The chairs have been moved back under the conference room table. The Styrofoam coffee cups have been thrown away and the lights turned off and…no one can remember what was accomplished in this team meeting.
            Sound familiar?
            Meetings, according to most workplace research, are the worst waste of time.  They are conducted because “…it has been three weeks since the team met.”  The agenda is somewhere in the mind of someone.  The learning environment resembles the waiting room on the TV edition of “ER.”  And, the results are non-existent.
            Here are seven ways to make a team meeting worth the time and effort to get everyone into that room.
            First, clarify the end result for the meeting and begin the e-mail notice for this session with, “Our next team meeting will determine the due date for our next deliverable.”  The specificity of purpose will motivate members to be present and engaged.
            Second, in the announcement of the meeting, always give a beginning and ending time.  The beginning time is normally not a surprise; the concluding time may be cognitive dessert.  People feel “safe” in a meeting if they know, with confidence, this encounter will not have the same duration as the shelf-life of Plutonium.
            Third, begin the session without the normal, “Thank you for coming today…we have a lot to accomplish…I hope everyone is ready to work….”  Try a visual aid.  Why not pass out to every team member a small container of children’s modeling clay (you will immediately have their attention) and say, “Create with the clay an object that represents what we will have to do to get this project done on schedule.” 
            For the unbelievers out there…try it.  You will find participants will be laughing, openly talking with each other and coming up with some amazing conclusions.
            Fourth, as the meeting moves on and decisions are made, write those conclusions on a flipchart of poster-sized paper.  When everyone on the team can visually see what they are accomplishing, the meeting takes on meaning. 
            Fifth, keep the discussions focused.  Undoubtedly there will be someone on the team who has an axe in his/her possession.  When an extraneous topic is placed on the table and eyes begin to roll, immediately intervene with a statement like, “This meeting has been called to determine the due date for one of our deliverables and I suggest we get back to the task in front of us.”  No apology and no arguments.  If you are leading this meeting it is your responsibility to make sure it is not hijacked by a malcontent.
            Sixth, change the scene.  If the meeting is becoming pedantic (people are slowing down because the work is detailed), take a short break, move everyone to a standing position in front of a whiteboard or flipchart to continue the discussions, bring in refreshments or adjourn for several hours.  Sometimes teamwork is just work.  Look around the room and decide if you are losing the crowd.  If so, it is time to change the environment.

            Finally, using some visual aid (PowerPoint, flipchart, poster paper, etc.) summarize the results of the meeting with, “Here is what we have accomplished today.”
Follow this conclusion to the meeting with an e-mail that also recounts what decisions were made, who will be accountable for implementing the decision(s) and the methodology for contacting each other if there are questions.
Meetings can be the agony or ecstasy of any workplace.  These gatherings are either successful or endured drudgery because someone has made a decision to make the event memorable.  If no one can remember why we met or what we accomplished, this was an exercise in futility.  You have choices.