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Effective Meetings
THE NEW SCHOOL
First Three Rules of Meetings
1.
“Was this meeting necessary?” Only have
a meeting if there is no other viable
option.
2.
Only talk in a meeting if what you have to
say is relevant to everyone in the
meeting.
3.
Only invite those participants who are
needed (quiet observers, OK)
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Fewest possible. Five is the ideal. With more
than nine, the complexity and ineffectiveness
go up geometrically.
THE NEW SCHOOL
Meeting Types
1.
Information giving
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2.
Supplying information to others or
informing them about product/industry
trends and information, about new
procedures/processes and about policy
decisions and the reasons for these
decisions.
Information gathering
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Collecting information from individuals
who have different perspectives about
or knowledge of an issue or problem.
THE NEW SCHOOL
Meeting Types
3.
Problem Solving
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4.
Analyzing the causes of and potential
solutions to specific problems.
Decision Making
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Determining strategy, courses of action
to take with regard to an important
project, service or task.
THE NEW SCHOOL
Planning Meetings
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Define type of meeting and the purpose of the
meeting.
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Identify agenda items and the person responsible
for each item.
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Estimate amount of time needed for each item.
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Determine participants.
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Arrange logistics.
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Communicate with participants.
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Send out agenda with time frames.
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Length of meeting (ideally an hour or less)
Estimate time for each item.
THE NEW SCHOOL
Planning Meetings
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Rule of Halves
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No item put on the agenda unless is has
been given to the person who owns an
agenda item (topic) one-half of the time
between regular meetings.
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Gives item owners time to begin planning on
assigned items.
THE NEW SCHOOL
Planning Meetings
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Rule of Three-Quarters
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Agenda items should be distributed at the
three-quarters point between meetings.
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E.g. distribute agenda for monthly meeting a
week before, for weekly Monday meetings, on
Thursday.
The agenda should be distributed with any
material required for effective preparation
by participants (including minutes of
previous meetings, if minutes are
involved).
THE NEW SCHOOL
Planning Meetings
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Rule of Thirds
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In the first one-third, handle minutes, make
announcements and get one or two moderately
easy items out of the way to get the
participants in a pattern of successful
accomplishment.
Schedule a moderately difficult item and the
single most difficult and lengthy item in the
middle third of the meeting (in this third of the
meeting attention is typically at its peak).
THE NEW SCHOOL
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If the meeting is to run longer than one-and-ahalf hours, give participants a brief break at the
two-thirds point.
In the final third of the meeting schedule ForDiscussion-Only (FDO) items and schedule the
easiest item as the very last item on the agenda
in order to end on a positive, successful note.
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FDO items help release tensions and provide the
opportunity for the ventilation of feelings and discussion
of political orientations and ramifications. Two
techniques to use during these discussions are the
straw vote (an unofficial testing of the waters) and the
in-principle notion (an agreement on a general
orientation).
THE NEW SCHOOL
Rules About Food
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Allow coffee, but never beer, wine
or booze.
Provide refreshments at break
time (if there is one).
The less food, the more work that
gets done.
Use food as a reward, available
only after, never during a
meeting.
THE NEW SCHOOL
Guidelines For Meeting Leader
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Plan the meeting effectively
(remember the rules of fractions).
Insure agenda and temporal
integrity.
Facilitate, clarify and summarize
discussion.
Remain objective and impartial.
Move the discussion along to
keep on time.
Get closure on items whenever
possible.
THE NEW SCHOOL
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Conducting a meeting
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Start on time.
Hand out and review meeting type, purpose
and agenda.
Introduce participants (if needed).
Set expectations – what you hope to
accomplish.
Assign meeting roles.
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Note taker
Time keeper
Facilitator (if needed)
THE NEW SCHOOL
Guidelines For Meeting Leader
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Stay on track – stick to agenda.
One person talk at a time.
Never discuss anything that relates to just
one person.
Promote positive interactions.
Draw out silent members.
Temper overbearing members’ output.
Never single out one person for criticism.
Discourage idle chitchat, side conversations
or horsing around.
THE NEW SCHOOL
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Consider the Bezos Rule (if
appropriate):
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Leave one chair empty – it’s for the
customer.
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Imagine if a customer where there, what
would he or she be saying, asking for or
objecting to?
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Summarize meeting outcomes.
Specify next steps.
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Who has what assignments, tasks, deliverables and
deadlines.
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End on time.
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Follow up.
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Check with note taker on follow-up items.
Send an e-mail thanking participants for
attending and participating. Summarize next
steps, tasks, assignments, deliverables and
deadlines.
If no follow-up, stuff falls though the
cracks.
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Can’t assume everyone took notes and will
automatically get anything done.
THE NEW SCHOOL