A cure for meeting fatigue

Long meetings are a drag! They dissipate our energy, tire us out, and after the first 45 minutes degenerate from there. To stay awake, people look at their email, pretend they are taking notes while working on their computer and sometimes just try to stay awake, looking interested - which many are not. I have written many a blog is such long meetings. Because few are giving their undivided attention to what is going on around them a long meeting actually ends up longer because people are multi tasking.

It need not be this way. In fact, if a meeting goes beyond one hour it is probably too long. People can focus for that length of time if the meeting is facilitated well and that is often a big if!

Think about this. Most meetings cover predictable pieces of territory: financial; initiatives; alignment; problems to be solved and so on. Trying to cover these in one meeting is normally counterproductive. Instead, consider short SYNC meetings around those disparate topics where you have the key players in the room or on the call, and keep it short: 30 minutes; 45 minutes or at the most, 60 minutes. Using Google Docs so you can build shared documents, come with an agenda and take notes right there on the shared doc so that at the close of the meeting, everyone has the details. If assignments have been made record these at the end which becomes the first order of business the next time you convene.

Many short, focused, well led SYNCS are far more effective than long, interminable meetings. At the end of each SYNC give a one to five rating for the overall effectiveness of the meeting. That ensures that conveners will pay maximum attention to getting business done in an effective and efficient manner. Schedule your SYNCS throughout the week or the month as needed. If there are special initiatives use the same methodology for those that are tasked with that initiative.

Make a policy that you don't do long boring meetings. There is no joy in them and they usually don't accomplish what you want them to accomplish.

Overcoming the sin of boring meetings in ten steps

Meetings are a core part of what many of us do. The problem is that it is estimated that half of the meeting time in the United States is wasted time. Thus the love hate relationship with meetings. If they go well they can be the breeding ground of new and innovative ideas and strategies. If they go badly...well, you know the drill.

If you are not willing to engage people in a meaningful meeting you should not call one. But what constitutes a meaningful meeting?

One: You know when you go into the meeting what the outcomes need to be and you can articulate those outcomes at the beginning of the meeting - or better yet before the meeting. For each agenda item there is an articulated outcome. Are you desirous of a decision, are you simply sharing information, are you looking for robust dialogue around a strategy? Whatever it is, everyone ought to know what you are looking for.

Two: You have an agenda with time parameters. That goes without saying except all to often it does not happen. The agenda is your road-map that keeps you from interminable meetings that go nowhere. It also keeps you on tract with the time parameters. Good meeting facilitators don't allow the meeting to stray far from the agenda. That is what a parking lot is for: listing issues that arise but that need to be addressed another day.

Three: Everyone is present! I am not talking physically but mentally. Cell phones are put away, computers are not for reading email but for meeting purposes only. Way too much time is wasted by participants who are not truly present or participating. 

Four: Robust dialogue is encouraged: Any issue can be put on the table with the exception of a hidden agenda or a personal attack. If you call a meeting you must be willing to hear what people actually think rather than what you want them to think. There is nothing more disheartening than a meeting where there is not true freedom to speak one's mind. If there are elephants in the room - issues that cannot be discussed it is not a true meeting. So, no elephants!

Five: Never substitute dialogue and discussion for a decision that needs to be made. Make the decision or accomplish the outcome you have identified and move on. Meetings are designed to drive your missional agenda, not simply be a place to air your opinions.

Six: Record all decisions made or action items discussed and at the beginning of your next meeting review those decisions and action items. Build a culture where participants are responsible for doing what they promised to do. 

Seven: Send out prior to the meeting any context, reading or assignments so they don't have to be covered in the meeting itself. Don't do in the meeting what can be done prior to the meeting. 

Eight: Start on time and end on time. Coming on time is a courtesy for everyone. Ending on time says that you value the time of the participants. 

Nine: If you are the leader of the meeting you are responsible for crafting the meeting so that the time is well spent. If you have ten participants in a two hour meeting you are spending 20 hours of time and it needs to be well spent. Your preparation for the meeting will make the difference as to the quality of the meeting. Preparing on the fly is not going to yield a good meeting. It should be anathema to bore those in the meeting or to wasting their time.

