How Can a Meeting Be Evaluated?
Evaluating meetings is a complex process. Evaluating your meetings can help you learn whether you have met your goals, but only if you decide up front what you want to evaluate and how you will go about doing so. In general, the purpose of conducting an evaluation is "to answer practical questions of decision-makers and program implementors who want to know whether to continue a program, extend it to other sites, modify it, or close it down."1 In this case, substitute "meeting" for program.
If your group intends to hold meetings on a regular basis, you will want to evaluate the effectiveness of the first few meetings. Consider whether the group accomplished its work, whether everyone understood the followup actions and the impact of decisions, whether all the participants felt that they had an opportunity to be heard, and whether disagreements were settled reasonably well. Once you've gained experience conducting meetings with your particular group, you will find that you can make many of these assessments automatically. Until then, this checklist may be helpful:
Take attendance. At the beginning of every meeting, make note of who is there, who came in late, and who said they would be there but didn't show up. This can be done formally, as a teacher records attendance in a notebook, or informally by passing around a sign-in sheet. Assess your records after a few meetings to see who comes regularly and who is always late. These observations can tell you who is committed to your group and its mission and whether the meeting time or location is inconvenient for some participants.
Did the meeting start and end on time? If not, why? Did the group have too much business scheduled? Were discussions unfocused? What needs to happen at the next meeting to enable you to begin and end as promised?
Was there an agenda that was understandable to all? Did people have the opportunity to add to the agenda? Was the agenda followed? If not, was the agenda too ambitious, or was there some other reason? If so, what helped you stay on track and reach decisions?
Were the logistics appropriate and helpful? Think about room temperature, physical setup, refreshments, and the site's accessibility to members.
Did the discussion leading to a decision provide enough time for pros and cons to be aired? Were issues thoughtfully reviewed or was the decision rushed? Was too much time spent talking about issues rather than making decisions?
What decisions were made at the meeting and whose work or interests do they affect? Do these people know about and understand the implications and any new commitments or responsibilities they have as a result?
Pay attention to the responsiveness of the participants. Did any one person dominate the discussion? Were there people who should have spoken but did not?
Was the chair or president's facilitation of the meeting smooth and constructive? Do members feel that everyone understood what was happening and what had happened? Do members believe they had reasonable opportunities to state their views? Do they feel that everyone was treated fairly?
What was the best thing about the meeting? What was the worst thing? What should be repeated and what should be improved?
Each of these questions can help you spot problems and may suggest corrective action. The checklist can also identify strengths of your meetings, which you can build on in future meetings.
In addition to these techniques, evaluation may include thoughtful discussions with individual group members about your leadership style in meetings and how you can improve it. This can be a sensitive subject and one that may be hard on your ego. Consider carefully whether you are comfortable inviting and receiving direct criticism. If you are, honest and constructive criticism may help you improve your skills.
Learning to evaluate the things you do is a good skill, one you can apply to all aspects of your life. Good luck with your meeting and-Make it a good one!