The One Simple Thing You Can Do to Improve Your Meetings Today!
By Joel D. Levitt
When asked, “What has disrupted your meetings in the past year?” executives report the following:
- Previous meeting still running in “your” conference room
- Conference room is messy
- Not enough chairs, not enough electric plugs
- No paper in easel, no marking pens (or dried out)
- Lights, A/C, A/V don’t work
- Construction going on near room
- “Old” version of presentation or new one doesn’t load
- Handouts not done, not enough or not right
- Critical people not available
- Time or location of meeting not clear
- Agenda MIA
- People are not prepared
Simple solution: Design a meeting checklist then distribute, post and use it. Here are a few tried and true simple rules to make your checklists work best:
- The list should be on a single side of paper. Use a large font that is easy to read.
- The most effective checklists are short and quickly completed. Many can be run through in under a minute.
- They typically contain 7-10 or so items
- Post them (some firms have the meeting checklist in every conference room) and use them!
The checklist keeps the practices that make a successful event, such as a meeting, right there up front. You can also use the checklist to remind yourself to try new ideas, techniques or practices. The power of the checklist is in the execution. It only has positive effect if it is used! HBM
With more than 30 years of management experience in the maintenance and engineering fields, Joel D. Levitt is a leading trainer of manufacturing, operational and maintenance professionals. Levitt is currently the Director of International Projects at Life Cycle Engineering and the author of 10 popular books and over 150 articles on maintenance management, as well a frequent speaker at related industry conferences. Visit www.meetingdefender.com. HBM
