Transcript Strategies For Effective Meetings

Richard Strand
Olympic College
Fall 2010
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Collaboration
Social connection
Shared commitment
Spread the word
Get buy-in
Gage resistance
Bridge gaps between
silos
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Consumes TIME
Little accomplished
Breeds more meetings
One person dominates
Personal agendas drive
discussion
One-on-ones tend to
dominate conversation
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“If I didn’t have to go to meetings I’d like my
job more.”
“If only I had nickel for every minute I’ve
wasted in meetings _________________.”
According to Patrick Lencioni—Death by
Meeting “For those of us who lead and
manage organizations, meetings are pretty
much all we do.”
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Why are we meeting?
◦ Most meeting occur informally.
◦ Wisdom of crowds.
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Where are we meeting?
◦ Most meetings occur in offices, hallways, by the
cooler.
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What do we expect to accomplish?
◦ And who gets to decide what we expect to
accomplish?
◦ How will we know we’ve succeeded?
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Sin #1—We don’t take meetings seriously—
◦ Signals--arrive late, leave early, spend most of our
◦ time doodling.
◦ Salvation—Adopt the mind-set that meetings are
work, need to be disciplined, focused, hold people
accountable.
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Sin #2—Meetings are TOO long!
◦ Signals—Meetings accomplish half as much in twice
the time.
◦ Salvation—Consider time is money, track the cost of
your meeting—limit to 90 minutes.
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Sin #3—People wander off the topic.
◦ Signals—People spend more time digressing than
discussing.
◦ Salvation—Get serious about agendas, store
distractions in the “parking lot.”
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Sin #4—Nothing happens when meeting is over.
◦ Signals—People don’t convert discussion into
decisions and decisions into ACTION.
◦ Salvation—Convert from “meeting” to “doing.”
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Sin#5—People don’t tell the truth.
◦ Signals—Plenty of conversation, not much candor.
◦ Salvation—Embrace Anonymity.
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Sin #6—Postponing action.
◦ Signals—Insufficient input, desire for better data.
◦ Salvation—Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good
enough, plan ahead, do your homework.
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Sin #7—Meetings NEVER get any better.
◦ Signals—We accept bad meeting behavior, we keep
making the same mistakes.
◦ Salvation—Practice, monitor, be accountable.
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BE . . . . .
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Punctual—Be on time, model the way, reward
timeliness.
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Prepared—BOTH the facilitator and the attendees
need to be prepared, create agenda, follow the
plan.
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Participatory—Monitor interactions, assign duties
(timekeeper, rotate facilitator), etc.
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Positive—Keep conversations positive as ideas
are being shared, opinions shaped.
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BE . . . .
Productive—Have a goal, work to achieve it.
Polite—Turn off phones, limit electronic
distractions, take turns speaking, listen.
Proactive—Review agenda, focus conversation,
assign tasks, track time, reward progress.
Professional—Your conduct is on display for
ALL to judge—it will either serve to encourage
or discourage REAL progress.
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We don’t have time for
that.
Don’t be ridiculous.
We tried that before.
We’ve never done that
before.
It costs too much.
That’s beyond our
responsibility.
That will take too long.
90+% of Communication
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Not our problem.
If it ain’t broke, why
bother . . . .
Let’s form a committee.
That’s years away.
We’re not equipped to do
that.
The rules won’t allow for
that.
But the President (boss)
wants this . . .
IS NON VERBAL
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List the options
Assign point values
Rate options by preference
◦ Anonymous Votes
◦ Discuss most favored choices
◦ What led to lowest scores?
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Tally points and eliminate low scores
Focus conversation on the remaining choices
Take another vote to finalize choice.
The Problem
The Solution
Timeliness
Appoint a timekeeper, stick to agenda
Right people aren’t there
Formal invites, reminders, homework
Conversation wanders
Have an agenda, time discussion, call
for the question
Participants don’t listen,
participate, or talk too much
Establish ground rules, review them
periodically, assess expectations
Participants don’t follow thru
on assignments
Recorder reviews assignments as
meeting closes, document in
minutes/notes, remind those assigned,
request interim progress reports
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Team leader
◦ Manages and coordinates team activity, provides
resources, oversees activities
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Facilitator
◦ Prepares agenda, facilitates discussion, listens
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Recorder
◦ Captures key points, provides working documents
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Timekeeper
◦ Keeps us on track, moves agenda forward
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Team Member
◦ Contributes to meeting discussion, shares burden
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Behaviors to celebrate—
◦ Timeliness, participation, confidentiality, language,
interruptions.
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Shared responsibility for success—
◦ Attendance, wandering discussions, rotation of
roles.
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Framework for progress—
◦ Agendas, minutes, formalities, reaching consensus,
closure, plan to CELEBRATE progress.