M EETINGS B LOODY M EETINGS Hints for how to get more out of these daily distractions Beverly Brown with John Cleese April 26, 2010
A GENDA Current ExperienceVideoGeneral Rules
W HAT 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?
W HY TEAMS (& M EETINGS ) MATTER Improve your promotion prospects! The leader as leader Team cohesion More meetings + More temporary teams = Need for better meeting skills
T YPES OF M EETINGS Informational Making decisions Working on a problem Any meeting can have one or more of these elements in it.
F IVE PRINCIPLES OF GOOD MEETINGS Plan Inform Prepare Structure and control Summarise and record
P LAN & 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?
A GENDAS Sufficient detail Logical order Appropriate time slots urgent items vs important items
S TRUCTURE & CONTROL Evidence before interpretation Interpretation before decisions Keep stages separate Stop: jumping ahead unnecessary back-tracking
S UMMARIZE & RECORD Summarising – the chair’s job Summarise each topic Summarising helps keep control makes minute-taking easy Recording – not the chair’s job
G ENERAL R ULES 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
M EETING ROLES Leader Facilitator Scribe Contributor Expert Gate Keeper Devil’s Advocate Joker Cheerleader Etc. you family school employer community professional association
O PTIMUM M EETING S IZE D EPENDS 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
B RAINSTORMING 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
M EETINGS COME IN ALL SIZES BUT THE SAME RULES APPLY
T HANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION