Leadership Institute

Making Meetings Work

Learning Format: Classroom

Skill Practice Course (Optional)

Order No. IMEX125

Most people say they hate meetings, but what they really dislike are non-productive, poorly run meetings. Meetings are a great tool for achieving business results when the right people meet with a clear purpose and specific agenda.

This course helps leaders save time and resources by leading meetings that support business needs. Leaders learn how to plan, facilitate, and follow-up on meetings (including virtual meetings) to ensure that there is a payoff for the time invested in meetings.

Do You Face Any of These Issues?

  • Do your leaders know when a meeting is necessary and who should attend?
  • Do your meetings fail to improve productivity?
  • Do your leaders know how to deal with the challenges that cause meetings to get off track?
  • Are your leaders good at planning and facilitating meetings but lacking the skills to follow-up?

Performance Objectives

Helps leaders:

  • Plan, facilitate, and follow-up on meetings to ensure that business results are achieved.
  • Use appropriate intervention techniques to keep meetings on track.
  • Ensure that participants contribute effectively and support the meeting’s outcomes.
  • Create and implement a strategy for effectively leading virtual meetings.

Primary Competency Developed

  • Meeting Leadership

Secondary Competency Developed

  • Building a Successful Team

Course Overview

  • Introduction: Learners watch a video that shows a leader suffering the consequences of failing to prepare for and effectively lead a meeting. They review the components of a successful meeting -- planning, facilitating, and following up. Learners rate recent meetings they have attended and identify the problems in those meetings.
  • Planning: Participants learn the six steps for planning effectively for meetings. They discuss the challenges of planning a virtual meeting and review a list of best practices. Learners use planning tools to plan for an upcoming meeting that they will lead.
  • Facilitating: Learners analyze a positive model and then practice their opening for an upcoming meeting they will lead. Participants are introduced to the Interaction Process for conducting successful meetings and review best practices for facilitating virtual meetings. They discuss how to plan for and prevent challenges that might arise during a meeting. Learners use Intervention Techniques and Key Principles to address challenging meeting situations.
  • Following Up: Teams explore best practices for following up after in-person and virtual meetings. The facilitator introduces tools that leaders can use to follow up on meeting outcomes.
  • Facilitating: Learners analyze a positive model and then practice their opening for an upcoming meeting they will lead. Participants are introduced to the Interaction Process for conducting successful meetings and review best practices for facilitating virtual meetings. They discuss how to plan for and prevent challenges that might arise during a meeting. Learners use Intervention Techniques and Key Principles to address challenging meeting situations.
  • Following Up: Teams explore best practices for following up after in-person and virtual meetings. The facilitator introduces tools that leaders can use to follow up on meeting outcomes.
  • Application and Close: Referring to the meeting problems identified earlier, participant teams apply meeting leadership techniques to solving those problems. Learners identify barriers to applying the skills in the workplace and brainstorm ideas for overcoming them.

Video Segment Summary

  • A meeting leader fails to use appropriate meeting preparation and leadership skills. The meeting is not productive and the participants are frustrated.
  • The meeting leader in the previous setting gets a second chance and uses appropriate meeting preparation and leadership skills and the meeting is productive.

Course Details

  • Target audience: Informal leaders and frontline leaders through mid-level managers.
  • Course length: 3 hours, 30 minutes. Course can be lengthened with optional activities.
  • Facilitator certification: DDI-certified facilitator required.
  • Prerequisites: Essentials of Leadership.
  • Series: Suitable for all environments. A manufacturing version is also available.
  • Group size: 8 to 16 people.
  • Prework: No.

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