Four Roles to Assign for Better Meetings

Think about this, and tell me whether you agree or disagree:  Meetings with your staff and colleagues can be the most productive time spent during your business day. 

You’d almost have to agree with that.  Face-to-face business meetings are your best opportunity at work to come to agreement, to solve problems, to choose among options and to circulate information.  Without the open forum of business meetings, your company’s communications would be more dependent on less immediate channels and your business decisions would be more unilateral.

At the same time, however, you’re probably also thinking that spending time in meetings is the most unproductive time of your business day.  Some participants can be long-winded, disruptive or argumentative, causing meetings to run longer than they have to.  You know what it’s like.  Spending time in an unproductive meeting when you could be doing something else can be the most frustrating time spent during your business day.

But meetings don’t have to be like this.  With just a little planning and conformity to guidelines, your meetings at work can be run more efficiently and effectively.  Let’s begin discussing how this can be done by looking at roles.

Attendees at your business meetings will play one of four roles.  First, you have the leader.  The leader is usually responsible for calling the meeting in the first place and for setting the objectives.  Logistics, such as booking a room, writing up an agenda and inviting participants over e-mail, are usually delegated by the leader as well.

While the leader sets the meeting objectives, however, the facilitator ensures that they are met.  The facilitator manages how people work together during the meeting.  He or she quickly irons out problems and conflicts that may arise and also ensures that just one participant at a time is recognized to speak.  Mainly, it’s up to the facilitator to move the meeting along and end it on time.

The recorder is responsible for keeping track of the information from the meeting and making it visual.  This is often done on a flip chart or a white board so participants can follow the meeting’s progress.  More often than not, the recorder will also be responsible for sending out minutes after the meeting is through.

Finally, the last role is that of a participant.  Although untitled, participants play an important role.  They generate ideas, analyze information and make decisions.  Participants bring a wide variety of talents, skills and personalities to your meetings, and as a result, can work towards making them more productive.

Business meetings don’t have to be a drag on your day.  As long as everyone knows the role they’re playing and plays it appropriately, your business meetings can be your day’s greatest achievements.