Meetings! Meetings! Meetings! .... Meetings are a big - and often much scorned - part of work life. They are essential to maintaining common goals and ensuring coordinated effort among a team. However, they take time away from actually doing the work, and if they are not run well they can leave members unsure as to what is decided and what needs to be done.

How can a team leader create optimum conditions for effective and efficient meetings?

This paper outlines four areas that will help you set the stage for good meetings. You can find detailed checklists for cross functional and intact team meetings in separate articles.

SETTING AND UPHOLDING GROUND RULES

An agenda sets out WHAT a team will do. Ground rules address HOW they do it. You will want the group to make agreements in two areas: How the group members will interact so that they work effectively. What procedures will help you get things done in an efficient and effective way. Develop your group ground rules about the following issues:

Rules about Interactions:

• respecting one another
• listening to one another
• participating but not dominating
• encouraging differences of opinion
• taking on realistic amounts of work.

Rules about Procedures:

• time keeping
• agenda setting
• record keeping
• decision making
• action and reporting

The next task is to decide how they are to be upheld. Members will usually look to the leader to take this role, particularly when it is new. It is not, however, particularly healthy for them to remain dependent on the leader for this. Part of the leader's function is to encourage group members to take responsibility for the work. A way of getting this started is to delegate the ground rule function to one or two members at each meeting.

DELEGATING LEADERSHIP FUNCTIONS
If you are facilitating a meeting, you will find it helpful to delegate some of the leadership tasks so you can focus on the group. Two useful functions are those of time keeper and flip chart recorder.

Time Keeping
Your agenda should have estimated times allotted to each item. An appointed timekeeper keeps you regularly updated on how you are doing in relation to the agenda. So, for instance, if you have given an item 20 minutes, s/he will let you know when you have used half your time. If it looks as though you will run out of time, s/he brings this to the group's attention. You then have the option of either negotiating for more time, or arranging for work to be done on the item off line.

One of the most frequent complaints about meetings is that they run over time. A meeting should never overrun without negotiating the extra time with members. When this is not done, members become anxious about how long the meeting will run and how much it will eat into other work they need to be doing. This helps to place a boundary on the time that will be used and to keep members focused.

Flip Chart Recording
Flip charts are very useful in meetings to record ideas and decisions. Information is visible to everybody. The following categories of information can be usefully posted on separate flip chart pages.

• Agenda.
• Ideas/suggestions.
• Decisions.
• Next Steps.
• Future Agendas.

Using the flip chart in such a way can help make clear for the group the status of each piece of information under discussion. If meaning gets slightly distorted in the recording, it can be adjusted on the spot. People are more likely to leave the room with a common understanding of what has been decided and what they have to do.

TROUBLESHOOTING
Occasionally problems arise in the dynamics or productivity of the group that need to be addressed. In such cases, to press on with the agenda of work may be counterproductive. It may be important to stop and address the difficulty. This may be as simple as looking at the groundrules and having the group assess how they are adhering to them. It may be that people are not getting work done between meetings, so the group may need to do some problem solving about schedule, work demands, or organizational support. You may need to revisit goals or mission to make sure you are on track. You may need to bring in a facilitator to help you sort out issues or procedures.

MANAGING THE INTERFACE BETWEEN A TEAM AND THE LARGER ORGANIZATION
A team usually works within the context of a larger organization and therefore must stay in communication with managers, other departments, and - if they are cross-functional teams - members' home teams. A key role of the team leader is to manage these boundaries with other parts of the organization. Success often depends on good relationships and buy-in from them.

As a team leader you need to decide:

• Whose cooperation is needed for the team to succeed by:

  freeing up time/resources for meetings.
  freeing up time for assigned actions outside meetings.
  providing supplementary information, skills, or resources.

• Who needs to be contacted by you or your sponsor for time / resources / information.
• Who needs to get minutes/reports. These people will be key to your success. Make sure you stay in contact with them, keep them updated regularly, and retain their support.