Lynn Helmer, MD, MBA, FACP

Some meeting announcements spark as much enthusiasm as a flat tire. But you can break that mold by putting together a productive, interesting session that will boost your reputation as a leader, motivate attendees, and guarantee that you'll come out with results that make a difference.   

Effective meetings don't happen by accident. You'll need to prepare, and use or develop your leadership and people-management skills-the latter often presents the biggest challenge.  

There are certain basic steps you should go through before any sort of meeting. For small, informal meetings, some of the steps can be, in effect, mental notes, but you'll need to go through them all the same if you want a truly productive session.  

 Is a meeting the best forum for accomplishing what you want? Often, you're better off dealing with topics-particularly with large groups-via e-mail. You don't need a meeting when the purpose is simply to report information and no discussion is anticipated or required. You'll earn respect if you develop a reputation for holding meetings only when they're absolutely necessary.  

Call a meeting only if you need input from others; you anticipate that some people will want to give information or opinions that could change the plan; your corporation or hospital mandates it; or, face-to-face communication is needed to make your project successful.   

 This gives people a chance to collect their thoughts and come prepared to talk about key issues. Include any background information that would be useful for the discussion. If you have material that's more than a page long, distribute it before the meeting. People can't review and digest complicated material while a meeting's taking place. Assign a realistic time frame to each agenda item. If the agenda becomes too unwieldy, consider splitting into smaller groups to deal with some elements in advance. 

 If you expect a fight over a tough issue, lay the groundwork before the meeting. Drop by or call your opponents to discuss it; learn their concerns and address them up front, or build time into the agenda to discuss them. If you can settle some hot issues in advance, you can keep the meeting from getting derailed. 

 Make sure the audiovisual equipment, handouts, slides, computer for PowerPoint presentations, and meeting room are ready. Practice with the technology if you aren't used to it. 

 Sure, you can kick off a meeting by announcing, "Okay, let's get started." However, you'll elevate the event if you put some effort into beginning with an icebreaker-an introductory, entertaining, or relevant remark to start things off and set a relaxed tone. 

Once you've gotten things started, the main goal is to keep things going smoothly and do all you can to make sure you accomplish what the meeting was intended to accomplish. Here's how to do that. 

 Some meetings, such as those held by a hospital's medical staff and medical executive committees, are required to follow parliamentary procedure. In these cases, review 

or other parliamentary procedures that are mandated for the meeting.  

Most meetings are informal, but you still need rules. I suggest proposing rules based on standard procedures, and asking for the group's approval. You might offer flexibility in one or two areas, such as the timing of breaks or working through lunch. 

Articles

Running a great meeting

Do your days begin with a sense of panic rather than pleasure? Are you certain you'll disappoint someone-at home, at work, or probably in both places? 

Perhaps you come home exhausted after a long day seeing patients and dealing with office administration, mumble something to your family, glance through a medical journal (skimming articles that you know you won't remember), and gear up for the next day, knowing that it'll be the same. Maybe you spend a good part of your afternoons feeling guilty because you're missing an important soccer game that means a lot to your child or realizing that you're running late and may well miss the first act of the play your spouse got tickets for months ago.   

For many doctors, the work/life balance has shifted out of kilter. Perhaps it was fine at one time, but as your workload, partnership, and family life changed, you wound up with more balls in the air than you can juggle comfortably. There's no single ratio for work/life balance-the optimal for a 60-year-old may differ from that of a 35-year-old with small children. 

 This is the crucial first step to restoring balance. Examine the most important pieces of your life. Consider the categories of family life, professional/intellectual life, financial stability, spiritual/ethical values, social life, and physical/health status. If these groupings don't cover the major elements of your life, create categories that do. Figure out how well you're doing in each of these areas, as well as each one's value to you. If you feel unsatisfied or unsuccessful in a key area, you need to put more time and effort into it. In doing so, you might pretend that you're looking back over your life: What will make you feel that you spent your time in rewarding and worthwhile ways? The answers should serve as a guide as you make daily decisions on how to best use your time. 

