How to End Meetings Like a Pro
Please cancel the meeting if you aren’t prepared.
4 meeting commitments:
- Respect time.
- Strengthen connection.
- Maximize talent.
- Do stuff. (Do things that are best done with others.)
5 questions to ask before the meeting:
- What’s the purpose of this meeting?
- Would it matter if we didn’t meet?
- Would people be disappointed if we cancelled the meeting?
- Who needs to attend?
- How will you measure the success of the meeting?
How to begin a meeting:
At the beginning of the meeting assign a person to end the meeting with a good word about the meeting.
- I’m glad we accomplished…
- I liked it when…
How to end meetings like a pro:
The peak-end rule applies to meetings. People remember peaks and ends. You can’t predict or control the peak moment of a meeting, but you can control the end.
Create a memorable moment at the end of meetings.
Last impressions are lasting impressions.
#1. End Early.
Develop a reputation for ending meetings on time or early.
How do you feel when the meeting ends early? Goes long?
#2. End with a speed round.
Don’t begin meetings by getting a few quick items off the list before you get to the meat. Begin with the meat.
“Quick items” at the beginning always take longer than expected. You end up rushing through important items. It should be the opposite.
Rule #1: No quick items at the beginning of meetings.
#3. End with accountability:
Everyone completes this sentence, “My next step is….” List one important action item.
The accountability sentence could be, “I will complete “X” before the next meeting.”
Rule #2: The chairperson or secretary records everyone’s action item.
Rule #3: Anyone who leaves meetings without action items doesn’t need to be in the meeting.
#4. End with a good word. (See above. How to begin a meeting.)
A good meeting begins…? Lousy meeting?
A good meeting ends…? Lousy meeting?
Bonus material:
How to Run an Effective Meeting (NYTimes)
What Makes a Great Meeting (Council of Nonprofits)
I find it helpful to include on the agenda– the “desired outcome” for each item. This keeps everyone focused.
Also Rule 2–is critical!
At the end of some meetings, I do a process check. All team members evaluate what we did well and what one thing we can do at the next meeting to improve.
Thanks Paul. Yes! How will you know if the meeting is successful unless you know the desired outcome?
The genius of your evaluation is “One Thing” thinking. It reflects an incremental mindset rather than perfectionism.
You touched on a subject near and dear to my heart.
I love to learn new strategies – A senior executive walked into the room, took a seat, looked around (taking a mental note of attendance) and stated the purpose and intent of the meeting. Periodically, members would digress to non-contributory material at which point she swiftly reminded them of the objectives of the meeting so she could remain focused on the decision piece of the meeting. Reinforcing whether it is a decision or information brief in the beginning is also important.
Thanks Kishla. It takes courage and awareness to do what your senior executive did when things digress. But, successful meetings require courageous leadership. Perhaps one reason meetings suck is fearful leaders – people who won’t bring up important issues or point out when someone is off topic.
Good article. I think the idea that only people with action items should attend is dangerous. I’ve seen it happen too often where stakeholders are not involved in projects until decisions have been made that really could have benefited from thier input.
Fire-Ready-Aim.
The most important and impactful meetings I’ve attended focused on a meeting of the minds more than assigning a checklist of action items. Email is great for checklists. Meetings are great for consensus.
I agree. I’m part of a project team, and I attend many meetings where subject matter experts provide input, but may not end up with any action items. Their input was critical, though, and may impact the action items to be taken by others, such as business analysts or developers.
Thanks Diane. Interesting point. I used plural in the sentence, Anyone who leaves meetings without action items. It might have been clearer to add the word consistently.
Your suggestion along with John’s, makes sense. When the team needs insight from experts, bring the experts in. If the experts consistently need to be in the meeting, make them part of the team. At that point, they should leave most meetings with an assignment.
I’m glad you joined in with John to contest an idea I suggested.
Thanks John. There are different types of meetings. Action or operational meetings. The meeting you describe is important.
I’ll add that any “meeting of the minds” that doesn’t impact action/behaviors was probably a waste of time.
Having said that, your suggestion is important and useful. Just don’t use an exception to eliminate a useful rule.
I’m glad you jumped in.
Let’s face it, there is always room for improvement, however minute it might be is progress from a positive standpoint. Granted depending on the type of meetings one is having surely we all need to focus on the topics and be careful not to wander off.
I think your spot on with the meetings beginnings and endings as always! Thanks for making Leadership a better solution!
Thanks Tim. Good to see you today. I know you run meetings. I’m glad to read your affirmation.
Great Article Dan,
Not that meeting need to be entertaining, however I’ve found creative juices get flowing by throwing changes or unexpected 30 second activities in meetings. For example start with “OTTFF” and ask what the next letters are.
It’s a quick and easy puzzle to break them out of the rote meeting doldrums.
Thanks Tom. Love the brain teaser. Anything that creates engagement. I’ve recently been asking people to complete common proverbs. Give them one word and wait. Then add a second. For example. “One” … If no one answers. “One bad.” Most proverbs can be guessed withing three words.
I had to go look up your brain tease. I think the answer is “S” 🙂
I like to end meetings by going over a summary of action items, especially if people did not take notes during the meeting. Sometimes we can pack a lot of information and to-do lists into a very short amount of time. If we leave the meeting and never think about the action items again, then we wasted everyone’s time. I also think that it is important to open the floor for each person to vent, express concerns or praise each other. The meetings where everyone participates are more effective than the meetings where only one person speaks for the entire time. The idea of promoting positivity at the end of a meeting is a great idea. I’ll be sure to implement that one immediately.
Thanks Tanya. Great suggestion. Do things that help people understand each other and connect. You can’t go wrong, as long as they don’t take too long.
Decision-making and tough conversations will be better if the people around the table feel connected.