Leading a meeting - print handouts or not?

[dkwolf]

I've been having a year-long debate/disagreement/whatever with the current president of a volunteer charity chapter I'm involved in. There's a lot of back story that I won't get in to for simplicity sake, but what it comes down to is this:

You're in charge of a meeting or presentation. 3-4 days ahead of the event, you email an agenda out to the expected attendees. At the actual event, do you..

1) Expect that all of your attendees printed copies of the agenda and have brought them along with them, or
2) Assume that most attendees did not print copies, and have extras available


He is firmly set that #1 is the "right" way. His justification is people should come prepared, and in his line of work (he is a speech pathologist for the regional education agency....), providing copies is "enabling a dysfunction" (In the email where he stated that, he actually did go as far as to say anyone that comes to a meeting unprepared is dysfunctional.) I make the argument that you cannot have an efficient and effective meeting if everyone there doesn't know what's going on.

Now granted, he's close to retirement, and I've only been in my career 13 years. But my experience, any presenter or meeting organizer that did not provide an agenda for a meeting would be viewed as unprepared and unprofessional. Heck, some of the meetings I go to, they post an agenda prior to registration, mail a hard copy out with the registration confirmation, and hand you one at the door - that way any last minute changes are guaranteed to be on it.

 

[bob1852]

Make a slight change to the agenda and have handouts of the updated agenda.

 

[CGVT]

Make a slight change to the agenda and have handouts of the updated agenda.

Boom!

 

[physics911]

Agendas are a complete waste of time.
Stop killing trees by printing worthless information.
Put it on the website/email blast and let people read it. Then put it on the projector when people arrive. Those who need to will jot it down.

 

[dkwolf]

Agendas are a complete waste of time.
Stop killing trees by printing worthless information.
Put it on the website/email blast and let people read it. Then put it on the projector when people arrive. Those who need to will jot it down.

In this situation, not an option. We have held meetings in campground shelter houses, or on a couple occasions, around the back of a pickup. Assume, for the sake of this argument, any electronic assistance that you would typically find in a professional setting is not available.

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Yes, have some handouts, right or wrong, someone is going to need it. The old guy has a bit of a point, but if you want participation, or for people to learn something, helping them to succeed is the way to go.

 

[Clonefan94]

IMO, it only really works well, if you then take the time to read back to all the attendees, exactly what you sent them, word for word as it reads.

Weather they printed it out or not, weather they read it or not, you sent that to them. Assume they read it and please, don't waste more time by insulting the intelligence of those who took the time to read what you sent them before hand.

 

[BeerChef17]

Personally I'd always have handouts with me and some extra pens or pencils. Better to be prepared than to have people show up un-prepared and just not pay attention or day dream.

 

[mattd2]

In this situation, not an option. We have held meetings in campground shelter houses, or on a couple occasions, around the back of a pickup. Assume, for the sake of this argument, any electronic assistance that you would typically find in a professional setting is not available.

How many people typically show up to each meeting? Are they minuted? How many items are on the agenda, and do they change meeting to meeting or is the bulk of them consitant?
I would personally not print out agendas, but cover it by running through the agenda at the start of the meeting.
But the main point would be to let all attending the meeting now where they stand - if you are not printing copies state that in the meeting invite, and be consistent meeting-to-meeting.

 

[dkwolf]

How many people typically show up to each meeting? Are they minuted? How many items are on the agenda, and do they change meeting to meeting or is the bulk of them consitant?
I would personally not print out agendas, but cover it by running through the agenda at the start of the meeting.
But the main point would be to let all attending the meeting now where they stand - if you are not printing copies state that in the meeting invite, and be consistent meeting-to-meeting.

Usually around 10 at the meeting. The minutes are another issue... the secretary does a good job of taking notes, but he hasn't had a good track record of getting them either emailed out, or brought to the next meeting. As for the agenda, we have one major fundraiser banquet every year. As we move towards that, the agenda changes accordingly -- planning typically starts about 6 months out.

 

[passedpawn]

Donuts.

IMO, KILL them with your presentation skills, after filling them with donuts. French crullers, of course, are the ONLY right answer here.

