Five Steps to A Better, More Mindful Meeting

So you think you run a good meeting, eh? Have you asked anyone lately? I never told anyone their meetings were painful to sit through, but I might have hinted had they asked. In my corporate background of twenty years I have sat through a few good meetings but the vast majority were not so great. The best meetings were run by a very mindful and thoughtful executive, and these are how he ran them, and how I now run mine, and quite frankly how you should probably run yours.

Mindful meetings look and feel different.

Meetings are to come together to discuss topics, some of which might annoy or irritate you, but the meeting itself should not. Bad meetings often go over the allotted time and never accomplish the purported goals. A few of the things that make a meeting mindful changes the whole vibe. From a moment of centering, to the conduct of the participants, to the agenda that is followed and the time it ends, Mindful meetings just are better if for no other reason than you do not feel like letting your forehead drop to the table. So what do they look like, let me share.

1. Have an agenda and follow it

It does not have to be the best agenda, but something to keep the meeting focused and on track. Sometimes the leader can put out a meeting agenda, sometimes it could be a standing agenda on an editable Google sheet that any of the participants can add to. But do everyone a favor, have something, and send out an agenda.

2. Shut up

When everyone arrives, let them get settled. Encourage everyone to arrive on time and once initial handshakes, greetings and weekend exploits are shared, shut up. I mean have a moment of silence. Just be quiet. Instruct the participants to think of their intention for the meeting. Take two or three minutes to them think of what they would like the outcome to be. Remember “why” they are having the meeting. Maybe they think how they want people to feel after they speak. Just take a minute and get centered. This is also a good transition to signify the start of the meeting and to release anything prior. At first your participants may think you are taking that new self help book a little too far, but they will get used to it, because it works.

3. Now you can talk

When you break the silence to start the meeting you can spend a few minutes discussing the outline of the meeting and any special notes and then start on agenda items. Only you talk, and then only the person you call on talks. And then the next. One at a time. No cross talk. No speaking over. No finishing sentences. Just one person talks at a time. You are running the meeting, make it happen. Simple.

4. Stay on topic

Now that you have only one person speaking at a time, please make sure they are speaking on topic. We all know that person that drones on about their workload, budget restraints, or weekend, but if thats not the topic, do not let that topic continue. The same if the speaker or group starts getting too granular. Maybe everyone at the meeting does not need to know every detail of how a light bulb gets changed. Leave that to the experts. As the chair of the meeting, it is your responsibility to keep to the agenda and keep the group on topic. Trust me, everyone who sits in your meetings will appreciate it.

5. Don't waste my time

And finally, be aware of the time, and keep the schedule. There are people waiting to use the restroom in your meeting. There are people with another meeting to go to in your meeting. There may even people that have work to do in your meeting. Respect your staff’s time and they will respect their company’s time.

In summary, you can easily have a more effective meeting by :

1. Having an agenda

2. Getting centered and focused

3. Allowing one person to speak uninterrupted

4. Keeping everyone on topic

5. Respecting the schedule