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If the CEO of your company decided to sit in on a few of your meetings, would
she be impressed or distressed?
We asked Nancy Knowlton, Co-CEO of SMART Technologies Inc. and Bob Hagerty,
CEO of Polycom Inc., what they expect from meetings and how important effective
meetings are to the success of their companies. Find out if your meetings are
effective enough to measure up to the expectations of these CEO’s.
What Your Meeting Means to the CEO
Both Knowlton and Hagerty feel strongly that the effectiveness of a company’s
meetings has an impact on the organization’s bottom line.
 “Meetings
are a huge investment of time, and the number-one expense that most companies
have is their people,” explains Knowlton. “When people make good
use of their time there’s a terrific return on investment. But when people
don’t make good use of their time in meetings – they don’t
achieve their objectives, there’s useless chatter or they’re cycling
around on the same topic – that’s a prescription for no return on
an investment.”
Hagerty agrees, “I think unsuccessful meetings can be a disaster –
they’re unpleasant to be in, they’re ineffective, they’re
a waste of time, and they create a huge productivity hole. If you look around
the room in most corporate meetings, there’s a lot of money being burned
by the minute.”
What Would Your CEO Change About Today’s
Meetings?
“I think people are generally well prepared for most of the meetings I
attend,” says Knowlton. “They’ve all read background material
and prepared their own materials. But I find it frustrating when I’m not
told what the objective of the meeting is and when I don’t see a clearly
laid out agenda that’s going to accomplish that objective.”
Hagerty’s first pet peeve about meetings is lateness: “Don’t
come in late. It’s disruptive and it’s too expensive. People should
be on time, be prepared and be ready to roll.” But what he thinks would
make the biggest improvement in meetings is for people in geographically dispersed
companies to have more access to technology. “I just don’t think
a phone connection is quite adequate anymore. Meeting attendees need to be able
to see the information and the people – especially if they are remote,”
explains Hagerty.
He feels that in order for people to buy in to the focus of a meeting, they
need to be fully engaged in the discussions that happen in these meetings. “When
people are engaged, they feel better because they know what’s going on,
and they can take better and faster action because it’s direct information
they are getting, not second- or third-hand through some memo that came in the
mail or through e-mail.”
How to Reach Your CEO’s Meeting Expectations
So what can you do to make sure you’re measuring up to your CEO’s
meeting expectations? Follow their meeting advice.
 “The
basics of holding a good meeting actually haven’t changed over the years,”
says Knowlton. “It all starts with whether or not there’s a clearly
stated objective for the meeting in the agenda – a meeting without an
agenda is a recipe for a waste of time.”
Knowlton explains that she expects the meeting organizer to inform people in
advance of the meeting objective and agenda, stay on track in the meeting, cover
off the action items and clearly state what the outcome of the meeting is.
Hagerty says there are seven main steps to follow if meeting organizers and
attendees want to hold a successful meeting: stay focused on the main point;
stay in control of the meeting; have an agenda; discuss the important issues;
make sure everyone is fully engaged; get a decision; get out. “Because
action happens outside the meetings.”
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