Ten: Evaluate the meeting when it is over. Take five minutes to give a red, green or yellow to the following:

• We achieved our outcomes
• We had creative conflict
• We listened well
• The facilitator keep the meeting on track
• Everyone came prepared
• Assignments from the last meeting were finished
• We made decisions
• We had action items
• The meeting leader was prepared and facilitated well

Don't settle for boring and ineffective meetings.

When leadership boards become the barrier to church growth

Leadership boards play a significant role in whether congregations grow or hit a plateau or even go into decline. 

Here is a general rule. The more time a leadership board spends on managing the day to day affairs of a church the greater the barrier they will be to church growth. The more time a leadership board spends on thinking and praying about the future the greater the chances that ministry growth will occur. 

Why? Because a focus on the status quo will give you more status quo while a focus on the future will lead you toward that future.

This is why leadership boards should allow staff and volunteers to do the managing of day to day affairs and spend the majority of their time (50 % or more) thinking, praying and planning for the future.

How does a leadership board get to a place where it can afford to spend a good portion of their time in praying, thinking and learning so that they can move the ministry forward? 

First plan your agendas around the big rocks not the small rocks.

Second, task others with coming up with systems or solutions to the small rocks and third delegate whatever they can to others so that they can do what they should be doing.

This is why the Apostles delegated the looking after the widows in the early church to others. It was the first known ministry team!

Whatever boards focus on will be the thing that gets done. It is a simple but important principle. 

My book, High Impact Church boards, goes into greater detail if you need to refocus your board.

Leadership challenge 101: managing our schedules

Managing our schedules so that they don't manage us is one of the most critical challenges every leader faces. Not only are leaders action oriented (we do stuff) but we face significant pressures from others for our time to say nothing of the many outside opportunities that come along. We find ourselves pulled and pressed and sometimes, don't have time for the most important things, or time at all!

If we are not careful, our schedules will manage us and it won't be pretty. If we can learn to manage our schedules life is a lot more productive. Leadership 101 is learning to schedule by priority in order to achieve the results we desire rather than to live accidentally. If you are a leader and struggle with your schedule you are in good company. We all do and learning to manage it better is key to maximizing our influence.

Managing our schedules starts with personal clarity about what we are called to do. There are people around us who have many ideas for what we could or should be doing (all good) but choices must be made and they need to be made on the basis of what we know is important for us. This presupposes that we have done the work of understanding who God made us to be, what He wants us to do and what is most important in our leadership role.

I know, for instance that I have four main responsibilities in my role. Having defined those, I am able to ensure that these key areas are not pushed aside by other activities and that they get scheduled first. 

Here are some practical pointers for managing one's schedule.

1. Identify what is important for you to do and what things others can and should do. As a rule, don't do what others can do.

2. Schedule ahead and ensure that the priorities for your work get scheduled first. Put in what is critical for you and then back-fill with other less important things.

3. Leave some margin so that the unexpected does not completely blow up your plans.

4. Talk to a trusted colleague about your schedule and allow them to weigh in on what is truly important and what is nice but ancillary. My wife can be irritatingly correct about some things I say yes to which she knows are not the highest priorities and which will steal my margin.

5. Evaluate your schedule monthly to ensure that the big rocks are being accomplished and not being pushed out by the sand and pebbles.

6. Get comfortable about saying no to nice opportunities that should not have your name on them. 

7. Think grey about opportunities until you need to commit to them. Doing so gives you the opportunity to think and pray them through without committing prematurely.

8. Always schedule in think time so that you are doing the leadership work of thinking for your team or organization. No one else will do your thinking for you. It is part of  what leaders do.

9. If you are consistently behind or missing obligations it is a sign that one needs to rethink the schedule and commitments. If it is important it should get done - on time (speaking to myself here).

10. Develop rhythms. Doing key work consistently develops habits that allow you to work efficiently.  

Church board self assessment: Fifteen Questions

If you are a church board member, how would you rate the quality of your board's work? As one who consults with church boards I am encouraged by the concern of many board members to raise the bar when it comes to the leadership and governance of their board. For many boards there is still much to do and for all boards, honest self evaluation is a critical factor in leading at a higher level.

