A great strategy meeting is a meeting of minds.
Max McKeown
Let us not give up meeting together…
Hebrews 10:25a
Every leader will appreciate that they can’t succeed by leading alone. They will need the help of others to be successful. This is the reason why Jethro advised Moses (Exodus 18) to appoint people to help him in his leadership. Once you get other people to lead with you, there will be need to meet together from time to time. Many meetings can easily qualify for the definition of committees given in Jim Zablonski’s book The 25 Common Business Problems and How Jesus Solved Them: a committee is a gathering of important people who singly can do nothing but together can decide that nothing can be done.
Before you call for a meeting, ask yourself why you are having this meeting and what you hope to achieve from it. Obviously, if you can’t answer these questions, don’t hold the meeting.
Meetings need to be as well prepared and well organised. Those that are a waste of time are the ones that demonstrate the least preparation time. They are also the longest. The length of a meeting will be in inverse proportion to the amount of time one prepares multiplied by the number of people attending.
A meeting being held must have at its foundation the direction of furthering the organization’s goals and objectives. If the meeting is not keeping with the organization’s objectives, it should be canceled.
If church leaders are to be effective in achieving the mission and vision for which they exist, learning to use meetings and committees is not an option.
Patterson identifies several occasions when meetings are necessary:
- Church leaders do not act alone (Acts 1:15-26).
- Leaders need to determine when meetings are to be called (Acts 4:13-31).
- Meetings are designed to clarify (Acts 11).
- Meetings are a means to resolve issues (Acts 15).
Types of Meetings
Richard Patterson states that the reason why meetings are called or held is to instruct, to decide or to solve problems, and never because they “are scheduled”. He urges that meetings should be held only when there is a purpose.
- Meetings that instruct
Those that inform members of decisions and direction which the leaders have already made, which affect the entire organization. - Meetings that decide
Those that dispatch business items, approve proposals within established guidelines and budget, change current rules, etc. - Meetings that solve problems
When an organization or church faces issues that are not addressed in its by-laws or constitution, often a meeting is called to solve the problem.
Making Meetings a Success
It is important for meetings to follow certain principles for them to be successful.
- Know the rules
- Have an agenda
- Always produce records. It’s been said that meetings keep minutes, but waste hours!
- Depend upon a control structure for motions and voting.
PAUSE
Which of the above principles of successful meetings do you find hard to implement during meetings and why?
Jim Zabloski gives us several clues to making meetings a success.
- Plan extra time for the meeting
If it ends early, people are pleasantly surprised. If it runs over by twenty-five seconds, you start to lose them to their watches. - Start the meeting on the dot, regardless of who is there.
End the meeting on the dot, regardless of who’s awake. - Consider penalizing people for being tardy.
Time equals money. Leaders should emphasize the need to keep time during meetings. This can be enforced by penalizing latecomers. - Schedule meetings at odd minutes such as 9:10 or 12:20.
It is easier to remember than meetings held on the half or quarter hour because of its uniqueness. - Provide food before or after meeting.
To keep things lively, provide food only at breakfast meetings or serve at the conclusion the meeting. - Send out an agenda beforehand for planned meetings.
People ought to walk in knowing what’s going on. Tell attendees what it’s about. Tell them also what you want solved, how much time will be spent on each point, how long the entire meeting will last, how they should prepare, and what they should bring. - If you must hold brainstorming meetings, do it once a year.
Experience shows that most brainstorming meetings end up being only a slight drizzle. Brainstorming requires a fair number of people to give it energy, however, only a few get to participate while the rest idle by. Better to consider holding regular two-person meetings where people are more inclined to share creative ideas. - An undirected meeting is a danger, even under the team concept.
Someone has to lead. Good leaders don’t monopolise the meeting, rather, they see that everything goes smoothly. - Every meeting lends itself into a conflict.
Conflict in meetings is healthy. As a leader, it is important to keep the momentum going, even at the risk of knocking over a hornet’s nest. - Learn to read your audience and do something about it.
Take time to appreciate your attendees and discern what needs to be said when and for how long.
Meetings are what they are because we are what we are: imperfect. But we must strive for improvement both in ourselves and in our meetings with other people.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
- Rate your performance in relation to conducting effective meetings on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is lowest and 10 is highest.
- What can you do to improve your score?
EVALUATION AND ACTION
- What hinders successful meetings in your current area of leadership?
- What are some of the ways in which meetings in your area of service can be improved?
- How will your understanding of leading meetings influence your overall leadership?
- Read Romans 15:5-7. What lessons about conducting in meetings can we draw from this passage?