Comments on: Setting the Tone for Effective Meetings

By: Speedlinking - November 27, 2008 « Thoughts of Resurrection

Speedlinking - November 27, 2008 « Thoughts of Resurrection — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 14:04:20 +0000

[...] Setting the Tone for Effective Meetings has something that all meeting leaders could learn from, myself included. [...]

By: Church Meetings « // open church //

Church Meetings « // open church // — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:26:24 +0000

[...] Setting the Tone for Effective Meetings [...]

By: some serious meeting-itis « bradherndon.wordpress.com

some serious meeting-itis « bradherndon.wordpress.com — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 07:20:17 +0000

[...] especially for thanksgiving week. it was inspired in part by swerve’s recent posts: here, here, here and here. Patrick Lencioni is also worth a mention. good [...]

By: Tommy Bowman

Tommy Bowman — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:56:16 +0000

love it! I’ve been trying to give new life to our Big Idea meeting and having the agenda on the white board has been HUGE! Also, laying down the law with the text messaging and emailing has helped too

By: Sheri

Sheri — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:50:49 +0000

This is SO ironic - the timing of the post. I am training Business leaders to lead the vision and shepherd the people.

In meetings or public speaking, we suggest they arrive early to “mingle”; to recognize filters that people may be listening/hearing through; consider personality types to make meetings MORE effective. Sound sissy?

For example: I learn from thinking and the best ideas occur after I have time to sit on information, map things out in my head. I then usually have unique ideas. Brainstorm on the fly and I will have something much better - later! It’s very interesting research.

It is almost the exact opposite. In my Big 5 public accounting firm, this is post is how we always held meetings, they were effective, but the people were dead.

By: Shaun Mayfield

Shaun Mayfield — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 02:18:58 +0000

I loved this blog, most of it I already do but the newest freshest idea was the ending item of what areas are communicating and what areas are for decisions. I love to have this laid out. Typically most meetings begin with the communicating and as soon as someone has a thought they want to make a decision on it and you are not even done communicating the entire item.

Thanks for the fresh look!

By: Tom W

Tom W — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:10:08 +0000

Bill - I agree completely. Being lead by the person doing the texting or twittering is even more distracting and quite frankly rude.

By: Youth Specialties

Youth Specialties — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 19:01:35 +0000

5 Good Reads…

Go ahead, grab a cup of coffee, tea, or hot cocoa and enjoy these five blog posts.

The Time is Now by Doug Jones
The Video Revolution (disclaimer: muffled foul language.)
Setting the Tone for Effective Meetings by Craig Groeschel
30 Days of Thanks/Gi…

By: Chris Surratt

Chris Surratt — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:13:39 +0000

I have definitely become a fan of the “meeting as needed” thought. Moving from a position with a lot of full-time staff and daily set meetings, to an environment with mostly volunteer leaders, has helped me see the benefit of less meetings. More can be accomplished with a focused phone call, email, video chat…than a rambling 2 hour meeting. Great series Craig.

By: Mandi

Mandi — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 17:03:55 +0000

Great stuff! It helps to sharpen on these things. I am in a weekly staff meeting and I have meetings with my volunteer leadership team (11, including myself) monthly, on average. I have definitely went in un-prepared and I saw it on the faces of my leaders. You learn from that really fast! The agenda thing is definitely a must. Also, the time-honoring principle. Especially with volunteer leaders. It shows that you are aware of the sacrifice they are making to invest in the kingdom. (Time away from their family, etc.)
One thing that has inhanced our meetings is to have my key leaders take notes, or minutes, and email them back to me and then to everyone else at the meeting. They will catch things that I expounded on that weren’t in my agenda. They also record the decisions we made and what actions we will be taking. This frees me up to lead the meeting and not take extra time to stop and write things down, which can break my train of thought (i know, i’m a little add). But, the greater benefit is allowing my leaders to get involved. I love to read how they paraphase my thoughts and ideas. It helps me to see through their eyes and also to gauge if I am effectively communicating what I want them to receive. It also allows them to sharpen their skills, take ownership of their role and gives them experience in team leading. It has really been great for us.

By: Craig Groeschel

Craig Groeschel — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:36:51 +0000

Will asked, “Craig, how do you select who is in a given meeting?”

We don’t like meetings to become stale. If we meet in the same place, at the same time, with the same people, we will not stay fresh. I like to change who comes, where we meet, and when we meet.

When deciding who comes, you’ll want to ask who will contribute. Position shouldn’t determine attendance as much as gifts.

I only participate in one weekly meeting (with the DLT). I have one monthly finance meeting and quarterly board meetings. All the rest are as needed and rare.

By: will

will — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:30:08 +0000

choosing those who will be in the meeting is incredibly important - too often jsut becasue someone is at a certain level or holds a specific position they are invited when actually they should not be. On the same hand, often other people who could contribute greatly are left out of a meeting they could enhance because their title or position does not afford them that audience. this is a shame and should never be the case in a church or minsitry setting.

craig, how do you select who is in a given meeting? you have spoken of terms, how else do you maintain diversity and avoid ruts in the meeting aspects of leadership?

By: will

will — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:29:49 +0000

craig, how do you select who is in a given meeting? you have spoken of terms, how else do you maintain diversity and avoid ruts in the meeting aspects of leadership?

By: Joey Faulk

Joey Faulk — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:02:15 +0000

I’ve left some staff meetings with an agenda and all, going…what did we just do for three hours? I think what you describe helps take care of business! It could definitely enhance creativity. I am on my first church staff with my first job as a worship pastor and I’m doing all I can to start off right, in getting wisdom from the right places. Thanks for the original posts and comments.

By: Craig Groeschel

Craig Groeschel — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:54:13 +0000

Dale, Great follow up questions! Very powerful!

Troy, Love the grenade example. You asked how we integrate conflict. As you implied, healthy conflict is very important. Creating a climate that allows (or encourages) conflicting opinions is essential. A team must learn to fight behind closed doors and walk out friends.

By: Dale Schaeffer

Dale Schaeffer — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:33:28 +0000

Awesome post. We follow a pretty similar pattern for our meetings. The thing that has taken our meetings to the next level is adding the following questions to every meeting:
1) What have we decided?
2) What do we need to communicate?
Every meeting has one person who takes minutes and then communicates action items to the assigned team member.

By: Troy Maxwell

Troy Maxwell — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:20:57 +0000

Keep them alive with conflict. We have a term called “throwing the grenade on the table”. It is a way to challenge a thought or idea to cause conflict in the meeting. Conflict helps with idea generation, innovation and relationship building. For us we look at the quality of the meeting more than the quantity of issues covered.

Craig, how do you guys integrate conflict?

By: Craig Groeschel

Craig Groeschel — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:52:15 +0000

Joe, Thanks for adding end on time! Absolutely. Open ended meetings are generally less productive. Having an end-time honors people’s time and forces efficiency.

By: jim

jim — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:44:24 +0000

I do some volunteer work as a chaplain, it is very rewarding, but the pain of sitting through the meetings is killer. I am a fan of a good meeting starts and ends on time. I think the one who leads the meeting should step in an stop someone who has hijacked the meeting. There are a number of other things but I agree with your assesment of how meetings should run.

By: Joe F

Joe F — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:37:26 +0000

Great list Craig. I would add “End on time!” If it’s scheduled to be one hour end it in one hour. That helps people (including me) be prompt, alert, and productive–and on-time for the next thing.