Give Your Meetings Purpose

Tuesdays are a marathon of meetings for me.  My day usually lays out like this:

• 10:30am – 11:00am: Staff Prayer
• 11:00am – 12:00pm: Family Ministry Meeting
• 1:00pm – 3:00pm: Strategic Meeting With Staff Leadership

While they take up the majority of my day each of these meetings are essential.  A few years ago I wouldn’t have said that about all of the meetings I was a part of; however, over time they evolved into effective learning, and growing opportunities.  

Courtesy of tsaucctnt/Creative Commons License

Meetings are a huge part of your ministry.  It allows you to rally the team, connect with parents and brainstorm ideas.  Meetings are a way of communicating an idea to a group of people in a relational manner.  The problem is that meetings can feel like a waste of time.  If you want your volunteers, coworkers, parents or whoever you interact with to appreciate your meetings make sure you:

• Create A Bottom Line: What is the purpose to your meeting?  Is it to check-in, brainstorm an idea or work on a project?  No matter the reason it needs to be clear.  If people walk in not knowing the bottom line to your meeting they may be reluctant to attend.  Your miscommunication leaves room for suspicion, worry and even distrust.  If people go in with a clear purpose, they enter with confidence.

• Build In Limits: Create a framework to your meetings because it will promote focus.  If there is no start time or end time people will grow restless and frustrated.  If you do not provide them with an agenda everything that is presented will seem like a tangent.  Time is valuable to people do not waste it with agenda-less meetings.

• Set Expectations For Participation: Let people know how you want them to participate by setting a few ground rules.  If the purpose of the meeting is to just relay information encourage them to listen.  If it’s to create a roundtable discussion set some ground rules.  Set expectations for participation so that people know how to engage the topic.

• Leave With Action Steps: Even if all you want to do is check-in with people make sure there is some type of action step.  Let the people in your meeting know what you want them to do with the information or experience they’ve just received.  By creating action steps you’ve given your meeting more purpose and value.    

Meetings aren’t always attractive and that’s because they aren’t always done right.  Your meetings need purpose a plan in order to be effective.  Take the time to prepare for your meetings so that the people who are with you feel valued and appreciated.

How do give your meetings purpose?