearse your comments ahead of time. Use a brief "executive summary" approach. State your main point or recommendation, and then the reasons for it in just a few sentences.  For those of you who are used to giving reasons or details first and then getting to the main point, this "executive summary" may be difficult at first to do. Writing it down first may make it easier.

2. Notice which of the people you plan to meet with is highly regarded by others. Present your idea to this person ahead of time and ask for feedback and improvements. Then present this idea to the group, being careful not to say it is "my" idea. Hopefully the other person will then offer support to your idea.

3. Communication cultures between companies and managers can vary. Some are more formal, while others may be more relaxed.  Use the approach prevalent in your company or department. If in doubt about the best approach, or if you are new to the company, choose a more formal one.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive, customized communication coaching. Presentation skills coaching is available as a full day seminar for individuals and groups. Coaching for experienced speakers who want practice before a specific presentation is also available, and may be done online in many cases.