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How to Be a Meeting Participant

"We spend so much time on the leadership roles we forget about the role of meeting participant.  Team members can increase the effectiveness of their team meetings by:

·        Doing Homework.  Review the agenda, be clear about the items to be discussed, prepare opinions on the agenda items, read the required materials, and complete action items.

·        Being on Time! Enough said except perhaps: Arrive early to talk with your teammates and get focused on this meeting.

·        Participating. Ask questions, seek clarification, offer opinions, share knowledge of the subject, challenge assumptions, actively listen to other points of view, and help resolve conflicts.

·        Taking Notes. Don't wait for and depend on the formal meeting minutes.  Use the agenda as an outline for taking notes.  Take down all decisions and action items, especially your own action items.

·        Helping the Leader or Facilitator.  Think of the meeting as your meeting, a meeting that you want to be successful.  Let's face it.  You don't want to waste your time.  So, help the team stay on the agenda, get others involved by asking questions, look for common ground when differences arise, and summarize key ideas and decisions.

·        Not Being a Problem.  Don't monopolize the discussions, engage in side conversations, be unnecessarily argumentative, attack other members, or do other work during the meeting.

·        Being There.  Stay focused on this meeting and the topic under discussion.  Try not to let your mind stray (Parker, 2002, p. 232-233)."

Reference: Parker, G. (2002).  Team depot: a warehouse of over 585 tools to reassess, rejuvenate, and rehabilitate your team.  San Francisco: Jossey - Bass/ Pfeiffer.

What type of meeting participant are you?

Team Depot is available on loan from the Ohio State University Leadership Center.  To borrow this resource or any other resource please go to the resource search page http://140.254.85.212/winnebago/search/search.asp?lib

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Created: 2008-04-03, Updated: 2009-01-09