Meetings can easily become time drains if follow-up is neglected. On today’s episode of Lessons in Leadership, Dave Anderson, founder of LearnToLead, explains how accountability afterward is the secret to turning discussion into action.
The first phase is preparation, followed by skillfully delivering the meeting. The third phase focuses on ensuring accountability after the meeting concludes.
During every meeting, one participant should be designated as the “recorder of commitments,” or ROC. This individual takes detailed notes, tracking who is responsible for each action item.
After the meeting, leaders should send participants a summary. This message should thank them for their contributions and clearly outline responsibilities and deadlines.
"We've got to drive action with our meetings—not just discuss things or share information. We've got to take our decisions and put some shoe leather on them."
Often, once the meeting ends, participants are immediately pulled into pressing tasks and calls they missed. These distractions can easily make them forget what was discussed. By sending a summary and outlining responsibilities, leaders reinforce accountability and ensure actions are followed through.
To further uphold accountability, managers should check in regularly to confirm team members are on track. These check-ins can be brief one-on-ones or quick touch-base “drive-bys.”
When meetings are managed effectively, teams will begin to view meetings more positively. In addition, leaders are able to make tangible and sustainable progress toward organizational change and goals.
