QUESTION:
I was recently appointed as the chair of the Credentials Committee.  The first meeting took a long time, came off the rails sometimes and was extremely frustrating.  How can I make these meetings better?

ANSWER FROM HORTYSPRINGER ATTORNEY NICHOLAS CALABRESE:
Please don’t despair!  It takes a lot of hard work, so here are some tips that will help you run an efficient meeting, because running an efficient meeting is the key to making it an effective meeting.

Tip #1.  Start on time.  This is one of the most important tips.  If a meeting isn’t started on time, chances are it won’t end on time, and not ending on time has consequences!  Starting on time shows that the chair has expectations for his or her meeting.  If the chair is taking the meeting seriously, the participants will more than likely take it seriously, and not treat it as a weekly, monthly, etc., casual get together.

Also, if a meeting always starts on time, the participants will more than likely be there on time.  No one likes to walk into a meeting late.  But, if the meeting never starts on time, the participants will start thinking “Well, it’s 15 minutes past the start time, so it probably didn’t start, but if it did, I’m not going to be that late.”  Or, being late becomes a joke “I can’t believe you started already – it’s only 15 minutes past the start time!”

Also, being late to a meeting disrupts the meeting.  The participant who is late may not pick up on the discussion, or if the chair summarizes what has already been discussed for the late-comer, the chair may “lose” those who were there on time.

Finally, introduce visitors, or participants who are attending their first meeting and may not know everyone in the room.

Tip #2.  Encourage participation.  The chair should get every attendee involved.  Some attendees may not speak because they may be shy, or feel intimidated, but the chair should draw those attendees in to get multiple points of view.  The chair could use direct questions, such as “Didn’t you face this situation in your practice?  What was your experience?”

Tip #3.  Limit the conversation.  This doesn’t mean that the chair should not hear from everyone who wants to contribute their point of view.  The purpose of a meeting is to get different points of view, then make a decision.  What “limit the conversation” means is that if a couple of people in the room are making the same point, over and over again, that’s unproductive, so the chair should step in and say “Ok, any other points of view that we haven’t discussed yet?”  Also, if a discussion “drifts,” the chair should step in and restate the purpose of the discussion.  This can be hard to do, because chairs don’t want to be seen as dictators, but it is a skill that needs to be developed.  Otherwise, the participants start thinking the meeting is a waste of time, and the downward spiral begins.

Tip #4.  Take an issue off-line.  There are times when a meeting is getting bogged down because no one has the information needed to make a decision.  For example, is the bylaws revision being discussed a Joint Commission Standard?  A Medicare Condition of Participation?  A best practice?  If no one knows for sure, further discussion will not help the committee make a decision, so that issue should be taken off the agenda until the next meeting, to research the issue.

Another reason to take an issue off the agenda is because there are so many conflicting points of view that won’t be able to be resolved at the meeting.  The chair knows that no matter how much more discussion there is, the issue won’t be resolved.  So, the chair should stop the discussion, and maybe appoint a small group to investigate or research the issue, then bring the results back to the committee.

Tip #5.  End on time.  I think this is the most important tip.  If a meeting is to end at 8:30 a.m., end the meeting.  Although some attendees don’t mind going over, the majority will start thinking about work that needs to be done, or another meeting to go to, or an appointment to make.  A meeting that runs on and on and on isn’t efficient and becomes much less effective as time goes on.  The chair must remember that he or she is dealing with attendees who have volunteered their time to participate on this committee and be at this meeting, so respect their time.

Also, not ending on time affects meeting attendance.  If an attendee knows that the meeting always goes over, he or she is less likely to attend the meeting.

It’s just a fact that sometimes agendas are just too full, or there may have been too much discussion on one issue, etc. – that happens.  But, instead of plowing on through with more and more disinterested attendees as each minute ticks by, just end the meeting, and hold those agenda items over for the next meeting.  The exception is if the issue is of critical importance, but that will be few and far between.

Bonus Tips!

Post-meeting tasks.  The meeting attendees should have clear goals and assigned tasks after leaving the meeting.

Order.  How does a chair keep order at a meeting?  By strict adherence to Robert’s Rules of Order?  No!  We recommend that Robert’s Rules be looked to for guidance, but are not binding, and that the chair reserves the power to make all definitive procedural rulings.  Why?  Because if there is a parliamentarian on the committee, he or she can dominate the discussion just because he or she knows Robert’s Rule inside and out.  Also, it’s impractical to expect everyone on the committee to know all of the rules, and we don’t want to put them at a disadvantage during meetings.

That’s it for the tips.  Please remember these tips, because a poorly run meeting that starts late, wanders all over the place, and doesn’t end on time, creates a belief that spreads through the hospital that meetings are a waste of time.

If you have a quick question about this, e‑mail Nick at ncalabrese@hortyspringer.com.