Working Groups: Meeting Management

It is important for a WG chair to develop basic skills in managing meetings. Often, the type of meeting will dictate how a meeting will be run. These suggestions cover the basics and can be used for all types of meetings.

Developing Agendas

  • All meetings should have an agenda that includes the purpose of the meeting, the topics to be covered, and the time limits for each topic to be discussed.
  • Develop the agenda together with the key participants in the meeting. Think of what overall outcome you want from the meeting and what activities need to occur to reach that outcome.
  • State the overall outcome as the purpose of the meeting.
  • Design the agenda so that the meeting opens with questions to engage the participants early. Next to each major topic, include the type of action needed, the type of output expected and time estimates for addressing.
  • Distribute the agenda before the meeting.
  • During the meeting, ask the participants to cover the stated agenda.

Opening Meetings

  • Always start on time.
  • Identify the participants in the meeting, including the scribe or note-taker. If the meeting is held by voice conference call, ask the participants to identify themselves before they speak for the first time.
  • Review the agenda.
  • Clarify your role or roles for the meeting.

Establish Ground Rules or Expectations for Meeting Participants

An essential task is for the group to agree on ground rules. Ground rules are logistical agreements a group makes to improve its ability to work as a group. They are the standards of operating that determine how people conduct their discussions and how they will make their decisions. The value of ground rules lies in their very creation. Typical ground rules center around these issues:

  • The purpose of the meetings
  • Definition of significant or ambiguous terms
  • Time lines for meetings, length of meetings, meeting schedule
  • Meeting leadership and other roles
  • Expectation for participation and attendance
  • How decisions/actions will be recorded
  • How decisions will be made (consensus, affirmation, or voting)
  • The value of expressing different perspectives, how disagreements should be expressed and handled
  • Method of handling communication with those outside the WG

Time Management

  • One of the biggest challenges is to keep up the momentum, keep the process moving and finish within the time allotted for the meeting.
  • You can ask the other participants to help you keep track of time.
  • Check with the other participants periodically to see if they feel a topic has been completed.
  • Use the notion of a “parking lot” for setting aside suggestions that don’t fit in the current agenda and address them as “related topics” at the end of the meeting or in a future meeting.

Closing Meetings

  • Always end meetings on time and attempt to end on a positive note.
  • At the end of the meeting, review actions and assignments, set the time for the next meeting, and get commitment from members to attend.
  • Clarify that meeting minutes or actions will be reported back to members in (at most) a week.

*Adapted from Basic Guide to Conducting Effective Meetings written by Carter McNamara and from Effective Meeting Facilitation: The Sine Qua Non of Planning by Miranda Duncan. http://arts.endow.gov/pub/Lessons/Lessons/DUNCAN1.HTML

Some Tips for Conference Calls

Since a conference call is basically a meeting, the general information regarding running a meeting given above applies to conference calls. However, the following specific tips may also be helpful for conference calls:

  • Keep background noise to a minimum
  • Use a full-duplex phone
  • Speak directly into the microphones if you are using a room teleconferencing system, and make sure nothing is covering the microphones
  • Distance microphones from distracting noises such as computer fans or overhead projectors

*This section adapted from http://www.conferencecallingexperts.com/tips.html



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