The
four Ps of good meetings
Meetings can waste time, or save time. They can increase or decrease communication and the
flow of information, build or destroy morale, improve or cut productivity. They can be
used to find simple answers to complex problems, or get lost and spread confusion while
trying to figure out what questions need to be asked.
In short, meetings are what you make of them.
Many managers talk about the Four Ps of good meetings:
- Purpose:
You should know exactly what you want to accomplish by having the meeting. Develop an
agenda that deals with the issues you want to deal with. Then let people know ahead of
time what these issues are. Give them a chance to think about them before the meeting
starts.
- Participants:
Decide in advance exactly who needs to be at the meeting—and who does not. Each
person there should have a reason for being there, and should know exactly what that
reason is before they get there.
- Planning:
Make sure that ever aspect of the meeting is carefully planned in advance. It is helpful
to know who will be there and to be able to anticipate both how they will react to the
purpose of the meeting and to the other participants.
- Process:
Pay particular attention to how people interact at the meeting. It will give you a good
idea of how well they will be able to work together.
Do we really need to hold a meeting?