Running Effective Meetings For Dummies

Turn meetings into the best part of your day with this actionable, step-by-step guide

Brainstorming meetings. Team meetings. Stakeholder meetings. Zoom meetings. Hybrid meetings. Most of us are part of more meetings than we can even count. And how many of these meetings are actually productive and valuable?

Running Effective Meetings For Dummies shows you how to plan, guide, and run a great meeting, whether you’re doing it face-to-face, fully virtual, or a combination of both. Authors Dr. Joseph Allen, industrial and organizational psychologist, and Emmy-award winning communications expert Karin Reed team up to walk you through the steps you need to take to make your next meeting your best one yet.

You’ll learn about:

• The different kinds of meetings and what each is supposed to accomplish
• How to prep for a great meeting and set the expectations of all the participants
• How to be an effective leader by guiding discussion during the actual meeting itself
• Effective follow-up and evaluation to keep your momentum and continually improve your meetings

Stop enduring meeting-fatigue and start making meetings the fun, productive, and engaging events they’re supposed to be. Grab a copy of Running Effective Meetings For Dummies today!

Joseph A. Allen, PhD is a professor of industrial and organizational (I/O) psychology at the University of Utah. His articles have appeared in Human Relations, Journal of Business Psychology, and more.

Karin M. Reed is CEO of Speaker Dynamics, a corporate communications training firm. She is an Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist.

Introduction 1

About This Book 1

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 3

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Understanding the Role of Meeting in Business 5

