Meeting Skills
Although meetings can be an extremely valuable strategic and operational tool, one of the most common frustrations reported in the workplace today is the waste of time and energy given to poorly managed meetings. Handled well, a meeting - whether virtual or in-person, can be a dynamic and productive interaction between a group of people.
However, if they are mismanaged, or if the participants do not have the space or the skills to interact collaboratively, then the negative repercussions can be enormous and on-going.
Individuals wishing to improve their meeting skills are often interested in finding ways to:
- Make positive personal contributions, so that their opinions and ideas are taken into account
- Keep the meeting focused and on track without stifling conversation or creativity
- Keep the meeting to time - avoiding unplanned overrunning
- Involve everyone, so the same people don't dominate the discussions
- Make group decisions that everyone is clear about, and happy with
- Deal with disagreements and conflicts effectively
It is easy to underestimate the skill involved in chairing or participating positively in a meeting. And yet, very little attention is given to preparing people for the requirements of an effective meeting process. The more self-aware people become, the better they will be able to make constructive contributions to the process as well as the content of the meetings they attend.
"Our meetings are held to discuss many problems which would never arise if we had fewer meetings!" Ashleigh Brilliant - Author and Cartoonist
How to spot a worthwhile meeting
Good reasons to hold a meeting:
- To support ideas - ideas can be generated, enhanced, developed and refined when people work well together
- To build a team - the collaborative experience of meeting others can help to create a group cohesion and rapport, particularly if specific team building activities are included
- To plan a project - particularly where the project plan is to be agreed by consensus, and where group 'buy-in' is important to the process and/or outcome of the project
- To delegate tasks - the allocation of tasks can be made much easier where individuals within the group are given the opportunity volunteer
- To reach decisions - particularly where consensus is required, or where decisions are made through discussion and analysis of a range of options
Poor reasons to hold a meeting:
- Because it is routine – just because the team has met monthly for the past 20 years is not a good enough reason to continue to do so (unless bound by rules of governance). Meetings need to be a genuinely good use of everyone's time
- To share information - sharing updates at a meeting can be very time consuming and tedious for participants unless the news is extraordinarily fascinating, or presented in an attention-grabbing way. This objective is usually better achieved by circulating information and inviting questions/clarification (by phone, email etc)
- To gather opinions – this is better achieved by circulating questionnaires, canvassing opinions by email, or conducting one-to-one surveys, as it can be time consuming and opinions skewed by group pressure in a meeting
- To discuss options – it can be very frustrating for meeting participants to simply discuss options without being involved in generating them, or making a decision on how to move forward
- To keep a project or activity on track - the meeting process itself will not keep a project on track. It is good project management and reporting that achieves this objective
Meeting Skills Training from H2
Our meeting skills training is designed to empower our delegates to become more effective in their roles by developing their ability to arrange, contribute to and lead meetings of all kinds. We aim to strike a balance between presenting essential background information, and facilitating participative exercises and discussions that are both challenging and motivating, and that enable useful learning to take place that can be directly applied back in the workplace.
We can deliver meeting skills training virtually, or at a venue of your choice, for any number of participants.
Ready-to-Go Courses: Over the past 24 years, we've worked hard to devise and develop a range of courses that suit the broad needs of our customers. Ready-to-Go course titles relating to the topic of effective meetings include:
- Meeting Skills
- Chairing Effective Meetings
- Minute Taking
- Communication Skills
- Influencing Skills
- Emotional Intelligence
- Assertiveness
- Conflict Management
- Presentation Skills
- Sales Skills
- Negotiation Skills
Bespoke Courses: If you have something more specific in mind, we can design and deliver a tailored course for you. Following a short pre-course consultation, we'll put together a course programme that reflects your specified priorities, and that includes exercises based on real-life case studies/scenarios.
One-to-One Training: We also offer meeting skills training for those who may benefit from the undivided attention of our trainer. These one-to-one sessions are entirely focused on the specific needs/interests of the delegate, and are extremely well received for achieving lasting learning and observable improvements.
No-obligation Quote
Please CONTACT US today - just give us a brief outline of what you're looking to achieve, the number of participants and the proposed location, and we'll get back to you shortly.