1. The Charter Partners® Guide Effective Meeting Management
“Good meetings are managed events they just don’t happen!”
© Charter Partners USA, Inc.
January 2003

2. Remember . . . Plan More . . . Meet Less !
Introduction
Introduction
This guide has been developed to assist Charter Partners Members in their efforts to hold meetings which are consistent in their level of success, quality and effectiveness. This guide is designed to be continuously enhanced upon as we improve our meeting techniques.
We ask you to use this guide when having a Charter Partners related meeting. The principles detailed in the guide may be applied to any in-person, Webex or telephone conference call meeting. The types of meetings where effective meeting management techniques can be applied include: 1.) Group Membership Meetings 2.) Group Committee Meetings, including Executive, Membership or Loss Control and Claims.
Your thoughts and suggestions about this guide are welcomed. We hope this guide will be of assistance and we look forward to hearing from you.
The Anatomy of an Effective Meeting
Preparing for a meeting consists of three (3) Phases. However, as the diagram on the next page indicates, the major portion of the total hours required to hold an effective meeting is dedicated to Phase I of the Meeting Planning Function. Clearly 40 to 60% of the total time needs to be dedicated to the Planning Function. The time required to hold the actual meeting, Phase II, (assuming it has be well planned), generally requires about 10 to 20% of the total time, with the Post Meeting Work, Phase III, using about 30 to 40% of the total time.
By way of example, the “Rule of Thumb” for a three (3) hour meeting indicates that approximately ten (10) hours of planning and seven (7) hours of Post Meeting Work is required. As you read through this guide, keep in mind what makes for an ineffective meeting. A survey of some 635 executives indicated the following are some of the characteristics of an ineffective meeting:
Drifting off the subject
Lack of, or poor preparation
Lack of listening
Verbosity of Participants
Length
This guide is designed to assist you in staying away from these pitfalls and increasing the effectiveness of your meetings.
Remember Plan More Meet Less !

3. Effective Meeting Management
As the following diagram indicates, the major portion of the time involved in holding a meeting is dedicated to the planning function.
The Anatomy of a Successful Meeting
PHASE I Meeting Planning 40-60%
Purpose of the Meeting
Agenda
Participants
Facility, Location, Room Set-Up
Mind Sync
Compose the Meeting
Realistic Outcomes
PHASE II The Meeting 10-20%
PHASE III Post Meeting 30-40%
State purpose/s of the Meeting
Review Agenda & Solicit Additional Expectations
Review Meeting Rules and Tools
Champion Member Leads the Meeting
Champion Producer – “Sideline Coach”
Meeting Debrief and Ranking
Schedule Next Meeting Date
Publish Summary of Meeting
Follow-Up and Follow-Through
Parking Lot Issues
Begin Planning for Next Meeting
Incorporate Improvements

4. PHASE I The Planning Function
Plan the Meeting
40-60% of the total time is spent here:
Purpose of the Meeting
Agenda
Participants
Facility, Location, Room/s Set-Up
Mind Sync
Compose the Meeting
Realistic Outcomes

5. PHASE I The Planning Function ((cont.))
Purpose of the meeting, i.e.
Share information
Solve problems
Review, discuss, develop ideas
Plan, Establish committee/s, Delegate work
Make decisions
Validate - build support

6. PHASE I The Planning Function (cont.)
Agenda
Obtain input from all Participants
Include timing for each section
Should communicate leader’s expectation/s
Provides process for order and control
Limit total number of tasks
Measure success/failure of meeting
See Sample Agenda below:
Notes:
 Membership Meeting
 (Date)
(Location)
8:30 am Continental Breakfast
9:00 am Meeting Starts
Welcome
Introductions
Read Pre-meeting statement
Rules of the Meeting
 Time Keeper volunteer
Expectations
9:15 am Morning Work Session
(List items) with estimated timings
10:15 am Break
12:00 pm Lunch
1:00 pm Afternoon Work Session
List items with estimated timings
2:15 pm Break
3:30 pm Meeting Summary
Review Expectations/Parking Lot
Rank Meeting
Schedule next meeting
4:00 pm Adjourn
Questions to ask while planning an agenda:
- Why is the meeting being held?
- Who needs to be present?
- What process will be used to accomplish my meeting expectations?
- What action needs to occur as a result of the meeting?
Agendas should be published in advance and state:
- Meeting purpose/s
- Process to be followed

7. PHASE I -The Planning Function (cont.)
Participants
Invite all necessary people to achieve successful outcome
Review and discuss all presentations with presenters prior to meeting
Establish which participant/s will lead which item/s on the agenda
Facility, Location, Room/s set-up (see Attached Diagram)
Meeting location as convenient as possible to all
Room needs to fit the number of participants
Lighting, sound and AV equipment as appropriate
Flip charts (minimum of two)
Charter Partner plaques and meeting tools
Food and beverages

