How can you ensure meeting participants are accountable?

Often, people misunderstand "relevant" attendees. Inviting only those directly impacted by the meeting's purpose, not just related, avoids wasting time and keeps discussions focused. Prioritizing the right participants ensures efficiency, quicker decisions, and respects everyone's time.

Before any meeting, you should make a list of what you will talk about. Everyone should see this list before the meeting. The list should also say who will talk about each topic and what they need from others. This helps everyone get ready.

Ensuring meeting participants remain accountable starts with setting clear expectations and objectives. Assigning action items with deadlines, actively seeking input from each attendee, and conducting regular follow-ups can bolster accountability. Additionally, concise minutes and shared responsibility for outcomes empower participants to take ownership of their roles. Meetings become truly productive when everyone feels accountable for the results. Set up meeting principles to follow as a team.

At the meeting start, talk about the rules everyone should follow. These might include listening to others, not getting off-topic, and making sure the meeting doesn't go too long. Everyone should agree on these rules. With clear rules, everyone knows how to act, which helps the meeting go well.

In the meeting, there should be one person (like a leader) making sure everything goes smoothly. This person asks questions, sums up what people say, and makes sure the rules are followed. They should also thank people for their ideas. This person's job is to make the meeting useful and make sure everyone does their part.

All of my experience in leading teams has been with remote teams. I've learned that giving people responsibilities before, during, and after the meeting mitigates their passivity. An example of a pre-meeting responsibility is setting the meeting agenda. An example of a during-the-meeting responsibility is meeting moderation and minute-taking. Another example is randomly calling people to give feedback on the previous week's work. An after-meeting responsibility is submitting the minutes.

When the meeting ends, go over what was decided and what everyone should do next. Write this down in notes or an email and send it to everyone. This helps everyone remember their tasks.

There is a critical assessment of your team members and your relationship with them that as a leader you need to undertake. Some teams, or team members, may need instruction on a task by task basis, others coaching by collaborating on expectations or may be at the stage of being delegated responsibility for outcomes. This defines how you might follow up with members over the designated implementation time frame. Skills and capacities vary across a team and an important ability of a leader is the ability to recognise that and adjust interactions to suit. The aim is to provide the level of support and trust that allows team members to succeed and develop.

After the meeting, check with everyone to see if they did their tasks. You can call or email them. This helps people stay on track. Also, think about how the meeting went and what could be better next time.

Ever been in a meeting with 10 people, but only 3 or 4 are doing all the talking? Makes you wonder if we really need all those folks, right? The real magic happens when you have just the right people who actively contribute. Quality over quantity is the name of the game in effective meetings