Meeting Mechanics

Working as a Team Schedule time Make an agenda Complete an action plan Follow up on the action plan Share tasks

Setting the Stage for Meeting Efficiency Working Agreements Physical Environment and Materials Team Guidelines / Principles Professional Accountability Time is defined. Goal/Purpose of the meeting is established. Team members who need to be there are invited. Ground rules, Group norms are established. Professional accountability – you come to the meeting, stay for the duration of the meeting, follow through on what you say you are going to do, respectful of the group established norms.

Time KeeperPr Student Focus Meeting Time Keeper Guidelines Attendance and Roles: Calendar and Information: Follow Up: New Items: Brainstorming/Idea Generation

Student Focus Meeting Agenda Team: A group of people who all collaborate to achieve a common goal by contributing their individual strengths/expertise and being open-minded to the ideas of others. Student Focus Meeting Agenda Date: Attendance: Roles: Facilitator: Note-Taker: Time Keeper: Calendar: Information: IEP Schedule: Student: PreIEP Date IEP Date Due Date Start on Time and End on time. Members stay the duration of the meeting. Rotate leadership roles – others? Meeting coordinator We do not stop the meeting to update tardy members Ground rules are established and a safe environment has been created to call each other out. Ex: obstacles prior to implementation variables A structured agenda Data drives decision-making Multiple perspectives are considered Everyone is accountable for the outcome – no more blaming the person who came up with the idea, the whole team can celebrate successes. Interventions that are implemented are evidence based. All team members walk away with notes to reference Action plans are evenly distributed.

All ideas are good ideas Role rotate Stick to the topic Be respectful Follow Up Task & Action Plan: Person Responsible Outcome New Action Items Tasks & Action Plan Person Responsible Follow up Meeting Norms: All ideas are good ideas Role rotate Stick to the topic Be respectful Follow through

Individually: Write on a post-it note: 2 Ineffective Meeting Practices 2 Effective Meeting Practices

As a team: Identify common themes: Ineffective Team Meetings Effective Team Meetings

Evaluating Effectiveness of Team Meetings… Are We a Well Functioning Team?

When to use Meeting Mechanics… Weekly Team Meetings Ancillary/Teacher Para-educator Building/Child Study Student Problem Solving IEPs Others? Am I missing anything?

Items you will need… Meeting Mechanics Manual & Sticky Notes Action Plans as a team throughout the next __ days.

Everything you need… Printable everything in the binder

Guiding Principles

Guiding Principles Talk to the board Professional Role Elimination The best idea stays on the table until a better one is developed All ideas are good ideas TAKE OFF YOUR HAT Focus on developing the best idea in the room Talk to the board DON’T explain DON’T defend DON’T convince

ABC – tool that helps us better organize the idea.

6 Steps of Problem Solving…

Magnetic… Posting Guidelines and 6 Steps

This module is typically referred to as Meeting Mechanics This module is typically referred to as Meeting Mechanics. Although it is the meat of the material we will review today, it is only a ¼ of the infrastructure for teaming. Meeting Mechanics is when we follow an effective meeting structure to develop and protect the idea in the room. ABC Paradigm is a tool in which we can better organize the idea. You may be most familiar with this when we talk about behaviors. “A” refers to the antecedent/proactive strategies/variables “B” is the behavior or the identified problem along with specific information that defines the behavior/problem. The Learning Hierarchy – is the idea that we will leave the meeting with the best idea on the table and just because the problem didn’t go away between week 1 and 2 doesn’t mean we can throw out the plan. We will need to continue with the best idea in the room. Team Process – shows how we function as a team to implement the team derived idea.

