Picture this: a group of people in a room together, maybe sitting around a big table, all contributing to a discussion. Allowing each other speak, ideas flowing from one person to another without speech overlapping, everyone looks energised. People disagree, but they present their argument clearly and listen to what everyone else has to say. The meeting ends on time and with everyone feeling like it was time well spent.

Of course there is no way that one person alone can be responsible for this kind of success – the make-up of the team and nature of the meeting will be main factors influencing this. But if you are running a meeting, then there are certainly a number of things you can do to guide your team to a successful conclusion.

In Part 1 of this series, I suggested how to prepare for a meeting. Here, I share some thoughts on how to make the most of  meetings, whether they are a one-off or a regular team meeting.

Before you start:

1) Does everyone know each other?

CHECK: especially if this is a project team or the organisation has gone through recent changes etc. Some people might have only exchanged e-mails. You can do the introductions informally before the meeting or a little bit more formally at the beginning of the meeting. Name, title, department and maybe what their responsibilities are.

• TIP/ If not everyone knows each other, get everyone to introduce themselves. Having spoken once in front of others, they will be more likely to speak up at the meeting. Start yourself to set the norm – in this way you can suggest how long you would like the introduction to be.

2) Welcome and thank everybody for attending.

And check that everyone knows at what time the meeting is due to end.

3) If you are taking notes:

Avoid listening and writing at the same time. Ask people to stop speaking as you write to make sure you can give them your full attention. If you do stop them, let them know your reason for doing so.

Similarly, if you see people taking notes, make sure they can do so without missing out on contributing to the discussion themselves.

4) If you’ve asked someone to present at the meeting or you know that they have more information or knowledge than you, acknowledge this and make sure you give them the space to contribute during the meeting.

If someone else is updating on progress/a project/ presenting an idea etc, make sure everyone else has any other information necessary to be able to follow the discussion and to contribute to it. If this information cannot be conveyed until later, that you make this clear – let them know when they can expect to obtain it and from whom. And make sure this is followed-up.

5) When planning and setting tasks, make sure it is clear WHO will be carrying them out, by WHEN and that the action itself is clear.

Many heads (and bodies) working together can certainly be more productive and creative than individuals working in isolation. But some individuals might be tempted (consciously or subconsciously) to step down their efforts and “hide behind the team”. Here are some things you can do to promote:

Individual responsibility in the collective process.

1) Set priorities together.

I might need to carry out a piece of work before you can continue with your tasks – but if I don’t know it is essential for you, I can’t prioritise it or let you know by when you can expect it.

2) Get people to commit during the meeting and then get them to report back at the next meeting.

If you know you will have to report about your progress, it might just be the extra nudge that makes you fulfill your commitments on time.

• TIP/ If you meet weekly and have a large team, maybe individuals can report every two weeks – or you can find a more creative way of dividing “reporting time”.

3) Keep your strategy fluid.

Allow team members’ experience, successes and failures to shape the team’s strategy. Contributing to the overall goals and team process will be motivating for most team members.

To turn a problem into a learning experience, make sure you focus on the problem and not the person.

If you want to encourage a culture of accountability, transparency and creativity, you will need to lead by example. Don’t pretend you have all the answers or that things never go wrong.

If someone is having trouble, try to get to the root of the problem, identify what they need and see if anyone else present at the meeting can help them out. If they have made a mistake, thank them for admitting to their mistake and help them figure out what went wrong, how it can be avoided in the future and whether the team as a whole can learn from their mistakes.

• TIP/ Let’s not confuse genuine mistakes with lack of accountability or simply, not getting things done. If you feel like there is an ongoing performance problem with a team member, you will need to deal with this separately, in a one-one conversation.

Meetings always represent an opportunity for team building: learning together and planning together helps team members to align their objectives. Remember to listen and observe during the meeting, to make sure everyone who wants to contribute to the discussion, has the space to do so.

Just as preparation is key to a successful meeting, following-up on the actions set, will influence how meetings are viewed by your team. In the final part of this series, I will share some ideas on how to keep the sense of accomplishment and collaboration once the meeting is over.

(With thanks to Nerea for helping me organise my ideas for this post.)