Bad Meeting Blues: The Signs You’re Leading a Bad Meeting

While meetings may not be particularly fun, they are a necessary part of life in any organization. People don’t like meetings largely because most of them are run so badly.

The following are some telltale signs of a bad meeting:

  • They start late. When you start a meeting late, you send the signal that the meeting isn’t important and neither is the time of everyone involved. Plus, no matter the reason, starting late always leaves you looking unprepared.
  • There is no clear agenda. A clear, written agenda is vital to any meeting. With no agenda, no one knows what’s going to be discussed. This raises the level of stress for everyone in the room. No one likes surprises—not in this context, anyway.
  • There is no direction to the discussion. Every meeting is made up of people who are more outspoken and others who are quieter. Unless there is clear direction, meetings can be dominated by the extroverted personalities in the room, while the valuable input of the introverts gets overlooked.
  • They run long. We have all been to meetings that were supposed to end at a certain time but stretched later. This shows a clear disrespect for the time of everyone involved. Every person sitting in that meeting has a busy schedule. With every minute that ticks by it is likely that some of them are becoming later and later for another commitment.
A clear, written agenda is vital to any meeting. Click To Tweet

When meetings are run badly, the leader comes off looking poorly prepared and disrespectful. Participants will assume the leader is disorganized, or at a minimum careless with the time, energy and commitments of others. Whether or not these perceptions are valid, none of them lends itself well to a healthy, effective organization.

Want a solution? Run your meetings Renegade style.

Unless there is clear direction, meetings can be dominated by the extroverted personalities in the room, while the valuable input of the introverts gets overlooked. Click To Tweet

– Nelson Searcy and Richard Jarman

The above excerpt is from pgs. 115-116 of The Renegade Pastor’s Guide to Time Management. 

Time is your most important God-given resource no matter how hard you work, you can’t make a day last longer than twenty-four hours. By mastering a set of proven time-management principles, you can regain control of your life. It is possible to manage your time so that you can stay on top of the never-ending demands of being a pastor, nurture your congregation, spend quality time with your family, and take care of your physical and emotional needs. Become the pastor God has called you to be.

P.S. – Click here to grab your copy from Amazon today!

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

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© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.

Nelson SearcyLeadership, Worship Planning