Meeting Effectiveness – Opening and Closing

Mariano Rivera is arguably the best closing pitcher of all time.  He was the Yankees closer for seventeen years, was a thirteen-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion.

Rivera was known for his precise control, smooth pitching motion, and most importantly his cool and calm composure under pressure.  He came into games when the stakes were high and performed exceptionally well under pressure.

 

You may not be up on the mound with a hundred thousand screaming fans watching you but when you are leading high-stakes meetings you need precision control, smooth delivery and most importantly you need to keep your composure and remain calm when the pressure gets high.

Pressures Of Starting And Ending Meetings

Two of the most high-pressure moments in meetings are the beginning and the end.  In the beginning, you are under pressure to get the meeting moving in a forward direction and align people around the purpose and expected outcome.

At the end of a meeting, you are under pressure to make sure you attained the objective of the meeting, that everything is documented, and that everyone is in agreement with key decisions and next steps.  All this while people are watching the clock and mentally checking out of this meeting and into the next one.

Unfortunately, when it comes to closing meetings we sometimes lose our composure and fail to close with a strong finish.  

Preparation? Check! Execution? Check!

Too many meetings and meeting leaders fall prey to a situation that goes something like this:

There you are sitting in a really important meeting and you notice that the end of the meeting time is approaching.

• You are feeling pretty good about this meeting and for good reason.
• You planned the meeting well in advance and made sure that the agenda was crafted to ensure that all-important items were covered.
• You made sure that all attendees were committed to attending and you even sent out read-ahead materials well in advance of the meeting so that everyone could come prepared to make decisions and take action.
• You executed the meeting flawlessly and ensured that discussions stayed on topic and that important meeting content was captured.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Now as the meeting is drawing towards the end you can see people beginning to close their notebooks and check their phones.  You hear a beep on the conference line and then another.  You are losing people and the curtain is beginning to close on this meeting.  Faced with an overwhelming sense of impatience on the part of your attendees you decide to wrap things up quickly.

You thank everyone for participating in a great meeting and you promise to get the notes out right away.  With that parting comment, people push back from the table and you hear a final series of beeps as people sign off the conference bridge.  On the surface, it seems like an appropriate end to a great meeting.

The Realization

With everyone gone you find yourself alone in the conference room. You have the room reserved for another 5 minutes so you decide to quickly review your notes to make sure you have captured everything while the details of the meeting are still fresh in your mind.

You did a pretty good job capturing the meeting notes but you realize there are a few holes.  You forgot to get a commitment on due dates for a couple of action items, but you tell yourself that this is something you can settle with a couple of email exchanges.  As you review the rest of the notes something just doesn’t seem right though.

You are confident that the group made an important decision but you don’t seem to have captured all the important details.  This is not good.  The decision was key to moving ahead on a critical effort and there were a lot of discussions devoted to this topic.

You captured many of the important points that were discussed but you don’t have anything on the specifics of the decision and next steps for implementing the decision. How did this happen?  What should you do?

Closing Meetings Like A Professional

The truth is that this happens far too often when it comes to meetings.  We find ourselves at the end of the meeting and there is considerable time pressure to bring the meeting to a swift close.  This pressure not only comes from meeting attendees but many times from the group of people huddled outside the conference room anxious to get in a couple of minutes early before their meeting starts.

So how can you keep your composure and close your meetings with precision and control?  

There are three keys to closing a meeting like a pro:

1. Allocate time for a meeting recap.  Ten minutes for each hour of meeting time is a good benchmark.  Make sure you keep track of time and transition to the recap.
2. Communicate to everyone at the start of the meeting that you will stop the meeting with 10 minutes left to allow time to recap
3. Start your recap by verifying all action item assignments including responsible parties and due dates.
4. Next, verify all decisions and ask for everyone involved in the decision to publicly acknowledge their agreement with a show of hands or a verbal response.
5. Finally, ask everyone if there were any action items or decisions that you have missed.

Follow these three simple steps in your meetings and you will gain a reputation as a closer that finishes strong.

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