Improve meetings by clarifying the purpose

A few weeks ago, I lost my patience in a recurring meeting I’ve led for the past year. There were eight people in the room. 

We had an agenda, and I feared we wouldn't complete the meeting objectives in the time we had remaining. I panicked and lost my composure. 

The way I expressed my impatience wasn't awesome. I've apologized, and I know I need to improve there. But after reflecting and getting feedback from the attendees, it’s clear I set myself up for failure.

There are many different types of meetings. The three most common types are information-sharing meetings, problem-solving meetings, and decision-making meetings. The labels are self-explanatory.

I was coming into this meeting with the goal to share information and solve problems. Other attendees were coming with the goal to share information and make decisions. Unhealthy conflict ensued. 

When attendees don't agree on the purpose of a meeting, bad meetings happen. Perfect conditions brew for impatience and unhealthy conflict. Attendees try to complete competing objectives and nothing gets done. As the meeting leader, it was my responsibility to avoid this situation.

Going forward, we’re going to treat this meeting as a decision-making meeting. The agenda will reflect this goal and all attendees will be on the same page. I expect the next meeting will be more successful.

The information-sharing and problem-solving still needs to happen somewhere. We plan to do this via other meetings.

We still need to share information. We can do this via information-sharing emails, conference phone calls, and smaller meetings.

We still need to solve problems. We can do this via micro teams and separate, smaller problem-solving meetings.

If you’re having unproductive meetings, attendees may be working toward conflicting objectives. Try stepping back and getting everyone to agree on a clarified purpose for the meeting.