Effective Meetings in 7 simple steps. Barry Tomalin

brought the team meeting forward to 4.30. Harmony reigned once again.

      Punctuality is important in UK business. It’s important to be on time for meetings. If you think you might be late, always phone. Say you will be a bit later than you need. It’s much better to call and say, ‘I’ll be 20 minutes late’, and arrive earlier.

      There are lots of examples like the French one, especially in companies with employees from different countries. ‘Who’s holding a meeting on my national day?’ ‘Who wants me to work on Sunday?’ (Not uncommon in Middle Eastern companies, where the holy day is Friday.) ‘Who wants me to go to a meeting at six o’clock in Ramadan?’ Sensitivity to issues like these helps employees feel considered and makes them more willing to come to meetings.

      Normally, meetings conform to the holiday conventions of the UK. However, in our increasingly multinational working environment, it’s important to acknowledge others’ festivals and celebrations. The Chinese New Year is a good example of this.

      Finding out about alternative dates can be a challenge. A good way to organise a meeting is to use a time chart.

Name	Date 6th June Time 11.00 a.m.	Date 7th June Time 11.00 a.m.	Date 17th June Time 11.00 a.m.
John	*	*	*
Hilary
Pia
Barry

      The time chart is a table with names of invitees, dates and time. The organiser circulates it to colleagues. Notice there is an asterisk against the three dates. This indicates that the organiser, John, is free. The others do the same and when there is a day where all the slots are filled, then that is the day of the meeting. Simple but effective. Most computers have programs designed to help you arrange meetings and view people’s availability.

      What happens if the spaces aren’t filled by everyone? Try again. It may take two or three attempts.

      

      Where to hold a meeting poses two problems. One is whether to hold it inside or outside the office. The other is room and layout.

       Office or elsewhere?

      Most people think the right place to hold a meeting is around a table in an office. But meetings can take place anywhere. Some take place in the break-out areas in offices (the more informal areas with sofas and bean bags). See Step 5 for more information on informal meetings. Others take place in hotel lobbies or in restaurants over lunch or dinner. There are also away-days that are purposely arranged so they are off-site, i.e. away from the office, often in a business centre, so that people can get away from their day job and think about bigger picture issues.

      If the groundwork for a meeting is done in a more relaxing environment, the formal bit, the confirmation, if you like, can be done in the office.

      The office isn’t always the best place to start a series of meetings. It is usually the best place to finish them.

      One of the key advantages of meetings outside the office is that participants are not so likely to get sucked into everyday office business. For example, if training sessions are held in the office training room there is a constant temptation to nip back to the office to check messages and make phone calls during the breaks. Obviously, participants can still access messages on their mobiles or laptops but off-site training means the interruptions will be fewer and briefer.

       Meeting room organisation and layout

      Dedicated meeting rooms should be OK for your meeting. But do check. They may be festooned with wires for conference calls or have computers on every desk.

      Check the room you’ve booked is the right size and has enough chairs. And also check it doesn’t have too many chairs. Twenty chairs round a table when you have a meeting of five may make the place feel a bit empty. A bit like a restaurant with too many waiters and no guests. Check what’s in the room and around the walls. Is there anything you’d prefer your meeting attendees not to see? Also check the facilities. Is the space clean? Are the rubbish bins empty? Is the whiteboard clean? Is there a flipchart? Do you need data projection facilities?

      When you’ve got your room, check the layout. Different kinds of layouts work for different kinds of activity. See here for the different layouts.

       Boardroom

      When you see the US government around the table in the White House in Washington DC or the Cabinet room at Number 10 Downing Street, the British Prime Minister’s residence and office in London, you’re looking at a boardroom layout. It’s good for limited discussion and creating a collective atmosphere.

      The leader or convenor of a meeting is often called the chair (a unisex term).

      Here’s a useful tip. If you want to get noticed in a meeting, make sure you are within the eyeline of the meeting leader. Just opposite or slightly to the right or left facing them is probably best.

       Circle

      Circles are for togetherness and for exchange. People in a circle, without tables, are favoured by ‘self-development’ groups. It’s supposed to encourage the exchange of personal information in a more relaxed environment. Going back to our meetings-as-tribal-gatherings analogy, American Indian pow-wows (discussions) were traditionally held in a circle. Traditional African village discussions are held in a circle under a tree in the village ‘square’, often with the leader in the middle holding a shell or other symbol giving him/her the right to speak. The Roman Senate sat in a circle and the United Nations and the EU debating chambers each form a semi-circle. Circles and semi-circles stress togetherness. Rows facing each other stress opposition – hence the layout of the British House of Commons.

       Horseshoe

      The horseshoe also encourages discussion, but also allows more space and freedom. Horseshoes work well for brainstorming and open discussion and have the advantage that all participants can see each other and address each other, with no one in a superior position.

       Cabaret

      Cabaret layouts work well for meetings where there are 12 or more participants, and they are seated around tables for three or four, a bit like tables in a nightclub – hence the name cabaret. A cabaret layout allows for lots of group work and reporting back.

       Theatre

      For large groups, sitting in rows might be the best way to proceed. It’s difficult to have group discussion in a theatre layout though. It’s best for listening to a presentation