Here are some basic questions that can help a board rate its current work and look for areas where they can do better. What I suggest is that each board member answers these questions with one of three colors: Red, yellow or green. 

Red means that the board is not performing well at all in an area. Yellow means that improvements could be made. Green means that things are going well. Remember, you are looking for areas where you can improve so yellow and red are not bad colors in themselves. What you do with the yellows and reds is the critical question. Visual management is helpful so I would actually encourage you to use colors in answering these questions.

These fifteen questions should spark some good, candid and robust dialogue among board members. Be honest, listen to one another and ask the hard questions of yourselves so that you can go to the next level.

1. Our board meetings start and end on time and there is always a clearly defined agenda. Red/Yellow/Green

2. Our board is able to engage in robust dialogue around any issue as long as there are no personal attacks or hidden agendas. There are no elephants we cannot discuss. Red/Yellow/Green

3. We have a written board covenant that defines how we operate together and we keep that covenant. Red/Yellow/Green

4. We spend more time thinking about the future than we spend on current issues. Red/Yellow/Green

5. We delegate management to staff and stay focused on the big rocks of direction and health. Red/Yellow/Green

6. We insist that our staff operate with a clear annual ministry plan. Red/Yellow/Green

7. Our senior pastor has a clear annual plan which forms the basis of an annual review. Red/Yellow/Green

8. Our board itself has an annual plan in how they will grow in their leadership and governance. Red/Yellow/Green

9. Our board has a clear job description as to its responsibilities and role and all new board members are clearly trained in those responsibilities. Red/Yellow/Green

10. Our board has a clear picture of what they desire the church to become and has clearly articulated this vision to the congregation. Red/Yellow/Green

11. We candidly evaluates the health of the church based on that clearly articulated vision. Red/Yellow/Green

12. We do not ignore real issues that exist on staff or in the congregation because of conflict or issue avoidance. Red/Yellow/Green

13. The leadership structures of our church are designed to help leaders lead easily and make decisions quickly. Red/Yellow/Green

14. We regularly spend time in concerted prayer for the ministry and needs of the congregation. Red/Yellow/Green

15. We guard the gate of leadership so that we get the best leaders who are wired to lead and to keep the spiritual temperature of the church high. Red/Yellow/Green

With over thirty years of working with boards I am available to help your board be the best they can be. Whether remotely using technology or in person, together we can make substantial strides toward healthier and more missional board work.

As the author of High Impact Church Boards I have worked with thousands of board members to ensure that the right people end up on an organizations board, that the board is intentional in its work and that the culture of the leadership system is empowering rather than controlling. Cost is kept to a minimum by using technology like Go To Meeting, or I can join you in person for governance training or retreat.

I can be contacted at tjaddington@gmail.com or 612.868.0487. I look forward to talking to and working with those who desire to raise the level of their board's effectiveness. 

Group think and courageous interlopers

It happens on boards, among staff members, in congregations and even among friends: group think. A common opinion or shared course of action even when there is evidence that there is another side, another option or even an elephant in the conversation that is being ignored. But the dynamics of the group and peer pressure prevent people from going there. Sometimes it is easier to just agree and pretend that the elephant is not there.

Enter the interloper - "one who jumps into the midst of things," (Webster) and says, "hmm, wait a minute, what about?, have you thought about?, I think we are possibly missing something here, let's talk about the real issue, there is an elephant we are not willing to discuss so I am going to put it on the table."

This is not an easy role to play and it needs to be played carefully. But it is a necessary role for those who are courageous enough to do it. Disagreeing with group think can be an unpopular role to play and thus needs to be done with grace and humility. But, when there are issues behind the issues that are being ignored for comfort or convenience, someone with courage can do the organization a favor by at least putting it on the table. Once on the table, others may be willing to consider it. 

Mature individuals are self defined individuals. They are able and willing to speak their mind without being disagreeable, able to disagree while remaining relationally connected and are not intimidated by being a lone voice with both conviction and humility. They don't have to get their way but they are also not going to ignore issues that are part of the equation. In a word, they are wise without being obnoxious.

Church boards need courageous interlopers from time to time who are willing to press in where others will not go. So do staff teams and even groups of friends. It is not easy but sometimes necessary.