Chapter 1: Making Meetings More Effective 7

Understanding Why Meetings are Important 8

Discovering Why Better Meetings Benefit Everyone 10

Knowing What Kind of Meetings this Book is About 11

The small group meeting 12

The most common meeting types 12

Discovering Why Meetings are So Complex 14

COVID-19: Disrupting the way we meet 15

Learning about new ways to meet 15

Acknowledging the growing role of technology 16

Running an Effective Group or Team 17

Chapter 2: Matching the Meeting Style with the Meeting Goal 19

Picking a Meeting Communication Style 20

Identifying the main structures of meeting communication 21

Choosing the right communication structure 24

Managing the Meeting’s Formality 24

Choosing the right level of meeting formality 25

Planning for collaboration 26

Meshing with Meeting Culture Norms in Your Company 27

Understanding communication, participation, and efficiency patterns 28

Recognizing and developing your team’s meeting culture 30

Chapter 3: Understanding the Full Meeting Continuum 33

Being the Architect of Your Meeting Design 34

Designing for before the meeting 35

Designing for during the meeting 36

Facilitating a Productive Discussion 38

Building a process for turn taking 38

Setting ground rules for participation 40

Holding People (Including Yourself) Accountable 41

Defining expectations and consequences 42

Letting follow-up and action items drive the business 44

Chapter 4: Choosing How You Should Meet 45

Picking the Best Meeting Format 46

Meeting in-person 46

Meeting virtually 49

Meeting in a hybrid environment 51

Choosing the Meeting Space 53

Selecting the physical room 53

Setting up the virtual space 56

Timing it Right 57

Right-sizing the meeting duration 57

Building in buffers between meetings 58

Chapter 5: Using Video in Virtual or Hybrid Meetings 59

Understanding the Value of Video When Meeting 60

Creating a richer meeting experience 61

Keeping people from multi-tasking 62

Recognizing the Potential for Video Overload 63

Diagnosing the downside of being on camera 64

Using video when it matters most 67

Setting a Video Policy for Your Team 68

Determining the video culture of your organization 69

Deciding on the video culture of your team 70

Chapter 6: Meeting with Global Participants 73

Understanding Cultural Expectations 75

Recognizing norms about lateness 76

Maintaining cultural diversity in behavior 78

Allowing for cultural tolerance of silence 79

Taking the Setting into Account 81

Avoiding the time zone tragedy 82

Normalizing differences in environment 83

Allowing for differences in video use 84

Part 2: Setting Up for Success — What to do Before a Meeting 87

Chapter 7: Determining if You Even Need a Meeting 89

Knowing What Should be a Meeting 90

Meeting with purpose 91

Meeting for collaboration 92

Knowing What Shouldn’t be a Meeting 92

Socializing without aims 93

Informing without deciding 93

Chapter 8: Designing the Meeting to Match Your Goals 95

Choosing Your Format 96

Adjusting for internal or external participants 98

Recognizing different geographic locations 99

Minding time zone differences 100

Creating a Comfortable Meeting Space 102

Enhancing your face-to-face environment 104

Ensuring an effective virtual space 104

Scheduling the Meeting 112

Inviting the right people 112

Accounting for attendees’ schedules 113

Picking a suitable meeting length 114

Chapter 9: Setting Meeting Expectations 117

Drafting an Agenda 118

Clarifying the meeting goal or purpose 118

Rightsizing the list of agenda items 122

Sharing your agenda beforehand for attendees to review 123

Soliciting feedback and adjusting your agenda 124

Leaning into Pre-Work 124

Assigning work before the meeting 125

Determining the right amount of pre-work 126

Laying out Participation Ground Rules 129

Establishing participation expectations 130

Calling on individuals in the meeting 135

Part 3: Facilitating an Effective Meeting — What to do During a Meeting 141

Chapter 10: Starting a Meeting 143

Setting the Tone Just Before the Meeting 145

Arriving before the meeting start time 146

Making sure meeting technology is functional 149

Engaging in pre-meeting talk 153

Getting Off to a Good Start 158

Starting the meeting on time 158

Clarifying meeting purpose or goal 159

Assigning an attendee to record notes (meeting minutes) 160

Reiterating participation ground rules 160

Chapter 11: Managing the Conversation Flow 167

Keeping the Meeting on Track 168

Sticking to the agenda 169

Monitoring time spent on each topic 170

Using Communication Strategies to Drive Productive Dialogue 172

Understanding procedural communication 172

Making the right statements 174

Transitioning between topics 175

Driving Discussion 176

Listen actively 178

Paraphrasing comments and repeating questions 179

Probing for deeper dialogue 180

Managing a Brainstorming Session 181

When in person 182

When virtual 182

When hybrid 183

Leading Discussion Until Moment of Decision 184

Chapter 12: Pulling Out Even Participation 185

Ensuring Everyone’s Voice is Heard 186

When in person 188

When virtual 189

When hybrid 190

Validating Both Verbal and Nonverbal Participation 191

When in person 192

When virtual 193

When hybrid 194

Enlisting the Help of Others to Encourage Participation 195

When in person 196

When virtual 196

When hybrid 198

Chapter 13: Delivering Your Messages Effectively 201

Simplifying Your Content 202

Analyzing your audience 203

Structuring your message 204

Making your messages memorable 210

Speaking With Impact 213

Using vocal variety to keep attendees’ attention 213

Minding your body language 217

Using Visual Aids 220

Creating complementary slides 220

Interacting with visual aids 221

Engaging in Humor During Your Meetings 225

Encouraging affiliative humor 227

Squelching aggressive humor 227

Chapter 14: Stifling Bad Meeting Behaviors 229

Intervening When Dysfunctional Communication Occurs 231

Identifying bad meeting behaviors 232

Stopping bad behavior without derailing the meeting 234

Keeping Counterproductive Meeting Behaviors At Bay 236

Using good meeting behavior to edge out bad behavior 237

Rewarding good behavior and reining in bad behavior 239

Part 4: Making a Meeting Worthwhile — What to do after a Meeting 241

Chapter 15: Following Up Effectively 243

Creating and Recording an Action Plan 244

Summarizing decisions made 245

Listing action items 245

Delegating responsibilities 246

Making the Meeting Materials Accessible 247

Determining where to store meeting information 248

Sending out minutes 249

Being Available for Quick Clarification 249

Holding a brief follow up 250

Thinking about one-on-ones 252

Chapter 16: Evaluating Your Meeting Effectiveness 253

Soliciting Feedback 254

Creating a process for gathering feedback 255

Choosing what to measure 257

Using the Feedback 260

Sharing the results 261

Implementing changes based on feedback 261

Part 5: The Part of Tens 263

Chapter 17: Ten Things to Say to Move a Meeting Along 265

Killing Them with Kindness and Moving On 266

Rephrasing for Clarity 266

Closing the Door 267

Creating Order out of Chaos 267

Naming the Elephant in the Room 268

Being a Timekeeper 268

Protecting the Wellness of Your Team 268

Scheduling a New Conversation 269

Putting it in the Parking Lot 269

Using Team Code Words 270

Chapter 18: Ten Alternatives to Meeting in a Conference Room 271

Standing in the Conference Room 272

Gathering Around the Water Cooler 272

Meeting in Someone’s Office 273

Doing an Offsite, Onsite 273

Taking it Outside 273

Walking and Talking 274

Heading to a Coffee Shop 274

Going to a Restaurant 275

Holding a Virtual Reality Meeting 275

Heading Down to the Railroad Tracks 276

Chapter 19: Ten Ways to Bolster Participation 277

Assigning Agenda Items to Other Attendees 277

Setting and Sticking to Ground Rules 278

Making Multitasking a No-no 278

Getting People to do Stuff Regularly 279

Reading the Room 280

Cold Calling with Good Intention 280

Fostering a Speak-up Environment 281

Using Chat 281

Encouraging Webcam Use for All Remote Attendees 282

Asking for Help 282

Index 283

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