I'm being serious here, actually. If your presentation doesn't kick them in the gut, the paper copy won't help. But the donuts will.

 

[mongoose33]

Bring extras. Your president is more focused on punishing people for not living up to his standards than he is in accomplishing something at the meeting. And just because he has certain preconceptions doesn't mean everyone else has to meet them.

I've run.....geez, probably hundreds of meetings in my life (former City Council president, and I've chaired numerous other committees, commissions and the like). My goal is to do business at those meetings and anything I can do which facilitates that is desirable. Making people feel bad interferes with that.

Volunteer organizations are a special kind of organization: unlike an organization where people are paid to be there (i.e., they're employees), volunteers can easily leave. Anything you do which makes them less happy to be participating means it's more likely they'll leave--and what volunteer organization can operate without volunteers?

Volunteers give of themselves and their time to further a cause. If your president is so into himself that he wants to berate people for not meeting his standards for volunteering, then you aren't likely to have a volunteer group very much longer.

 

[billl]

The point of sending out an agenda is so that people can come to the meeting prepared to discuss those topics. If it's some that people would need as a reference to actually participate in the meeting, then the document isn't really a simple agenda.

Either way, are you really arguing about 10 sheets of paper? Just print and and get on to the important stuff. Enabling? Sure. It's just part of charity work that you usually have to spoon feed volunteers. It would be nice if everyone was completely plugged in, but the point of the charity isn't to improve the organizational skills of the volunteers, right?

 

[dkwolf]

Either way, are you really arguing about 10 sheets of paper? Just print and and get on to the important stuff. Enabling? Sure. It's just part of charity work that you usually have to spoon feed volunteers. It would be nice if everyone was completely plugged in, but the point of the charity isn't to improve the organizational skills of the volunteers, right?

You and I have the same viewpoint.

And now I'll provide a little more backstory to this particular situation. I served as the president of this chapter for about 8 years, only stepping down 3 years ago because our treasurer was screwing the pooch BADLY (bills unpaid for 6-8 months, mandatory reports to the state overdue by 3 months). So I assumed the treasurer position, and Rich took over as president. Early on, I asked him to please bring copies of his agenda to the meetings (I always had), and his response was "But I'd have to print them at home" -- and my reaction was the same as yours. 10-12 sheets, 11 times a year. It'd take 4 years to burn a ream of paper, and probably an ink cartridge every other year. (I use a laser printer with a 1,200 page toner cartridge). So after 2-3 meetings of half the board sitting in the proverbial dark, I started printing copies of the agenda along with the treasurer's report. Last month, I was going to have to miss the meeting due to a conflict, and asked Rich if I could send him my report to distribute at the meeting, and to also print copies of the agenda, as most of the board used copies I brought with me. That's when I got the "enabling a dysfunction" line from him. (But I truly believe it's really about the money for him - he has turned in a reimbursement request for $5 worth of materials. THAT makes me want to punch him in the teeth - I've devoted over a decade of my life, and who knows how many thousands of dollars of materials, mileage, hotel stays, etc. to the organization... and he insists on being reimbursed for a roll of stamps.)

As it turned out, I ended up being able to make that meeting - and had I not brought copies with me, he would have been the only person in the room with the agenda. But he refuses to accept that his method isn't going to work - our next meeting is Tuesday night, and he emailed out the agenda yesterday with a note "please print a copy yourself if you would like to have one during the meeting".

I think I'll have copies in with my materials, and just see how many people need them.

 

[Homercidal]

The point of the meetings is to get sh** done. It's completely worth the cost of the paper and ink to make sure that happens. You can't assume that everyone attending the meeting can remember to print that out, and you can't assume they even have the means to do so before the meeting.

Hopefully everyone at least glanced at the agenda previously and the meeting can proceed productively. Hopefully at least ONE person is able to take notes, record the meeting, and then copy the minutes to the attendees for their records afterwards.

I usually don't carry my agenda to the Band Booster meetings. I sometimes offer ideas during meetings, but generally I'm there to assist with some specific duty at an event. I don't need to be at every meeting and record everything.

At my homebrew club I try to be more proactive and prepared, since I'm participating in just about every single aspect of the club.