 Examine how much your life actually reflects what you internally prioritize. Track your time in 15-to-30-minute increments for a week. You can use time management software, but several sheets of paper will do fine. Divide your activities into fairly specific categories, such as driving, patient care, meals, phone calls, meetings, exercise, and family time. Record the information as you go through the day. Recall is often inaccurate, and if you try to reconstruct your time later, you may get it wrong. 

Once the week is up, analyze the results. Are you spending time on things that matter to you? Stephen R. Covey, author of 

, uses a 2 X 2 matrix of urgency vs importance. Chances are, some of your activities are neither important nor urgent. Cut them out. 

Make meaningful changes, not hollow promises.

 Are you biting off more each day than you can chew? As the saying goes, "You can do anything, but you can't do everything." Narrow your activities down to the few things you really care about.  

Learn to say No to activities that don't enhance your own life or those of the people you love. If you'd feel guilty about refusing to do certain tasks, consider why. Can you delegate or hire someone else to do them? For instance, is it really necessary that 

Communicate your priorities clearly and effectively to colleagues or employers. Recognize that you must make choices and compromises. Since needs change over time, revisit your decisions periodically. If your children are currently your first priority, and your career, while important, is secondary, you might consider deferring membership on hospital committees. You can return to the extra career activities after your family responsibilities have decreased.  

Living a balanced life

Feel anxious or even panicky when you get up to face an audience? Or do you sense that your presentation lacks the pizzazz that would help drive your point home? You're far from alone, and it's no reflection on your self-confidence or professional ability. 

Since patient care is typically one-on-one, most doctors have given talks as often as the Dalai Lama has given keg parties. So, when it's time to present, you may well dread the prospect. But if you avoid public speaking you may miss opportunities to expand your practice, get the funding or concessions you want, or further your career.  

 be learned. A successful talk entails preparing and organizing the material (including visuals aids), and overcoming anxiety when delivering it.  

Divide your talk into a beginning, middle, and end. The beginning grabs attention with a question, anecdote, or challenging statement. The middle builds your argument or provides necessary information; the end should summarize your points, include a call to action, or both.   

One helpful tip: create an outline and list your supporting facts and logic. If you organize your talk into a timeline or logical progression, the speech will flow better and you're less likely to go blank during your delivery.  

Consider using visual aids, such as a PowerPoint presentation. Be sure they support your message, and choose simple, strong graphics that can be instantly understood.  

 Who wouldn't love to captivate an audience like Billy Graham or Anthony Robbins do? Few are so skilled, but more important, you don't have to be that theatrical to make your speech effective.  

You should, however, get rid of filler words that make you sound ill at ease, the most common being "ya know?" or "um." Other top offenders: mannerisms like repeatedly smoothing your hair, shifting your weight back and forth, and tapping your foot. 

To catch bad speaking habits, practice your talk before family or friends. Get their feedback, or even better, videotape yourself-although orating to family members is fairly low-stress and may not trigger your nervous mannerisms. 

Consider a public speaking workshop, where you get instruction, practice, and feedback. Types of workshops vary, from a course at your town's adult school to a $5,000-a-half-day training session taught by Jon Kraushar, whose clients have included Dick Cheney and Rudy Giuliani (

An excellent, reasonably priced source of instruction and feedback is your local chapter of Toastmasters International (

), an organization that helps people improve their public speaking. Members practice skills such as vocal variety, gesturing, persuading, inspiring, and using visual aids. Annual dues are $54, plus a one-time fee of $20 for new members.  

Once you've learned the appropriate skills, practice, practice, practice! Few people can get up and wing it. Read through your talk a couple of times, then condense it into short, bulleted notes on file cards and rehearse with those. You'll grow more comfortable with each run-through, and you may come up with ways to add some flair. Try to let your personality shine through. And when you give the speech, don't race through as if you can't wait to finish it. Pretend you're enjoying yourself, and your audience will feel the same. 

Author | Lynn Helmer, MD, MBA, FACP

Articles

Running a great meeting

Living a balanced life

Conquering podium paralysis