Make meetings work

I'm no saint of the church of effective communication, but I work on improving my communication actively, nearly daily. I welcome feedback and closing the loop towards preventing a breakdown or gap or lack on understanding due to poor communication.

Here's one you may have run into:

Have a meeting. End. Takeaway: ? Meet again: "Um, whats happening now?"

It generally occurs when one or several of these things are happening:

1. The person identified as the "owner" of a particular task is not the right person
2. The owner doesn't understand what is expected of them
3. The assignee or meeting leader does not clearly demonstrate what is expected and when
4. The entire group met after 2pm (always have meetings in the morning)
5. The meeting was the 5th on the same topic and burnout, group think or abandonment of the issue is starting to spread
6. There is no champion for the end result
7. Break things up into mini-milestones, too much given at once creates confusion on where to start and what order

Now, I'm no fan of meetings where people are huddled around a spreadsheet either, but they're necessary sometimes. Working from the same page is going to get you further, faster. Make your meetings actionable and individuals accountable. Send an email out afterward and call each person given a task half-way through the meeting and delivery date of their respectable assignments to measure progress and keep people focused. Getting this started is the hard part, keeping it moving is easy once people understand their roles, expectations and that you will find them and keep them accountable.

Cheers!

James