Avoiding Death by Meeting Joe McVeigh TESOL—New York April 5, 2008

AVOIDING DEATH BY MEETING Opening Activity Find someone to talk to and answer these questions: Why are you here? What do you want to learn? Are you usually a leader or participant in meetings? What seem to be the major obstacles to successful meetings for you? Have you tried any new techniques to make meetings go better? What has worked for you in conducting meetings?

Overview Is this a discussion group or a demonstration? What are the big questions for you? Need to vent ? Discussion A few tips Small group discussion

The problems) with meetings Lack of focus Domination by a few speakers Tangential ideas and topics Decision points Unfinished business Making hard choices and prioritizing Dealing with conflict (or lack of conflict) Structural issues – purpose Brainstorming ideas Dealing with multiple roles

You can download these PowerPoint slides so you don’t need to take copious notes unless you really want to!

Lack of focus The meeting wanders from topic to topic without really getting anything done. Frame the meeting in terms of outcomes. Assign a sheepherder. Make a clear agenda and stick to it. Have a process observer and check in from time to time.

The chatterbox What to do with that one person who dominates the discussion and just doesn’t seem to know when to shut up. Frame the meeting in terms of outcomes. Assign a sheep herder. Ask for limited responses Invoke the introvert’s bill of rights Have a process observer and check in from time to time. Conduct a turn-taking observation study

Going off topic What to do with interesting or potential ideas that aren’t central to the discussion at had. Create a “parking lot” and assign someone to maintain it. Be sure to plan in the agenda time to revisit the parking lot at the end of the meeting. Follow up and be sure to schedule time to address the issues in the future.

What did we decide ? At the end of the meeting or at another meeting in the future, you aren’t sure if you decided anything. You talk and talk about an issues, but need to move on because of time constraints. Have one person responsible for checking in at the end of each topic: “So, what did we decide? Are we all in agreement? Record what you decided and circulate it.

Who gets to decide ? People voice support for an idea, but later find that their advice was not taken. A group makes a decision that is changed by someone with more authority. Be clear on who gets to decide: –Supervisor/director decides –Director decides with input from the group –The group lists options –The group decides

Making sure things get done Decisions are made, but then nothing happens After each decision create “Action items” –What was decided? –What needs to be done? –Who will do it? –By what date? Minutes-taker records Individual records Follow up at next meeting

Making difficult decisions We talk and talk but have a hard time actually deciding things. Simplify by breaking the decision into pieces. Let people vote by prioritizing with sticky dots. Evaluate based on potential impact vs. amount of required resources.

Conflict We shy away from conflict because as ESL teachers we prefer harmony, but therefore we avoid surfacing differences and sometimes having our voices heard. View conflict as an ally. Facilitate different points of view in ways that don’t involve confrontation. Realize that conflict can help alleviate boredom and add interest.

Structural problems We meet once a week and try to do everything in that one meeting. Don’t schedule meetings unless you need to. Use different meetings for different purposes. –Daily check in (5 min) –Weekly update (1 hr) –Planning (quarterly 1-2 days)

Brainstorming We never seem to get beyond the ideas we already had. Use affinity charting with sticky notes Circulate 3x5 cards and have people add in comments Push people beyond their comfort level.

Multiple roles One person is trying to do everything: –direct the program –run the meeting –take the minutes –be sure everything gets done Have separate and distinct roles, some of which rotate: –Facilitator –Minutes recorder –Flip chart scribe –Process observer

Questions and discussion

Thanks for coming. Please help clear the room for the next presentation. Give me a minute to get my stuff out of the way and I’ll be happy to talk with you out in the hall. Remember you can download the PowerPoint slides at