 

[Firewalker11]

Interestingly, nobody mentioned his dysfunction in being radically anal. Here is one of the earmarks of Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder:

1. is preoccupied with details, rules, lists, order, organization, or schedules to the extent that the major point of the activity is lost

 

[bernardsmith]

Bottom line: what is the point of the meeting? A) to show those who are in attendance which people have the time or the micro-organizational skills needed to bring a sheet of paper with them or B) to have everyone who attends contribute most effectively? If the point A) then the current chair is right. If the point of the meetings is B) then he is being incredibly ineffective. At my college I routinely attend dozens of meetings every month and I know of no meeting where handouts and agendas are not available for those attending.

One possible solution is for the organization to agree to buy for the person printing out organizational documents one printer ink cartridge a year.

PS the real cost of projecting material (even if that WAS an option ) is probably magnitudes greater than the cost of using a few sheets of paper. Where does the dead projector bulb end up? How does it get shipped there? Who removes the heavy metals? What does that cost in terms of years of their life and health? How much electricity does it cost to run a projector? How was that electricity generated? How much does it cost to cool the servers that house the data that forms the image on the screen? How much does the projector bulb cost?

 

[iijakii]

Meetings are a waste of time anyways, might as well waste some paper.

 

[Gavin C]

Any handouts I've ever gotten go in the trash as soon as humanly possible.

If giving a presentation and you want folks to have something to later refer, email it to them ahead of time.

Paperless.

And donuts too. (Or breakfast Tacos)

Or both. Now you've got their attention.

Pet peeve: People who read their power point presentations to a group verbatim and include stone age clip art in them for humorous interludes.

I'm sitting at the back on HBT

 

[Mismost]

I use an agenda, with suggestions for most items, that is emailed out ahead of time and printed copies at the meeting. Each item is read, a three minute egg timer is set, discussions last THREE MINUTES. Then vote or table the item and move on. That simple egg timer cuts out a lot BS'ing....no more "back in my day" stories. I have also been know to pass out little yellow BS flags...a crude, but effective way to get people to stay on point.

I have been told I run a brutal meeting. I just think, each member should have already put in some time reading and thinking about the items. IF they did not, their lack of effort does require the other members and myself from spending a hour bringing them up to speed. Once folks get used to the format, they like it. My goal is a fifteen minute meeting...and once the agenda backlog has been cleared up, it is possible to do.

After the 15 minute meeting....you are free to cuss and discuss for as long as you desire! The rest of us have other stuff to do.

 

[PlexVector]

I use an agenda, with suggestions for most items, that is emailed out ahead of time and printed copies at the meeting. Each item is read, a three minute egg timer is set, discussions last THREE MINUTES. Then vote or table the item and move on. That simple egg timer cuts out a lot BS'ing....no more "back in my day" stories. I have also been know to pass out little yellow BS flags...a crude, but effective way to get people to stay on point.

I have been told I run a brutal meeting. I just think, each member should have already put in some time reading and thinking about the items. IF they did not, their lack of effort does require the other members and myself from spending a hour bringing them up to speed. Once folks get used to the format, they like it. My goal is a fifteen minute meeting...and once the agenda backlog has been cleared up, it is possible to do.

After the 15 minute meeting....you are free to cuss and discuss for as long as you desire! The rest of us have other stuff to do.

Sounds a little like Roberts' Rule of Order plus egg timer. I like it! The dude doesn't seem like the charitable type anyway. If you are conducting the meeting then it's your prerogative as to how it should be held to get the job done, so the real question is: does his way get the job done? If not, then he needs to change!

 

[mattd2]

Sounds like he has come from a company that has put in a policy that you must bring your own printouts to meetings if you want them as a cost savings measure. The problem with that is meetings tend to then start late because you have a whole bunch of people waiting at the printer each printing one sheet instead of being in the meeting!
It sounds like the norm is for agendas to be provided and that is the way it should stay, unless the group decides otherwise. Not just changed on a whim of one person.
Only question is - is there value in everyone having a copy of the agenda (do they take notes on it, is it more detailed than just a high level list of topics for discussion)? Maybe you should put on the agenda to discuss if people want a copy of the agenda provided?