Having clear goals can make a huge difference in how much you accomplish. Unless they’re carefully managed, meetings can be inefficient uses of time. 

Read Part I of this three-part series featuring Dee Hansen's insights on effective meetings.

Here are some tips for getting your meeting goals lined up for action: 

• Determine what needs to be accomplished in the time allowed.
   
• Carefully design the objectives of the meeting with an eye to previous discussions and accomplishment while keeping the end goal in mind.
   
• Plan backward from the end goal:
  
  o If the meeting is informational, be specific and thorough without effusive wordiness. Place information in bullet form, and allow discussion to include revisions or modification if needed.
  
  o If the meeting requires decision-making, allow enough time for discussion, but don’t allow the conversation to stray from the objectives of the meeting. Don’t waste people’s time with discussions that can be resolved before or after the meeting.
   
• Write or verbalize one or two overall objectives for the meeting. Make the objectives clear to participants so they’ll help keep the meeting on track.
   

Bottom line:  Clear, written goals are easier to understand, discuss, and implement. Invest in preparedness.

MENC member Dee Hansen is chair of graduate studies in music education at The Hartt School, University of Hartford, West Hartford, Connecticut.

Next week:  Effective Meetings, Part 3—Process

--Ella Wilcox, January 12, 2010, © MENC: The National Association for Music Education (www.menc.org)