Do all leaders excel at running meetings? And, do all non-leaders run their meetings poorly? Nope, on both counts. Anyone—regardless of their role in the firm—can either be good or bad at running a meeting. It’s up to you to decide which one you want to be.
Part I of this post was around one-on-one meetings. Today, Part II addresses my favorite technique for effective leadership of group meetings. I became enlightened on the merits of this technique during my third year sitting on the CREW Chicago Board of Directors. We successfully switched our meetings to use the concept of ‘consent agendas’. Check it out:
Consent agendas are valuable tools in your efforts to maximize the use of everyone’s time, making the meetings more strategic with a focus on the bigger picture. According to John Carver in Planning Better Board Meetings (an oldie, but still relevant): ‘The central resource in [strategic] governance is the wisdom with which members enter the room. Eliciting this wisdom on the right issues, at the right time, and in the right form is not easy. Crowded agendas, scattered focuses of discussion, and all the familiar weaknesses of group discipline conspire against the efficient use of energy.’
The use of a consent agenda goes a long way toward solving these inefficiencies. The consent agenda is a single agenda item that covers a number of routine issues needing team approval, but not necessarily in-person discussion. If a team member feels that discussion is warranted, any item may be removed from the consent agenda by simply requesting that it be removed. The removed item is then placed elsewhere on the meeting agenda. The entire consent agenda is then acknowledged and validated by the team prior to moving on to strategic matters.
Typical items on a consent agenda* include informational reports that do not require team action such as:
- * Individual team member reports
- * Data tracked against plan
- * Routine team actions
- * Marketing budget reports (containing no consequential variances)
- * Minor program changes
The Leader should prepare the consent agenda along with an agenda for the entire meeting. It is critical that all items to be approved via the consent agenda be distributed to the entire team far enough in advance of the meeting to allow team members a fair opportunity to review and discuss—via email or other means—before the scheduled team meeting. It is the responsibility of each team member to read all information sent in advance of the meeting and to communicate questions and/or comments to all other team members before the scheduled marketing meeting.
The consent agenda is placed near the top of the meeting agenda, and when it is time to approve it, the Leader asks if any team member would like to remove items from the consent agenda. Once removed, it is placed at the beginning of the pre-established meeting agenda, or in another logical position on the agenda, and the remainder of the consent agenda is acknowledged and approved. The consent agenda should be used to increase team efficiency and save time – not to hide controversial issues. For the team to become comfortable with the use of a consent agenda, is it best to err on the conservative side – only placing completely non-controversial items on the consent agenda.
One final comment about this fantastic tool: just because this may appear to have originated in the context of a non-profit board as opposed to a for-profit architecture, engineering, or construction professional services firm, do not assume that it won’t work for your own internal meetings. Whatever the meeting subject— operations, marketing, information technology, human resources—this consent agenda format can work really well—especially when specific meetings get unweildy and/or when you all leave the meeting saying: ‘As usual, that was another useless waste of time. We always just end up ‘reporting activity’ without actually getting to the next level (i.e. setting direction or making key decisions).’
Give it a try in your own firm, and let me know how it works for you.
*Here’s a sample consent agenda format:
MARKETING MEETING AGENDA
November 2010
I. Leader’s Remarks
II. CONSENT AGENDA
Individual Informational Reports
* x
* x
Other Action Item approvals
* x
* x
Expenditures not requiring additional discussion:
* x
* x
Discussion Items:
* x
* x
III. ISSUES REMOVED FROM CONSENT AGENDA:
* List, if any
IV. STRATEGIC DISCUSSION ITEMS:
* x
* x
* x