Explore and Discuss with Team

MEETING MECHANICS: Develop and Protect the Idea Assign Responsibilities Problem Identification Implementation Variables Problem Specification Brainstorm Cluster/ Prioritize

PRACTICE at your table Select Facilitator Problem Identification Problem Specific You have 3 minutes Brainstorm

Perspectives Considered Do we have a problem worth working on? MEETING MECHANICS pt. 2 Problem Identification Assign Responsibilities Open Ended Group Developed Perspectives Considered Gaining Consensus Do we have a problem worth working on? Problem Specification Implementation Variables Brainstorm

Operational Definitions Distinguish Problems from Variables MEETING MECHANICS pt. 3 Problem Identification Assign Responsibilities Generic to Specific Operational Definitions Data Analysis Antecedent Variables Distinguish Problems from Variables Do we have enough information about the problem to try to solve the problem. Yes / No Problem Specification Implementation Variables Brainstorm Cluster/ Prioritize

MEETING MECHANICS pt. 4 Problem Identification Assign Responsibilities Facilitator Time Frame All Ideas of Good Ideas Board Driven Channeling Democratize Co-existence of Ideas Problem Specification Implementation Variables Brainstorm Cluster/ Prioritize

Brainstorming/Idea Generation It’s a team practice. It will not begin perfect. Own your verbal AND nonverbal communication. Model and maintain a safe climate. Do a self-study….Do any my team members know if I disagree or agree with an idea of another? We want everyone at the table despite level of expertise or roles to feel comfortable sharing ideas that come to mind. The reason we leave our roles out of brainstorming is so we can generate ideas that we wouldn’t have otherwise. In brainstorming it is ok for the OT to come up with an idea about the student’s communication system, etc.

Personal Practice Are your thoughts open-minded? Did you already decide what needs to happen? Are you creating ways to build a case? Did you verbally agree or disagree with an idea? Did you non-verbally agree or disagree with an idea? Are there one or more team members that secretly know your opinion by means of your subtle non-verbal communication? Non-verbally agree or disagree with an idea? Head nodding, eye contact/glare, breath, posture... Lots of ways to give information. Not to mention the way your body faces usually determines who you are on board with. Kelly and Amy can get into the psychology of the way your feet face, who your legs are crossed towards…. These are just my observations. This becomes really challenging when you have worked for many years with someone. I have work with a good friend Robin for several years. Even though no one else in the room can tell, I know when she disagreed or agreed with an idea. This is something we had to practice and point out to each other. Because I don’t want to know when she agrees or disagrees during brainstorming. I don’t even have to look at her directly. I can tell by the rate of her breath after an idea, (deep breath in shocked by the idea, in/out she didn’t 100% agree with it, but it was workable, just out sound… I give up. Now if she for a slight moment relaxed her shoulders then she agreed. Sitting on hands.

Prioritize Ideas Through Sequencing MEETING MECHANICS pt. 5 Problem Identification Assign Responsibilities Clarify Ideas Cluster Similar Ideas Idea Dependency Prioritize Ideas Through Sequencing Problem Specification Implementation Variables Brainstorm Cluster/ Prioritize

Overcoming Restraining Variables MEETING MECHANICS pt. 6 Problem Identification Assign Responsibilities Problem Specification Implementation Variables Resources Needed Overcoming Restraining Variables Brainstorm Cluster/ Prioritize

Academic, Behavior, Social MEETING MECHANICS pt. 7 Problem Identification Assign Responsibilities Implementation Variables Team Process Role and Functions Academic, Behavior, Social Problem Specification Brainstorm Cluster/ Prioritize

TEAM PROCESS: Execute the Idea BEHAVIOR Caseload Teacher AND Psychologist SOCIAL Caseload Teacher AND Social Worker ACADEMIC Caseload Teacher AND SLP

Assigning Responsibility From VISION to ACTION Behavior Support for Students with ASD Module Training Guide; AY 2005-06 SECTION 8 Implementation & Evaluation Slide Summary Section 8 Time Estimate: 45 minutes This Slide: Implementation Variables & Assign Responsibility CONTENT slide Key Concepts Discuss variables necessary for putting a behavior plan into place. Give examples from your own experience for each implementation variable area. Highlight the importance of never leaving a meeting without an action plan (assigning responsibilities). Training Activities Have participants come up with other examples Materials Needed Autism Education Center; Grand Valley State University ©2004 All Rights Reserved

Protect the integrity of the team. When a plan is developed and the meeting is over… Eliminate opinion discussions Implement the Action Plan Bring new ideas and data for changes to the next meeting How are “need to know” members who were absent able to catch up on the notes? Follow up the next week on the action plan items. Hold each other accountable. Follow up will determine the effectiveness of the plan.