Ministry Excellence: More ministry for less money

All indications seem to point to a fundamental economic shift taking place in our country, and indeed globally. This shift may well impact the amount of money that is available for ministry and the days of year over year automatic increases may be coming to an end. This is not necessarily a bad thing in that it forces ministries to think carefully about how they use the resources they have and to look at ways to leverage what may be fewer and more precious dollars.

The foundation of ministry has always been people first and money second, although we all acknowledge that funding is important and necessary. The question is whether there are ways of doing what we do without the kinds of increases we have been used to in the past. While this issue is on the horizon for the ministry world it has been the reality in the business world for some time.

Finding ways to do more with less is known as "lean manufacturing," or "lean management" in the for profit sector. For instance, I know of one firm that was able to drive a very significant amount of overhead from its annual costs, decrease the inventory in its warehouses, speed up delivery of its product and drastically decrease inventory damage all of which went to the bottom line. And this was a very well run company. Yet, by thinking differently and doing some things differently it decreased its staff, integrated its processes and saved very significant dollars which in an upside down economy not only allowed them to survive but to thrive.

I believe that the same kind of thinking would not only benefit ministries but may become a non-negotiable in the new economy that is emerging. In ReachGlobal, for instance, we have been working with a consultant from the lean management sector to help us in a host of ways from more efficient meetings, to better planning and evaluation tools, scalable processes, eliminating duplicate systems, time wasters and breaking down divisional silos that prevent efficient and effective operations and decisions. In fact, we will not hire new support staff until we have rigorously determined that there are not other efficiencies that can be found. We call this effort ministry excellence and it is paying significant dividends. It is all about being the best we can be and using the people and dollars we have to their best advantage.

I sometimes hear people say, "we should not run a ministry like a business." Yes, a ministry is different than a business in its mission and end result but I believe that God would desire us to honor Him in our stewardship of people and resources. Perhaps the right answer is that ministries should be run better than many businesses because unlike the quarterly dividends of many corporations, our stakes are eternal. We all work with limited resources but God is able to provide what we actually need as opposed to what we usually want. It may be that He would entrust more to us as we are prudent and careful with what He so generously provides.

It would seem that the marketplace with its lean manufacturing and management has some things to teach ministries. Ministry excellence is a way to see more ministry with less money through creative and disciplined management of our resources.

Difficult Conversations

None of us look forward to hard conversations. In fact, the very thought of them gives some people heartburn. Because of that, they are easy to put off or ignore altogether which often makes the conversation even more necessary. Here are some ways to successfully negotiate such conversations when they are necessary. The one thing you don't want to do is to go into a difficult conversation unprepared.

Before the conversation, clearly define for yourself the issues that you need to address. This includes being ready for push back, objections or questions like "when have I done that?" or "give me examples of ..." A grocery list of issues never works so be sure you can clearly articulate the two or three issues that you need the other party to hear and understand (if they are able to do either or both).

In addition, know what your bottom line is. Are you going to communicate a concern, give an ultimatum, ask them to consider alternatives, terminate their job, ask them to get help? Whatever your bottom line is, be sure you are able to articulate it clearly and not be moved off of it. 

Ask whether you need to have someone else in the room to hear what you are going to say. If the individual has a history of skewing what is said, is hostile, or does not handle hard conversations well, you want to have someone else present so that there is accountability for what is actually said.

When you meet, lay out your concerns and your bottom line in a clear and objective manner. Never impugn the motives of another (we don't know them) and keep to factual statements. If you need to use notes to stay on track, do so but don't make them available to the one you are talking to. Having communicated your concerns, clearly articulate your bottom line - what you are asking of them and then ask if they have any questions of clarification on what you have shared.

Here comes the tricky part. Unhealthy individuals will seek to shift the blame or issues to others or to you. They are experts at self justification and finding others who are at fault. If you are dealing with an unhealthy person, expect that they will try to shift the conversation to you or others and justify themselves. They may well express anger and play the victim role - they are the ones who have been abused. 

