HBR Guide to Making Every Meeting Matter (HBR Guide Series)

by Harvard Business Review

Here are seven of my favorite interventions for stopping meandering in a meeting: Come prepared. You can organize a chaotic conversation and gain disproportionate influence by simply arriving with a clearly articulated straw position on the topic to be discussed. Don’t push it on people, but do offer to share it if others believe that it will help accelerate discussion. More often than not they will. Set boundaries. Take responsibility for your time. If a meeting is notorious for starting late and running over, let people know when the meeting begins what your boundaries are. For example, you might say, “I understand we’re starting late but I have a commitment to the Murphy team I want to keep, so I have a hard stop at 10:45.” Trust your gut. Go public. Check with the group. Notice, honor, and trust your gut. If you’re feeling lost, pay attention. If you’re feeling bored, take notice. There’s a good chance others are, too. Then, tactfully and tentatively share your concern. Don’t express it as truth; instead, own the fact that it is simply your experience. Next, check to see if others are feeling similarly. Here’s what that might sound like: “I’m not sure I’m tracking the discussion. We seem to be moving between three different agenda items. Are others seeing that, too?” Restate the less than obvious. If the discussion is toggling between two or more problems, summarize the topics on the table, and suggest the group tackle one at a time. For example, “I’m hearing points ab...