Measuring the success of a meeting

I am in a lot of meetings. I spend a lot of time in the "common room" of our church. It's an important place.

Staff meetings are held there.
Deacon board meetings are held there.
Lunches are held there.
Ministry leadership meetings are held there.
Spiritual formation classes are held there.

On and on it goes.

I came across a few thoughts on "how to measure the success of a meeting."

There are basically three dimensions (like a triangle):

Results


Process Relationship

All three are important.

All three are to be implemented if a meeting is to be a success.

For some a meeting is a "success" if there were results. Did we come up with some informed decisions? Is there a clear understanding of who is responsible for certain follow-up tasks?

For others a meeting is a "success" if there is a process? Did everyone participate? Was there time taken to facilitate information exchange and decision making?

Lastly, some consider a meeting a "success" if everyone gets along. Has there been openness and honesty? Have we shown respect and courtesy for one another?

Again, all three are important.

Myself, I tend to lean (at least in my perception) on results and relationship. I need "process" people in my ministry life, for they balance out the fact that I am solution oriented. Some people find a problem in every solution. They seek out problems. I tend to want to keep guiding the conversation toward the end-game. What are we trying to achieve?

Here's what I am learning. Process people are needed in the kingdom. I think that as long as we all (whether we are process or results oriented) keep in focus that relationship at the end of the day is the key - we continue to move forward in unity in the body of Christ.

Which one do you tend to lean toward? I want to emphasize that neither of the three are superior to the other two. That's why there is a triangle. They all have equal weight.