As part of managing a project one of the most important governing tasks is to plan and chair project meetings.
There are many different types of meetings that a project manager may need to conduct during the lifecycle of a project. Below is a list of some of the meetings:
• Project Team, to keep track of the current status of the project
• Steering Committee, to update senior management on the progress of the project and escalate any issues if needed
• Stakeholder Briefing, to update the stakeholders on the project and the areas of interest to them
How to manage a good meeting?
We have all been in meetings where we have come out asking ourselves what was that about???
In order to ensure meetings are effective and people will continue to attend your project meetings, below are some helpful tips for planning and running the meeting.
Tips for Effective Meetings
• Get the meeting into people’s diaries as soon as possible
• Ensure you have the right people
• If the meeting is a recurring meeting, setup the recurring meeting at the start of the project
• Send out the agenda with items to discuss and time allocated to each item
• Ensure you are prepared for the meeting
• Start on time, finish on time
• Stick to the agenda items, do not let the meeting digress from the agenda
• If there are documents to be reviewed beforehand send out in time
• If attendees are from different regions, alternate the timings of the meetings from week to week
• Take appropriate notes and send out minutes \ decisions
• Ensure to follow up on actions
It’s also important to remember that meetings are not and should not be the only way of communications.
Whilst formal meetings are important as a project manager it is often the informal conversations that really give you the real status and issues of your project. So have a coffee with a team member, stop by their desk for a chat and also sit with the team as you often get more information from listening to the conversations going on amongst the team members.
What can Olas do to help?
We at Olas have dedicated project managers with many years of experience on project and programme management across many different industries and sectors.
Why not give us a call on 01 279 0020 to discuss your needs and where we can help.