Impact of meeting procedures on meeting effectiveness

This study examined the relationships between meeting procedures and perceived meeting effectiveness. Sixty-seven subjects from a variety of organizations completed a questionnaire containing 20 meeting procedure items. Meeting effectiveness was measured by two items, goal attainment and decision satisfaction. Factor analysis of meeting procedure items revealed four major factors: open communication, task focus, systematic approach, and timeliness. Several meeting procedures were related to effectiveness. Results suggest that the following may be important processes leading to effective meetings: open communication, focus on tasks, thorough exploration of options, analysis of decision consequences, action planning, temporal integrity, agenda integrity, and leader impartiality.Portions of this paper were presented at the 1990 Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Psychological Association, Atlanta GA. Ms. Nixon is now at Vanderbilt University Center for Mental Health Policy Research.