Running meetings is, comparably, a very small part of your role as a pastoral leader - however, it's commonly one of the areas where people feel the most concern. I certainly remember the concept of speaking to a team (many of who had been teaching longer than me!) felt very daunting. Prior to leading my first meeting, I did A LOT of research about how best and most effectively to run a meeting and in this lecture...that is what I want to share!

In this lecture we cover: top tips for running an effective meeting, how to decide if you really (really!) need to have a meeting and your role as 'chair' of meetings with your team.

In a busy environment such as a school - meetings are very frequent occurrence. Often feeling unnecessary of as if they could have been sent via email. In fact, research shows that staff in schools attend up to 62 meetings a month! And, it is in fact one of our first instincts when we face a problem...to call a meeting. but, before you do- it's imperative you assess that you actually need one.

The four questions to ask yourself are:

1.   Do we have all the information we need for a meeting?

It’s a waste of people’s time to call a meeting without all the information necessary to make a decision. Likely, the action item out of that meeting will be to get all the relevant information and then meet again to make the decision. So wait until you have the necessary information to schedule a meeting.

2.   Do we need to discuss and collaborate, or delegate and calendar?

There’s no worse meeting than a group of people sitting in a room, while a person or two delegates out tasks. That’s an inefficient use of everyone’s time and could better be achieved via short one-on-one conversations or email. The purpose of most meetings should be to collaborate and to make team decisions. It shouldn’t be to assign out work, as that could be done more efficiently through other means.

3.   Is it critical we are all on the same page?

What this means is that do all the parties need to know all the information being presented. For example, if you have a project going on, it’s doubtful that everyone on your team needs to go to every meeting. It’s likely that members of the team will be working on unrelated tasks that don’t overlap. Only invite people whose work is directly related to the topic at hand in the meeting. Otherwise, you are going to waste people’s time with information they don’t need to know, and potentially muddle the decision-making process.

4.   Is this meeting one of our most valuable activities?

Even if the answer to the first three questions is yes, you should still ask yourself this final question. After all, a meeting takes people away from work they could otherwise be doing. Therefore, you should only use their time to discuss something that is going to have real impact.

Now, let's explore some top tips for running meetings effectively. Consider the following tips to help your meetings run smoothly!

Plan and Structure Meetings

Meetings run a lot more productively if you have a plan, starting with an outline of prioritised topics that need to be covered. Think ahead about how much time should be allotted for each subject. Knowing exactly what you want to say ahead of time also helps you sound more authoritative and knowledgeable. If attendees respect you, it's that much easier to keep control of the pace and direction of the meeting.

Distribute Informational Materials in Advance

You're not going to get much useful feedback if your team is seeing information for the first time in a 30-minute meeting. Send an agenda and any materials to staff ahead of time. The attendees will then have time to look through them and be prepared with questions and ideas once the meeting commences. 

Have Interactive Meetings

As LinkedIn reports, the average attention span is 10 to 18 minutes. This is important to keep in mind for a meeting. One of the best ways to keep people engaged in a meeting is to allow them to contribute. A small tutor team meeting of five to seven people makes an ideal discussion format and allows for a lively exchange of ideas. You can also keep attendees involved by asking questions but keep it on a volunteer basis. It's not productive to put someone on the spot when they have nothing to contribute at that moment.

Stick to the Agenda

One of the toughest rules of running a successful meeting is sticking to the agenda. You've already done the work of prioritising the issues that must be tackled, so don't let anyone derail you. As fun as off-topic conversations can be, spending an hour in a meeting that accomplishes nothing is ultimately frustrating for everyone involved. When one of the staff brings up an important issue outside of the planned agenda, resist the urge to tackle it immediately. Acknowledge the issue, make a note to add it to the next meeting's agenda, then move back to the original topic.

Take Notes

If you're running the meeting, you're likely going to delegate the task of taking minutes to someone else, but you should still take some notes for yourself. Keep a record of key points of the discussion, and any problems that require a follow-up. This includes the issues mentioned previously. If no formal minutes were taken, use your notes to compose a quick informational email to attendees after the meeting. It's another way to make sure everyone understands the outcome of the discussion and a good reminder to any staff that were assigned new projects or assignments.

Finish on Time

If you've created an orderly agenda and stuck to it, finishing on time shouldn't be a problem. Meetings that run long can cause several problems, including diminishing attention spans, information overload, and disrupting everyone's schedule. Some attendees could also be late for a conference call or an appointment with a client. Running an efficient meeting and ending it on time shows respect for your colleagues and their responsibilities. You'll get better attendance and a more engaged group if you have a reputation for getting things done in the shortest amount of time.

Now - finally, let's consider the role of you as a chair! Read the documents below to help you think about how to chair a meeting and how to keep it focused. The first outlines top tips for being an excellent chair and the second is a great document from the Centre for Strategy and Communication on the role of a chair in meetings.