In my last post, I outlined five tips to improve your meetings.  Here’s the balance of my Top 10.

 6.  Designate a time keeper – This doesn’t always have to be a separate person, sometimes a facilitator is comfortable with this added responsibility. Regardless, someone needs to help the group monitor their time.
7.  Document all action items – For some groups, this will be life-changing. Don’t JUST talk about things. At the conclusion of every topic/agenda item, decide who will do what by when… and write it down.
8.  Review previous action items at each meeting – If you cultivate the discipline of reviewing the previous Action Items at EVERY meeting, people will actually do what they’ve said they would do. Don’t be afraid to give people the gift of accountability.
 9.  Display your work – a flip chart works best – If you’ll display your work, you’ll find that it aids with the creative process, enables the group to stay on task and helps you reach conclusions on the items you discuss.
 10.  Practice the Three Fs – For every item on the agenda, be sure to Frame it – answer the question: Why are we talking about this and what is our desired outcome? Focus on it – stay on track. Capture other topics that surface for a later discussion. Finish every item - that doesn’t mean complete it necessarily.  It does mean that everyone should know what next steps will be taken on the item.
I’d love to hear from you on this. I spend a lot of time in meetings myself!
What practices have you discovered to make your meetings more productive? Send them to me via the Comment section below.