Leading at Light Speed is a groundbreaking leadership book by Eric Douglas describing the 10 Quantum Leaps which build trust, spark innovation, and create a high-performing organization.

Chapter 3 is about how to Lead Through Others and on page 60 Eric talks about how to manage highly effective meetings.

The key to highly effective meetings is not what you do during the meeting, but what you do before and after the meeting. Here are four of the practices that we teach:

1. Take ownership of the agenda. Be responsible for the outcome of the meeting by clearly identifying the information to be given, the decisions that must be made, and the time required from the team.. Once the focus of the meeting is decided, send out the agenda in advance, as well as any background materials..

2. Stay Focused. During the meeting, remember the following mantra. “Make sure we’re having the conversation we need to have.When people get off topic, the meeting facilitator is responsible for staying on point.. No one will be offended; on the contrary, people will be grateful for your leadership.

Introduce each item by providing the necessary context and linkage to previous decisions. Once the discussion begins, keep everyone focused on the agenda topic. When unconnected topics arise, bring the meeting back to the issues at hand and decide later if it merits another dialogue.. Give everyone a chance to provide input, and keep a tight watch on the clock.

3. Achieve closure. Prior to moving on to the next point, be certain the desired outcome is achieved.. If an action step has been identified, make sure everyone understands. Clarify what the next steps will be and who will be taking them.. Decide on who’s going to communicate the results of the discussion.

4. Maintain a tangible record.. At the conclusion of the meeting, provide a followup memo to remind everyone what was decided.. This memo becomes a fail-safe way to check later to ensure that the necessary actions have occurred. It aids in observing effectiveness. Lastly, it avoids wasting time trying to recollected the events of previous meetings.!

Is your organization implementing the practices of high performing organizations? Find out with this free work survey.