Project Meetings that Work

We run Project Post Mortems each year for clients to determine key takeaways and areas of improvement.

A common problem area that is often taken for granted is project meetings. Project Managers hold so many of them, yet they continue to be an area of waste and frustration.

An easy way for a team to lose enthusiasm for your project is to schedule endless and pointless project meetings. Sure, you need to keep track of what’s going on and you want to keep everyone aware of progress, but please don’t drown the project with information overload. Here are some guidelines for keeping project meetings relevant, productive and motivating.

1. Relevance: Call meetings only when necessary and include only those who will benefit from the exchange of information or discussion.
2. Clarity: Draw up an agenda that you have discussed with stakeholders in advance and be sure the meeting has a clear objective.
3. Process: Facilitate the meeting effectively by focusing on the agenda, including all participants and ending with agreed-upon next steps.
4. Next Steps: Follow up with a summary of the meeting sent to all project team members so they are up to speed, understand who will be responsible for what and when, and offer support to those who may need it.