MEETINGS BLOODY MEETINGS
Hints for how to get more out of these daily distractions
Beverly Brown with John Cleese
April 26, 2010
AGENDA
WHAT DO YOU HATE ABOUT MEETINGS?
Poorly organized, not sure why we are here? Do you cover the same ground over and over
again? Exhausting and not productive… There is always someone who is a trouble maker We never start on time or end on time! Why are they needed?
WHY TEAMS (& MEETINGS) MATTER
Improve your promotion prospects!
The leader as leader
Team cohesion
More meetings
+
More temporary teams
=
Need for better meeting skills
TYPES OF MEETINGS
Informational Making decisions Working on a problem Any meeting can have one or more of these
elements in it.
FIVE PRINCIPLES OF GOOD MEETINGS
Plan
Inform
Prepare
Structure and control
Summarise and record
PLAN & INFORM Is the meeting necessary?
Who should be invited? Development Knowledge experts Authority/decision makers
• Do they understand: what will be discussed? why? what the meeting should achieve?
AGENDAS
Sufficient detail
Logical order
Appropriate time slots urgent items
vs
important items
STRUCTURE & CONTROL
Evidence before interpretation
Interpretation before decisions
Keep stages separate
Stop: jumping ahead
unnecessary back-tracking
SUMMARIZE & RECORD
Summarising – the chair’s job
Summarise each topic
Summarising helps keep control
makes minute-taking easy
Recording – not the chair’s job
GENERAL RULES Respect everyone’s time
Start & stop on time Stick to agenda
Three phases of meeting Opening Work Closing
Meeting order Share information first Make decisions (bring food for best results) Solve problems last
No Agenda: NO Attenda Summarize work outside meetings in Action
Items and cover progress until closed
MEETING ROLES
Leader Facilitator Scribe Contributor Expert Gate Keeper Devil’s Advocate Joker Cheerleader Etc.
you
familyschool
employer
community
professionalassociation
OPTIMUM MEETING SIZE DEPENDS ON PURPOSE
Decision making 6-8 from relevant stakeholders Empowered representatives
Brainstorming 18 Maximize diversity
Information sharing 1800 Shortest meetings are in rooms without chairs
BRAINSTORMING State the problem
Find all perceptions of problem Seek to agree on the problem Discuss time & scope of problem
Open floor for all (fixed time) Fixed time (10-15 minutes) Scribe all responses No judging or editing any idea
Clarify & consolidate similar ideas Open floor to discussion Seek to rank the ideas Select winner(s) (multi-voting) Assign working group to explore top options
MEETINGS COME IN ALL SIZES BUT THE SAME RULES APPLY
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION