Project Management: How to Run Team Meetings

[Music] hello i'm jennifer whitt director of projectmanager.com nothing gives me worse of a headache than a bad meeting we've all been there we've all seen the scenarios you've got that one who's always going to speak up to derail your meeting you've been in those meetings where no one knows why am I here what am I doing here and why is that person here we've all seen all different scenarios even interviewing CEOs of some of the top companies one of the biggest complaints is poor meetings people not knowing why they're there and leaving without knowing why was that here and what's to be done next so I've got four tips that are four key elements to running a meeting that a project manager can use that's simple remember simplicity helps to go a long way so for those of you who like methods methodology consider this the PC FW method of running your meeting so what does that stand for prepare communicate facilitate and by all means wrap it up so let's talk about each of the four key elements so number one in preparation there's purpose preparing for the purpose of the meeting why are you having this meeting who needs to be there why do they need to be there what do they need to prepare beforehand what do you as the project manager need to be prepared beforehand so purpose people again knowing who's supposed to be there why are they there are they decision-makers are they there to provide input why do you need them there and then props how are you going to facilitate and run your meeting do you need props do you need laptop do you need a LCD projector do you need flip charts do you need boards markers Duty pins and paper what do you need for people to use and for you to facilitate the meeting have you ever shown up at a site and you didn't have the materials you needed or thought we're supposed to be there well you as a project manager can prepare for that second key element communicate is communicating to people beforehand inviting them to the meeting the agenda letting them know when there's to be there why they're supposed to be there in five minutes before him let people know in advance so they know they can prepare on their schedule being mindful again that other people have schedules too so letting people know in advance so they can beforehand prepare get together what they need to show up and maybe ask any questions maybe contact you or other members on the team before so let them know what's on the agenda what are we going to be talking about they may want to invite some other key people as well and give you an opportunity to say yeah that's great but we don't really want them to be there in this meeting action items making sure people have completed action items maybe before previous meeting preparing for in completing action items they were supposed to do prior so before they show up to the meeting make sure that the previous action items have been completed or at least not the status facilitating the meeting so we've all seen that one where the thing gets out of control it's supposed to be maybe a 20 minute status meeting or a 30-minute status meeting or a short call or stand-up meeting that turns in to a two-hour brawl so we don't want that we want to make sure everything's on time and on topic so on time is making sure that we really stick to the timeline of the meeting so if you have different items on the agenda knowing how long you're going to spend on that and actually you as a project manager facilitating that you stay within that time so that way people will stay engaged with you they want you won't lose credibility and people will know when to expect to leave the meeting and on topic so staying on topic to the agenda there are people who have other agendas who will try to take over and hijack your meeting maybe for their own purposes so you have to facilitate that and stay on topic and let them know well that's if someone brings up a topic that's not on your agenda what may be important but it may not be within the purpose of that meeting so it's important to put that on a parking lot and at the end let people know what are we going to do with this item and I love this one hold that thought because a lot of times people will maybe raise their hand or bring up a question on something that you're going to cover later in the meeting so just politely say I appreciate that hold that thought we're going to talk about that later then that way that gives the person the comfort level to know okay that items going to be handled in this meeting but at least they'll know it's going to be handled later and you can stay on time and on topic and last but not least wrap up so we've all been in those meetings where they've gone too long so everyone's just in a hurry to get out of there so know everyone leaves not knowing exactly what to do or what the next steps are so the important item in this and this step is to wrap up with action items and next steps so action items what items are to be left done at the end who's supposed to do it when are they supposed to complete it and then knowing next steps letting people know when you will be meeting again or what decisions will have to be made so that these are the four key elements of the PC FW method and how to run your meetings more effectively so maybe you won't leave with a headache and your team members want either so I hope you found these valuable and if you need any additional tips tools or techniques maybe in running your meetings come by and visit us at projectmanager.com

Channel: ProjectManager

Views: 368,756

Keywords: Project Management, Project Manager, team meetings, team meeting, project management, team, meeting, meetings, communicating, collaboration

Id: xW0CjH95K3Q

Length: 5min 51sec (351 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 12 2012