Don't bite by engaging in their attempt to shift the conversation. I remember back to my debating days when in cross examination we were supposed to answer the questions of the other side. Often we would ask them questions back, and if they bit, we could then control the conversation they were supposed to be controlling. Remember, this is your conversation, you called it and you control its agenda. No matter how often they try to shift the conversation keep bringing them back to the concerns and bottom line you shared. Other issues may be worthwhile talking about at another time but this is your conversation and you want to keep it on task.

There is no need to prolong the conversation once you know that the other party has heard your concerns and your bottom line. At this point it is important to have a follow up plan. When do you meet again and what do you want from them when you next meet. Be specific and then close the conversation. It may be awkward but you will have accomplished what you need to accomplish and the other party needs time to think and respond.

If you know you need to have such a conversation but fear is keeping you back, find a trusted colleague who can help you walk through the process.

When should a church change their governance system?

Tomorrow afternoon I do another consult with a church leadership team on significantly modifying their governance system. I have at least one conversation with church leaders every week over the frustration governance systems that are out of sync with the current size and needs of the church. So what are the classic signs that it is time to look at how you do governance? 

1. There is frustration by staff on how long it takes to make ministry decisions or changes. Here is the funny thing. Many  board members do not realize how frustrated their staff are on the decision making process. After all, they check in for a board meeting once or twice a week while staff are chomping at the bit to move things forward. Several weeks ago in a dialogue with a board one of the board members gave me the classic line, "Our system works great." I looked over at the senior pastor and asked, "Do you see it that way?" He shook his head NO!

When decisions cannot be made in a timely fashion by the right people it is time to rethink your leadership/governance system.


2. There is confusion about who is responsible for what. This is a common problem as churches grow. Is this a staff responsibility or board responsibility? Where there is confusion there is also room for conflict and misunderstandings. How often do staff make decisions only to be second guessed by a board member who was not in on the decision? That means that the decision has to be rehashed after the fact because there was not clarity up front on who had the authority to make it.


Confusion over who is responsible for what creates conflict and misunderstanding and it is a sign you need to rethink your governance.


3. You have long interminable board meetings. One board I spoke with recently, told me that they had two board meetings a month that went from seven PM to midnight or after. I would have been stunned except it is all too common. No church board should have to meet for more than two hours twice a month on a regular basis!


Long board meetings are a sure sign of a broken decision making system.


4. Permission must be obtained from multiple groups before a decision can be made. Any time a leadership board has to get permission, funding or assent from another committee or board in the church, you are operating on a redundant system that has toll booths built into the decision making process. It is a waste of time, talent and energy.


Toll booths rather than easy pass is a sign you need to revisit your governance.


5. The board has a hard time making decisions. How many boards revisit the same issues over and over again either because they didn't make a clear decision or because they didn't make any decision. It is no wonder that good leaders often decline to serve on the board. 


Revisiting previously made decisions over and over is a sign of a broken governance system.


6. The board does management rather than providing leadership. How many times do we need to say that staff manage the ministry while boards set the overall parameters of the ministry. Yet most boards spend most of their time dealing with management minutia that someone else could be doing. In doing so, they have abdicated their more important leadership role of ensuring that the church is maximizing its ministry impact.


Management by committee (board) is a sure sign of a dysfunctional governance system.


If any of these six markers characterize your board, pay attention and consider re evaluating your governance and leadership systems.

The Five Why Questions

A simple technique for getting to the bottom of problems is to ask the question "why?" – five times, to drill down to the heart of the matter. I learned this from Toyota motors and their problem solving strategy.

Here is an example. I am meeting with a church board of about fifteen hundred whose board meets twice a month from about seven to midnight – terribly long and inefficient meetings. I ask “why do you do this? I can’t imagine those meetings being very productive.” “Well we have a lot of stuff that we need to do” is the answer.

“Why do you as a board need to do all that stuff?” I ask.  “Are there not staff or volunteers who can do much of it?” “Well, I guess we’re not that good at delegating and think we need to be on top of everything in the church” they answer.

“Why do you need to be on top of everything? Don’t you just need to be on top of the most important things” I ask? “Good question, they answer. We just assumed that we needed to know everything. As I think about it that is kind of impossible in a church our size is it not? I don’t think we do a very good job of differentiating between the small stuff and the big stuff.”

