Dropping the Ball X 2

Over at Marginal Revolution, Tyler Cowen has a couple of posts up regarding meetings.  The first, posted on January 31st, is entitled “How to improve meetings," as is the second, posted on February 2nd.

Based on the suggestions provided within the posts, the lament seems to be the interminable droning on of meetings, or, the late arrival of the attendees.  Here’s a couple of the suggestions.

"1. Make everyone stand up until the meeting is over."

"3. Give everyone a chess clock to limit the number of minutes they are allowed to speak for (this is a variant of an idea from Robin Hanson. Read here for some commentary."

"4. Lock the door when the meeting starts on time and do not allow latecomers to enter."

Cowen’s conclusion, in his first post on meetings, is as follows.

"Meetings are not always about the efficient exchange of information, or discovering a new idea. Meetings can be about displays of power, signaling that a coalition is in place, wearing down an opponent, staging “theater” to make someone feel better, giving key players the feeling of being insiders, transmitting information about status, or simply marking time until something better happens. It’s one thing to hate meetings. But before you can improve them, make sure you know what meetings are all about."

There is veracity in that concluding statement by Cowen, and in the suggestions above, but, I think the main point has been missed, wide, like the proverbial statement “He couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn.”

The meetings being discussed, as in need of improvement, are business meetings.  I want to consider an effective business meeting, and I will do so from the perspective of a church council meeting, which, I was at one point, the president of.

Prior to becoming the president of the church council, at the church I attended at the time, I had been involved in these council meetings as a church deacon.  I dreaded attending these council meetings.  The meetings tended to be endless bitch sessions or rehashings of the matter at hand, with seemingly no one willing to take control.  Much like some business meetings.  The Pastor of the church, was the titular head of the council, the president, as in 95% of the churches within this denominatin, but, like his business counterparts, meaning the leader of the meeting, he did not, or could not, control the flow of the meeting.

After serving as a deacon, and suffering through two years of meetings, I was elected as an elder of the church, and, in the first council meeting I attended, as an elder, the Pastor of the church nominated me for president of the council.  Suprisingly, I was duly elected.  At the age of 31 or 32, I was president of a church, a church known for old men being elders and Pastor’s being the head of.

Enough background.  Upon assuming the presidency, in that first council meeting, I laid down the rules, just as a business owner, or meeting leader, should do.  A business meeting, or a church council meeting, for that matter, are not democratic processes.  Someone is in charge of the meeting.  That someone, in the case of a business, is the owner, the president, or meeting caller.  In the church, it was the president or Pastor.  These individuals are responsible for ensuring the timeliness of the meeting, and, more importantly, they are responsible for ensuring the business at hand is transacted.

With that in mind, I offer these suggestions on how to improve a meeting.

1.  Be a leader.
2.  As a meeting leader, set a time limit, and, more importantly, make it stick.  Did you call a one hour meeting?  Make it a one hour meeting.
3.  Lay down the rules for the meeting attendance.  It starts at such and such a time.  You will be there.  No exceptions.
4.  Allow adequate discussion of the matters under consideration, but remember, if you are the leader, you are in charge.  Control the flow of the discussion.  Do not allow endless reiteration of what has already been voiced.  Summarize what has been stated, and act on it.
5.  Be a leader.

Does this seem dictatorial?  Well, indeed it is, but, as I mentioned earlier, neither a business, nor a church, is a democratic institution.  Someone is ultimately responsible for what occurs within the meeting.  If that someone cannot control the events of the meeting, as I suggested above, they should not be in charge.

The meetings I chaired started on time, accomplished all the agenda items, and, ended on time.

Posted by on 02/03 at 09:11 AM

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