Asleep on the job?

Meetings are an important tool for most people who work in housing – whether they’re tenant consultations or internal policy discussions. They can be much more effective than working on things alone or sending interminable emails.

But at times, attending a meeting can feel like being held in a room against your will: after several hours people are ejected, blinking and bewildered, wondering what they’re supposed to have achieved.

With the government’s efficiency targets putting pressure on everyone to do more work in less time, this type of unproductive meeting needs to be consigned to history. So how can you make sure that you get the most out of meetings?

Slack agendas, poor preparation and vague end times can all hinder a meeting’s success. But with the right approach, you can ensure a productive result. Liz Kemp, senior consultant for training provider Capita Learning and Development, says: “Meetings are an opportunity to build relationships, and allow people to concentrate on problems. They are much more effective than an ad hoc chat across the desk.”

Preparation is vital, Kemp says. “It’s surprising how often people aren’t clear about the purpose of the meeting. You should prepare any views or facts on issues that will come up. If you’re going to persuade others you’ll need a strong case.”

If you’re unsure why you have been asked to attend, have a chat with the person who called the meeting and ask them what is going to be covered. If there is no real reason for you to be there, Mike Forster, an independent management consultant, says there is nothing wrong with declining to attend. “Beware of meetings called for no good reason other than that the person who called it wants to be seen to be doing something,” he warns. And if you’re inviting others to a meeting, Forster advises considering how much they are all paid. “Would you happily hand over that much in cash out of a budget to pay for the meeting?”

The agenda should be a series of questions, not topics, Forster says. “Don’t go in saying, ‘we really don’t know what to do about this, so let’s discuss it’. You’ll have a four-hour meeting ahead of you. It’s much better to say, ‘we suggest taking project X in this direction, do you agree?’”

Setting an immovable finish time also helps people focus on issues at hand. Foster even advises inventing an appointment for about the time you think the meeting should reasonably finish. “You get an excuse to leave and the business that concerns you may even be moved to the top of the agenda,” he says.

Meetings can be derailed by one person dominating the discussion. If you’re running the meeting you can tackle this problem by pre-agreeing the amount of time each person will have to say their piece, uninterrupted. If someone over-runs their alloted time, Kemp suggests saying something like: “I’m going to stop you there because we need to let other people share their views, but thank you.”

There is nothing as excruciating as a serious argument breaking out in a meeting. Warren Wint, managing director of Total Success Training, recommends intervening. “Summarise each party’s points of view and pick out all the things they agree on as well as those they are disagreeing about. To move on you might need to have the two people meet separately to thrash it out, or you may need to agree a way of reaching a consensus.”

You could even go for a vote. Wint says that where an issue appears to be dividing a group, often a vote will reveal that only one person is really opposed to the majority view.

Of course, one of the best ways to improve is by learning from experience. When the meeting ends, evaluate it and decide what you could do to make it run even more smoothly the next time. That way, next time hopefully it will.