“Why is that?” I ask. “Hmmm,” one of them says. “We don’t really plan our meetings very well. We just have this list of stuff that we need to decide and then the meetings go on and on and on. Our agenda is sort of like a shopping list of stuff we talk about.”

“Why don’t you plan your meetings so that you cover the big rocks first and let the smaller rocks fall to someone else?” I ask. “We never really thought of that,” they answer.  “But we like it.”

By drilling down with five “why?” questions we got to the heart of the issue. This board did not differentiate between key issues they needed to deal with and mundane issues that did not need their attention. And they made faulty assumptions about needing to know everything that went on in the church. Modifying this assumption and paying attention only to the big rocks along with a disciplined meeting structure could reduce their twice monthly meetings from five hours to two. So simple, but they had never taken the time to ask why they did what they did how they did it – in spite of the pain.

The next time you have a problem you would like to solve, try asking the question “Why?” five times, drilling down to the heart of the matter. You may be surprised at what you find.

Want to drill down further? Check out this link.

Signs of a dysfunctional church board

It is an unfortunate truth that many church boards are dysfunctional. That lack of health makes board meetings difficult and leadership problematic. Here are some signs of a dysfunctional board.

Confidential discussions don’t stay in the board room. I recently met with a board over a particularly knotty problem they were dealing with (a personnel issue) and discovered that my comments had been passed on to the very one they were discussing. One of the most sacred rules for a board to operate is that confidential discussions are always kept in the board room. Once someone on your board starts to violate that sacred trust, the whole board is compromised because members will be unwilling to be candid because of the fact that their comments may become public domain. Board work 101 is confidentiality.

Issues are rehashed after they have been decided. When board members bring up issues that the board has already decided – wanting to rehash them – what they are really saying is “I don’t agree with the board’s decision and I am unwilling to agree to the board’s direction.” A key principle of board work is that board members must be willing to accept the decision of the board. If they cannot as a matter of conscience, they should leave the board. Needing to get one’s way (which is what this behavior is about) is destructive to healthy boards. Board members may say whatever they want inside the board room (with the exception of personal attacks or hidden agendas) but once a decision is made, they have the obligation to abide by it and support it publicly and privately.

Board meetings are conducted without a clear agenda. When there is not clarity over the agenda the board wanders and the loudest voices end up determining the discussion of the board – often bringing up matters that have more to do with personal agendas than church leadership issues. The board chair and the senior pastor should be crafting careful agendas around the big rocks of the ministry and then it is the boar chair’s job to ensure that the agenda is followed and rabbit trails are not followed.

Board members don’t police their own. Healthy boards have a board covenant of behavior – the rules by which they operate. They also are willing to deal with board members who violate the meeting commitments. This is not easy but it is necessary because it only takes one board member who violates accepted practices to kill the health of the board as a whole. I am constantly amazed at the behaviors that boards allow because they either have not clarified acceptable behavior or simply lack the courage to call board members on their behavior.

The Board does not have a clear and defined path for decision making. Many boards have a naive assumption that they all need to agree (unanimity) before a decision is made. What this actually does is to allow just one board member to hold the rest of the board hostage when they don’t agree. In other cases, the decision making process is simply “murky” and it is often not clear that a decision has been made that everyone needs to support. After adequate dialogue, boards need to make decisions by a majority vote, that decision needs to be recorded, everyone needs to be clear on the implications and must be willing to support it.

The board cannot make a tough decision that impacts the health of the church. There is often a naive assumption that it is possible to keep everyone in the church happy, to never ruffle the waters and to always assume that individuals in the congregation – even who display problematic behaviors – have the best interests of the church in mind. I have watched boards fail to deal with behaviors that are negatively impacting the church as whole in the name of “grace.” Paul did not counsel Timothy in the Pastoral Epistles to extend grace to everyone, especially those whose behavior caused division in the church! Actually he counseled just the opposite. There are times when boards need to make hard calls that not everyone will like or understand – for the health of the ministry they give leadership to. Not doing so when it is necessary is not grace but cowardice.

Dysfunctional boards create dysfunctional churches so the health of the board and the quality of their work matter – a lot.