8. PHASE I -The Planning Function (cont.)
Mind Sync
Pre-meeting conversation with all participants
Identify potential issues
Participants need to be informed of all issues
Participants need to be pre-positioned on issues
No surprises!
Compose the meeting
Final agenda
Time frames
Purpose
Review agenda with Champion Leader
agenda to all Participants
Coordinate presenters
Risk Control
Claims
Guests
Post meeting information on Group’s website

9. PHASE I -The Planning Function (cont.)
List Realistic Outcomes
What outcome will have made the meeting a success or failure
Example:
New concept communicated to all Participants
Agreement by Participants on new policy
Modification to By-Laws, discussed and approved

10. Execute the Meeting Plan
PHASE II The Meeting
Execute the Meeting Plan
10-20% of the total time is spent:
State purpose/s of the meeting
Review agenda and solicit additional expectations
Review meeting rules and tools
Champion Member leads the meeting
Champion Producers becomes as “Sideline Coach”
Meeting debrief and ranking
Schedule next meeting date
Enjoy
Participate
Be result oriented
Be positive and listen actively
Acknowledge thoughts or ideas
Be constructive, build on each other’s contributions

11. PHASE II -The Meeting (cont.)
The Champion Producer (Facilitator) starts the meeting with:
State the purpose of the meeting, review agenda and solicit additional expectations
Start the meeting on time/Introduce yourself
Make sure all new Participants are introduced
Validate/review, the agenda/timing and the desired result/s
Approval of last meeting minutes
Clarify roles:
Champion Member/s as Meeting Leader/s
Champion Producer as Facilitator
Confirm all of the Participants expectations
Your effectiveness is judged on how you handle a meeting
Facilitation
Time Management

12. PHASE II -The Meeting (cont.)
Review Meeting Rules and Tools
Trust Towel and Note Pad: Have new Member present
Review “Coin” acknowledgement for good ideas
Obtain volunteer to become Time Keeper-Bell and Clock
Establish “Parking Lot” and Expectation Flip Chart
List expectations
Have Participant read pre-meeting statement
At this point the Champion Producer (Facilitator) turns the meeting over to
the Champion Member

13. PHASE II -The Meeting (cont.)
Champion Member Leads the Meeting
At this point, the meeting is “turned over” to the Members
The meeting is lead by the Champion Member/s
Champion Producer is the Meeting Facilitator of the entire meeting
Champion Producer becomes “Sideline Coach”
Once the meeting is turned over to the Champion Member, the Champion Producer assumes the role of “Sideline Coach”.
Champion Member has been prepared (prior to the meeting) to lead the Members through the agenda to achieve the meeting expectations.
As the Meeting Facilitator, the Champion Producers responsibilities include:
Assuring that the meeting stays on track
“Outside” issues are placed in the parking lot
Time frames are adhered to
All of the Participants are participating
The room environment is appropriate, lights, heat/air conditioning, noise levels etc.
On time breaks and re-starts
Debrief and ranking occurs
Parking lot issues are discussed or placed on next meeting’s agenda
Next meeting scheduled
Signage placement in room
Lobby signage guides attendees to meeting room

14. PHASE II -The Meeting (cont.)
Meeting ends with meeting de-brief and ranking of meetings
Review whether or not meeting met expectations
Rank the meeting on a scale of 1-5 (5 being Excellent)
Determine what might have been done differently that would improve the next meeting
List agenda item/s for next meeting i.e. perhaps “Parking Lot” items
Schedule next meeting date
Have agreement from Participants on next meeting date, including location and time

15. PHASE III Post Meeting Review
Hold Post Meeting Review
30-40% of the time is spent on Post Meeting Activities:
Publish “Summary of Meeting”
Follow-up and follow through
Begin work on Parking Lot issues
Begin planning for next meeting
Incorporate improvements

16. PHASE III Post Meeting Review (cont.)
Publish on Website and a “Summary of Meeting” document to all meeting Participants
Include:
Agreed to decisions
Open Items
Date, location and time of next meeting
Follow-up and follow-through on all items requiring such effort based on the results of the meeting
Work on Parking Lot issues
Incorporate improvement into next meeting process
Begin planning for next meeting including feedback conversation with Participants of the meeting

17. Roles of the Facilitator
Roles of the Meeting Participant
Roles of the Leader
Roles of the Facilitator
“Must have ownership of the meeting”…sets the objective
Sets the tone, is the role model
Encourages creativity
Fosters process to decisions
May sometimes assume the role of Facilitator
Speaks in terms of “We” instead of “I”
Guides the process
Makes it “safe” for everyone to participate
Monitors every aspect of the meeting
Environment
Food and Beverages
Participant participation
Alert for Parking Lot issue
Records group ideas and decisions
Keeps group on track
Roles of the Members
Leadership is shared by the Participant
All Members take a personal responsibility in decision quality and group processes:
Contribute ideas
Adhere to agenda
Follow the rules of the meeting
Members sometimes may assume role of Facilitator