Empowered

A savvy meeting facilitator or chair is the difference between a long and boring meeting and one that results in new ideas and clever solutions.

Corporate coach and author of The 25 minute meeting: half the time double the impact (Wiley, 2018), Donna McGeorge, says everyone should have the skills to run a meeting so that discussions are kept on track.

A meeting should promote motivation, movement and momentum, she says.

Step one, she says, is to set up the best conditions possible: up to five participants, an agenda (sent beforehand) with no more than three items, and a determination to start on time and run no longer than 25 minutes.

Step two is to set a structure for the meeting that allows people to feel comfortable participating, achieves genuine results and follows through on commitments afterwards.

Everyone needs to feel supported and comfortable

Building rapid rapport is vital to getting the most out of the meeting, says McGeorge. “They are more likely to share their insights, ask quality questions and engage fully in the discussion.”

She recommends a quick exercise to help break the ice. “In your opening comments, make eye contact and thank them for coming. Then ask a question and get each member of the meeting to answer.”

It might be, ‘Out of ten, how are you feeling right now and why?’ or ‘In a few words, tell us why life is good right now’.

“It gives people a one-minute or 90-second opportunity to check in, and the chances are they’ll be more fully present. It’s a great tool,” she says.

Virtual focus

Wrangling the participants in a virtual meeting provides a new set of challenges but McGeorge says there are plenty of tricks, tools and techniques that will help.

Criticisms of virtual meetings include that the participants are often distracted with people or technology in their own space while the meeting is happening; that the speaker is simply reading a set of slides; and that the meetings are too long and may not be relevant to everyone.

McGeorge says turning on the camera will create a stronger connection to begin with. Then speak directly to each of those taking part.

Stand up and be counted

One trick to keep participants on their toes is to hold a stand-up meeting. It helps overcome the mid-afternoon meeting blues when everyone’s tired and stressed and not at their best to contribute, says McGeorge.

She says stand-up meetings help to create a sense of shared urgency, encourage others to pay closer attention to the person speaking, and promote a more equal way of holding a meeting because we tend to form a circle when we stand. Best of all, a stand-up meeting makes it hard to nod off and helps to eliminate distractions (“it’s hard to check your computer while standing”).

Similarly, a “walking meeting” works well for one-on-ones, says McGeorge.

Picture this

If you’re planning a PowerPoint presentation during the meeting, keep it sharp and snappy.

McGeorge recommends no more than five slides in a 25-minute period and they should only be images, charts or visual representations that support the discussion. Text should be large and easily read and illustrations should be high quality.

While a picture can paint a thousand words, poor visuals just detract and distract, she says.

Building trust

Encouraging a collaborative process in a client meeting is about building trust, says Jim Stackpool, Managing Director of Certainty Advice Group.

“Advisers demonstrate their expertise by the questions they ask not by the facts they deliver. Our advisers stick to an 85/15 rule as much as they can. Their job is to control the conversation so that the client is talking 85 per cent of the time and they’re taking 15 per cent of the time,” he says.

“We think you build trust by the quality of the questions you ask. It’s about really getting back to the core of why the client’s there, which is that they want to be listened to.”

Stackpool says ‘reflective listening’ is also a useful tool to build trust. It means understanding the client’s thoughts and goals and then repeating them back to make sure everyone’s on the same page.

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Important: This article has been prepared without taking account of the objectives, financial or taxation situation or needs of any particular individual. Before acting on the information, you should consider its appropriateness to your circumstances and if necessary, seek appropriate professional advice. Any information used in this article is for illustrative purposes only. Donna McGeorge and Jim Stackpool are external and not members of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia Group of Companies (the Group) and the content or any views expressed by Donna McGeorge and Jim Stackpool do not represent an endorsement, recommendation, guarantee or advice in regard to any matter. CBA, nor members of the Group accept any liability for losses or damage arising from any reliance on external parties, their products, services and materials. Past performance is no guarantee of future performance.