John Adair's 100 Greatest Ideas for Effective Leadership

Idea 100: How to manage meetings

Before holding any meeting, ask yourself these five questions:

1. Why are we meeting?
2. What would be the result of not having the meeting, or what should result from having it?
3. Who should attend?
4. How long should it be and how should it be structured?
5. When is the best time to hold it?

There are five types of meeting:

1. Briefing meetings – to impart and share information, to clarify points and incorporate ideas from others.
2. Advisory meetings – to gather views and advice and to outline or share any ideas.
3. Council meetings – to make and share responsibility for decisions, resolving differences on the way.
4. Committee meetings – to ‘vote’ on decisions and reach compromises/accommodations of different views on matters of ...