Rein in Your Meetings

If you’re involved in meetings, whether as a Chair or an attendee, you’ve probably experienced a meeting that’s gone off track. One of the best ways to get control of meetings is by adopting meeting guidelines. These guidelines define the behaviours that the group agrees to abide by during their meetings. Try having the group develop their own guidelines to increase buy-in. Most groups come up with good guidelines that hit at the heart of non-productive meetings. Once in place, each person in the group is empowered to call someone on a behaviour that contravenes the guidelines. It’s pro-active and self- enforcing. Check out Committee Ground Rules on the OREA Centre for Leadership Library for a sample to get you started.