Effective Meeting Practices November, 2012 Facilitated/Presented by: The Illinois RtI Network is a State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) project of the Illinois State Board of Education. All funding (100%) is from federal sources. The contents of this presentation were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, #H325A However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. (OSEP Project Officer: Grace Zamora Durán) I-RtI Network Insert name(s) here

Outcomes Participants will list at least 3 examples of effective meeting practices for each broad area: predictability, participation, accountability, and communication. Participants will identify 1 to 3 things they can do to improve the effectiveness of meetings they attend or facilitate.

90,000 public schools in the United States Each school has 1+ teams to address challenges and build solutions Each team meets at least monthly On average there are 5 people on each team 810,000 hours of meetings 4,050,000 hours of personal time annually From PBIS TIPS-2 Training with Anne Todd and Dale Cusumano, October 19, 2012

Are you Lonely? Work On Your Own? Hate Making Decisions? HOLD A MEETING You Can  SEE people  DRAW flowcharts  FEEL important  IMPRESS colleagues  EAT donuts ALL on Company TIME !!!! MEETINGS The practical alternative to work

What Makes an Effective Meeting? Predictability Accountability Participation Communication

Predictability

How do we make meetings predictable? Agenda Norms Assigned roles and responsibilities

Ideas for Agenda Include purpose of meeting (why does this group meet?) Include norms Include time limits—beginning and ending time

Ideas for Agenda cont. Provide opportunities for input to agenda Post agenda at least one day before meeting Label items as informational, discussion, and/or action Provide time for announcements

Ideas for Norms—Explicit Expectations Be fully present. Evaluate systems, not people. Take care of yourself. Take care of each other. Say it during the meeting. Reveal your interests and work toward a common goal.

Define Roles for Effective Meetings Core roles – Facilitator – Minute taker – Data analyst – Active team member – Administrator Backup for each role Typically NOT the administrator 11 Newton, J. S., Todd, A. W., Algozzine, K., Horner, R. H., & Algozzine, B. (2009). The Team Initiated Problem Solving (TIPS) Training Manual. Educational and Community Supports, University of Oregon, unpublished training manual.

Who is Responsible? ActionPerson Responsible Reserve Room Recruit items for Agenda Review data prior to the meeting Reserve projector and computer for meeting Keep discussion focused Record Topics and Decisions on agenda/minutes Ensure that problems are defined with precision Ensure that solutions have action plans Provide “drill down” data during discussion End on time Prepare minutes and send to all members Facilitator Data Analyst Minute Taker Facilitator Minute Taker Facilitator Data Analyst Facilitator Minute Taker

Participation

How Can We Improve Meeting Participation? Ensure decision-makers are present when needed Utilize productive dialogue techniques Utilize collaborative decision-making techniques

Productive Dialogue Techniques Round robin Top 3 ideas Pair and share Open-ended questions Summarize ideas

Collaborative Decision-Making Techniques Be clear about how decisions will be made – Authoritarian – Consultative – Consensus – Democratic Choose decision-making method carefully Honor dissenting opinions

Accountability

How Do We Improve Accountability in Meetings? Accountability tied to roles-role of a meeting observer Meeting documentation tools Staying focused on student outcomes Remembering various constituencies

TIPS Meeting Minutes and Problem-Solving Action Plan Form Today’s Meeting: Date, time, location: Facilitator: Minute Taker:Data Analyst: Next Meeting: Date, time, location: Facilitator: Minute Taker:Data Analyst: Team Members (bold are present today________________________________________________________________ Information for Team, or Issue for Team to Address Discussion/Decision/Task (if applicable)Who?By When? Administrative/General Information and Issues Implementation and Evaluation Precise Problem Statement, based on review of data (What, When, Where, Who, Why) Solution Actions (e.g., Prevent, Teach, Prompt, Reward, Correction, Extinction, Safety) Who?By When? Goal, Timeline, Decision Rule, & Updates Problem-Solving Action Plan Agenda for NEXT Meeting Implementation and Evaluation Precise Problem Statement, based on review of data (What, When, Where, Who, Why) Solution Actions (Prevent, Teach, Prompt, Reward, Correction, Extinction, Adaptations, Safety) Who?By When?Goal with Timeline Fidelity of Imp measure Effective ness of Solution/ Plan Not started Partially Imp Imp Fidelity Done Goal Met Better Same Worse Agenda for Today: Previously Defined Problems/Solutions (Update)

What needs to be documented? Meeting demographics Date, time, who is present, who is absent Agenda Next meeting date/time/location/roles Administrative/General information/Planning items – Topic of discussion, decisions made, who will do what, by when Problem-Solving items Problem statement, data used for problem solving, determined solutions, who will do what by when, goal, how/how often will progress toward goal be measured, how/how often will fidelity of implementation be measured 20 Newton, J. S., Todd, A. W., Algozzine, K., Horner, R. H., & Algozzine, B. (2009). The Team Initiated Problem Solving (TIPS) Training Manual. Educational and Community Supports, University of Oregon, unpublished training manual.

Communication

Ideas to Improve Communication Before, during, and after meetings Norms Body language Meeting minutes and other tools for documentation

Review Outcomes Participants will list at least 3 examples of effective meeting practices for each broad area: predictability, participation, accountability, and communication. Participants will identify 1 to 3 things they can do to improve the effectiveness of meetings they attend or facilitate.