PMO | The Project Meeting Guidline

Project meetings form the core of the project communication strategy and should be one of the first elements to consider when establishing PMO governance. The PMO meeting framework should outline who to invite, what topics to discuss when to hold the meetings, and how to conduct the sessions. Below, we provide basic guidelines for these meetings.

No Meeting Rule
Rule number one is the no-meeting rule: Avoid meetings without concrete reasons. Every project meeting should be scheduled for a specific purpose, such as driving project execution, building consensus, or solving problems. One key reason for this rule is to give the project team greater control over their time, allowing them to remain focused and productive. Another important consideration is the high cost associated with meetings. 

For example, if you invite ten people to a one-hour meeting, the cost amounts to ten person-hours. If the average hourly wage of your team is $70, that single session costs $700. We've seen meetings with over 20 invitees, leading to a cost of $1,400. There must be a reasonable justification for the return on investment (ROI) in such cases.

Fitting Meetings into the PMO Meeting Structure
Create a PMO meeting structure and use it to plan meetings. The PMO meeting structure defines what meeting should be scheduled, and a project meeting naming convention ensures consistency across all PMO project execution.

Inviting the Right People. 
Minimize the invitation list to only the core team. This suggestion advises project managers to monitor meeting attendance closely. For instance, if attendees change roles, stop attending meetings, or consistently decline invitations, the project manager should inquire whether they should be removed from the meeting invitation list. An alternative is to add these stakeholders to a mailing list to keep them informed about meeting minutes. In summary, we aim to keep the list of meeting invitees short.

Implementing Effect Meeting Practices. 
There are many meeting productivity tips. Project managers need to follow the PMO procedure and enforce best practices when booking, canceling, facilitating
meetings, and creating meeting minutes. Now, project managers also need to learn how to host virtual meetings. 

Questions to Ask When Planning Project Meetings

• Do I have to schedule this meeting? Can I achieve the same goal via email, instant messaging discussion, or collaboration document? 
• How does this meeting fit into the PMO project meeting structure? 
• Do I have the right people in my meeting? Do I miss anyone, or is my meeting room overcrowded? 
• What are the productivity practices to use? 
• What do I need to do so people will not hate my meetings? 
  
  

In summary, ensuring that all project meetings are productive is a top priority. Productivity involves achieving objectives in the least amount of time, providing timely updates to stakeholders, and clearly defining next steps.