The dreaded departmental monthly meeting

Hi Jack and Elizabeth,

I’ve just been given a permanent new role as chair of our departmental monthly meeting and it feels like a huge weight round my neck.

It’s the booby prize. It feels like someone is punishing me!! These meetings have been a nightmare and a joke for years. Nobody takes them seriously, nobody does any prep, people arrive late and everyone dreads them. Help ! My first is next week!

GT

 

Hi GT,

Ok, first, go and look at our 5 Minute Guides (in this order) on “Managing a Meeting”, “Preparing for a Meeting” and “Setting an Agenda”.

You will have to make some big changes to turn this situation around and you won’t succeed overnight but it can be done successfully. Absorb the information in those Need it Now Guides.

Your first job is to get out the agenda for the next meeting and you need to shake this bag and let people know there will be changes.

Actions which can herald change:

– If possible, delay the meeting by a week and just send a memo with the new date. That buys you a week to set the agenda for the next meeting and a further week to get yourself prepared. If possible, also change the regular day of the meeting and change it to a “good” time e.g. 11am. Early morning is a bad time and also immediately after lunch is a bad time.

If you can’t delay the meeting, let us know and we can plan some quick e-mail help for you.

Elizabeth