In my over thirty years of experience in meetings (both meetings using parliamentary procedure and not using parliamentary procedure, such as meetings in businesses) I have learned many tactics that can make the meeting more effective and efficient! Many of these tactics are explained in greater detail in my book The Guerrilla Guide to Robert’s Rule. This article is a summary of the tactics that can be useful in all of the meetings you attend. This is the third part of a multi-part article. The later parts will be in my next newsletters.

In Part 1 and Part 2 of this series I covered the following subjects:

• Share Ownership of the Meeting
• Purpose of Meeting Clear to All
• No Agenda, No Meeting
• Role of the Meeting Chairman
• The Importance of a Second
• Focus Attention on One Issue at a Time

In this part of the series I will cover:

• Preparing for the Contentious Meeting
• Focused Issue Discussion
• Ownership of the Idea

Whether the subject is contentious or the participants are expected to be, preparation is the key to success. Don’t prepare, don’t succeed; it is that simple!  The first step in the preparation process is to plan your tactics.  Plan in advance what issues need to be brought up and who is best to introduce them.  Equally important is to plan your approach to the issues the other side may bring up. 

Recruit your supporters.  Make sure members who have like minds on your pet issue are planning to attend the meeting.  Remember, almost every decision is made by majority vote, so be sure you have supporters of your issue in attendance when the vote is taken.

In advance of the meeting decide what rules will keep the meeting from being contentious.  Some possible rules that help include the following:

1. Limit the length of time an individual may speak when called upon
2. Limit the length of time the group will spend discussing any particular issue
3. Not calling on someone to speak a second time on an issue until everyone who wants to speak has had a chance to speak a first time
4. Alternating between members speaking for the issue and those speaking against the issue

Deciding these rules in advanced and proposing them to the members at the beginning of the meeting can set a tone of fairness at the very beginning early in the meeting.  All most people ask for in a meeting is an environment of fairness!

The most effective preparation for a contentious meeting is a meeting in advance of the actual meeting.  Invite the key players and sit down and review the agenda.  In reviewing the agenda, go through it with an attempt to vocalize all of the “What ifs” that might occur in the meeting.  Then plan for those what ifs and how best to handle them.  While it is true that you cannot possibly cover every what if, just reviewing some of them in the calm atmosphere of this pre meeting might help you better respond to the unanticipated ones that come up in the actual meeting.

Focused Issue Discussion

Ideas become great ideas through focused discussion!  But when the discussion is distracted, fuzzy, imprecise, and continually wonders off the point, it is difficult to follow, and the chances of the idea developing to greatness is reduced.  Some discipline applied to the discussion can and will keep it productive. 

Make sure that only one person speaks at a time.  Difficult, I know, but not impossible.  Create a since of fairness of discussion and it is more likely to happen.  For example, make sure that people are not allowed to ramble on and on, that they are not allowed to go off subject, that they take turns, and that no one dominates the discussion.  With that kind of environment, you are more likely to keep people listening to the speaker.  Also, encourage people to write down thoughts and then indicate when they want to speak and make sure that they are called on in the order of when they asked to speak. Discourage side conversations. All of these simple things can create an environment where the group listens to the one person who is speaking.

Help make sure that the discussion by the group is leading to a conclusion, not just going in circles.  In meetings conducted by parliamentary procedure, this is facilitated by the requirement that a motion is made before discussion begins.  And then, the discussion can only be on the specific motion that was just made, not the general subject of the motion.   In non parliamentary meetings, using that focus as a guiding principle will help the meeting move to a conclusion.  It is here that the facilitation skills of the leader, or a member who is displaying leadership skills, can help the group move to a conclusion.  Asking questions of the group that will force them to focus on the conclusion can be tremendously helpful.

Remember, having discussion without a purpose is great for social situations, but not for meetings.  Make sure that everyone in the room understands the purpose of the discussion.  And, if you don’t, ask the group to state the purpose.  It will help them and you stay focused.

Ownership of the Idea

In meetings conducted using parliamentary procedure, a motion is made, seconded, restated by the chair, and then discussion begins.  After discussion begins on an issue, the ownership of the issue is transferred from the individual who made the motion to the group.  It is no longer the property of the member who made the motion – they can not take their ball and go home if they do not like what the group is doing with their idea.  They do not get to give permission or withhold permission if the group wants to change it.  Their idea now belongs to the group and the group is the only one who can change it. 

One method that makes it clear that the idea now belongs to the group and the group can make any changes they like is in the hands of the leader of the meeting.  The leader should thank the person for sharing the idea, giving the idea appropriate credit, but then calling upon group members to develop it. Then, facilitate the group through changing the idea until the group is pleased with the outcome and believes that it is now theirs. 

The group’s feelings of ownership of the idea will help make sure it comes to fruition!  The group is much more likely to make it happen if they feel ownership of the idea than if they believe the idea, and thus the responsibility for making it happen, belongs to the originator of the idea or even to the leader of the meeting.

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