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Q: Our disorganized meetings are driving me nuts. Often they’re pointless: people come late, so meetings start and finish late. They get off track and sometimes participants can’t say what was accomplished. What can we do? — Fred T.

A: To eliminate pointless meetings, the facilitator should circulate a written agenda with start and stop times for each topic before the meeting. Let those who’ll attend know that their suggestions on the agenda are critical so it can be adjusted to meet their needs. Otherwise, the agenda stays as is.

If it’s not your meeting, and you don’t get an agenda, ask the meeting organizer for one. If you still don’t get one, send the organizer (unless it’s your boss or a higher-up who has power) a polite note. You might say, “Thanks for inviting me to your meeting. I’m swamped right now, and I have to focus only on things that will help me meet my goals. If you don’t have an agenda for this meeting, I hope you’ll understand it that I can’t take time to attend. Sorry.”

Late-comers? When we wait for them, we punish the people who arrive on time, and we in fact discourage punctuality. Tell the team about your concerns, and ask for their agreement to start meetings on time.

Finally, have three people act as equal partners to run the meeting: a facilitator who develops the agenda and circulates it before the meeting, then leads the meeting to make sure the goals are met. Appoint a scribe, who takes notes to summarize key ideas, writes each point on a flip chart for all to see, and asks for clarification if a point isn’t clear. The scribe also circulates a summary of the meeting: what action items were agreed to; who’s responsible for each one; the deadline dates.

Today, some scribes summarize the meetings on a laptop, then leave 10 minutes before the meeting ends to print out the summary and circulate copies before people leave.

Be sure you appoint a timekeeper to help the group stay focused on the right topic, and announce benchmark times for starting and stopping the discussion. The timekeeper should also initiate “process checks,” asking participants if they’re satisfied with the progress of the meeting. (If one topic seems to need longer discussion than planned, all members must agree to change the meeting schedule, so topics scheduled for later aren’t shortchanged.)

Try these “Top Ten” guidelines for great meetings. You might want to post them in the meeting room, or attach them to each agenda circulated before the meeting.

Invite only those who can really contribute. People who are just sitting there listening can make better use of their time working and reading the meeting notes.

Don’t hold meetings with fewer than five or more than 12 people. One to four people might better use a conference call. Inviting more than 12 invites chaos.

Publish a clear agenda before the meeting. Let participants help plan it and adjust it if necessary.

Stay with the agenda, but allow time for discussion of open items. It’s better to leave the meeting early, with fewer items covered well, than to rush discussion just to squeeze in all the topics.

Limit meetings to 50 minutes to give people time to get to their next meeting. For longer meetings, take a break after 50 minutes.

Watch the group for trouble spots, and bring them out into the open, such people not participating, side discussions, or not dealing with problems.

When people become angry or frustrated over an issue, refocus the discussion and get back to the facts.

Summarize the key points at the end, and get clear-cut agreement on actions: who, what, when. Circulate a summary immediately after the meeting.

Get consensus on decisions. Don’t let people with strong personalities bulldoze others with their ideas.

Encourage everyone to list on the agenda questions they’d like answered at the meeting — and take personal responsibility for getting the answers.

Bill Repp is president of Organization Development Group. E-mail him at billrepp@rochester.rr.com.

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