Proactive or Reactive Leadership

One of the ongoing frustrations of many church boards is the lack of progress they seem to make in endless meetings. In some cases, the issues they are dealing with are the same issues they dealt with last year – and the year before that. The reason often has to do with getting trapped into reactive leadership – which is not really leadership at all rather than proactive leadership.



While leaders must at times respond to issues, the heart of leadership is intentionally moving an organization or ministry toward a preferred future. This requires a board to deal with issues at hand but to focus on issues in the future. One way to do this is to agree to two board meetings each month, one for dealing with decisions and business and the other for prayer, discussion and thinking about the future – with no business allowed.


But what about those issues that seem to come up time and again? My experience is that many boards are negligent in actually making decisions with the result that issues are never really resolved and come circling back for another and another round of discussion. I recently met with a board facing this dilemma. Using a white board we listed the unresolved issues that seem to keep popping up. I then gave each member three post it notes with a one, two and three and asked them to put their “one” next to the most pressing issue, the “two” next to the second priority and the three next to their third priority.


Very quickly they had prioritized their most important issues. I then suggested that they tackled these one by one and make a decision on each. Clarifying issues with a decision, even if it is not the perfect decision is far better than not making a decision and allowing the wandering to continue.


One of the main responsibilities of a board chair is to ensure that the most important “big rocks” that will help the organization move forward are addressed before the minutia that probably does not belong on the agenda at all. In the final analysis, leaders choose through the agenda items they tackle what is truly important to them and whether they will be proactive in their leadership or merely reactive to issues that arise. The first will move the ministry forward while the second will merely guard the status quo. How is your board doing?

Don't waste your life in meetings

Think about all the meetings you attend in the course of a week – a month – a year. Then consider this fact: It is estimated that half of all meeting time in the United States whether business or ministry is wasted time! Henry Ford once said that the problem with wasted time is that there is no waste left over on the factory floor that can be visibly seen. And time is the one commodity that none of us can get back so if indeed half of all meeting time is waste, I want to reclaim that time for more important things. Many of us have read the book “Death by Meeting” and we instinctively understand the title. That says it all.



Meeting productivity can be seen as a function of three key elements: How we behave in meetings; having a tight agenda with specified outcomes along with a good facilitator; and ensuring that there is timely execution on action items.


Meeting Behaviors
All of us have been guilty at one time or another of “checking out” of meetings. We check out because there is not a tight agenda – wandering meetings are boring – and because we know that there probably will not be timely execution on action items anyway. That is why all three elements need to be addressed together.

Here is a set of meeting behaviors that I observed in a recent organization I visited. It says a lot about how they view meetings:

 We engage in robust dialogue. This means that we can discuss any issue without personal attack or hidden agenda.
 Our meetings start and end on time.
 Team members are responsible to attend as scheduled.
 One person speaks at a time, while others actively listen.
 Everyone actively participates.
 All ideas are encouraged and considered.
 The Meeting COMPASS (TM) has been completed and is followed.
 We leave the room as we found it.
 Action items are clearly defined and completed as assigned.
 Cell phones and pagers are turned off and only used during breaks or when meeting is over.


This organization obviously has raised the bar on how they do meetings!


Meeting format
Notice that one of their commitments is to use Meeting COMPASS which is a way to format meetings for maximum effectiveness. Basically the meeting compass (a proprietary tool) ensures that before a meeting is held, the purpose is clear, the outcomes are specified, the agenda is set and necessary preparation is done. With that kind of a roadmap (anyone can do this), and a facilitator, the meeting is kept on track, the agenda is followed, people are prepared and outcomes are clear.

The facilitator then records all action items and decisions made. Action items include the action, the person responsible and the date the action must be completed. These are put into an excel spread sheet


Execution
This brings me to the third issue – timely execution. The first thing that happens at the next meeting is a review of action items from the previous meeting. Using the excel spread sheet listing those action items, each item gets a color: Red (action was not completed – ouch), yellow (action was not fully completed – hmm) or Green (action was completed – great). It only takes a few meetings for folks to get a Red or Yellow to figure out that you are committed to execution rather than just talk.


We are working to up the level of meeting excellence in our own organization and are learning from others who do it better. How are you doing in your meetings? I for one don’t want to waste time in unproductive meetings.