Making Every Meeting Matter

Never go to a meeting without an agenda

Design an agenda for an effective meeting

• seek input from team members-select relevant topics
• list agenda topics as questions the team needs to answer
• is the purpose of the topic to share information, seek input for a decision, or make a decision.
• estimate a realistic amount of time for each topic
• propose a process for addressing each agenda item
• specify how people should prepare
• identify responsibility for leading each topic-first topic is 'review + modify agenda as needed.'
• end the meeting with a plus delta evaluation
  •     what did we do well?
  •     What do we do differently next meeting?

A Meeting has 3 purposes

1.inform and bring people up to speed

2.seek input from people

3.Ask for approval

Schedule shorter meetings-go quicker as people have to prepare:

• set timer for each part of the meeting
• Invite no more than 8 people if u need a decision brainstorm up to 18
• updates/receive info up to 8

Before a meeting, tell your team that silence = agreement

Meeting Prep Checklist

Have you ...

• Identified the specific purpose of the meeting?
• Made sure you need a meeting at all?
• Developed a preliminary agenda?
• Selected the right participants?
• Assigned roles to participants?
• Decided where and when to t hold the meeting and confirmed availability of the space?
• Sent the invitation, notifying participants when and where the meeting will be held?
• Send the preliminary agenda to key participants and other stakeholders?
• Sent any reports or items needing advance preparation to participants?
• Followed up with invitees in person, if appropriate?
• Identified, if appropriate, the decision-making process that will be used in the meeting?
• Identified, arranged for, and tested any required equipment?
• Finalized the agenda and distributed it to all participants?
• Verified that all key participants will attend and know their roles?
• Prepared yourself?

Stuck in a terrible meeting

• be brave,
• play dumb,
• be a helper and take notes

Find a root cause of meeting's lack of focus and sugest a solution.

Today is backwards day. We’ll follow our agenda—backwards. We’ll start with the action steps, move to the discussion, and then on to the reports.

Making Every Meeting Matter

• use the word Jellyfish to identify when the meeting is drifting off-topic
• refocus a meeting after someone interrupts
• polite ways to decline a meeting    
  • What is the value of the meeting?
  • am I the right person to attend?
  • is meeting a priority for me?
  • can I stop the meeting - can I recommend someone else?
  • can I contribute in advance
  • can I attend only part?

How to interject

• have we thought about...
• did anyone mention...
• another option we may want to consider is...
• is it worth revisiting...

Disagre, be blunt. be cagey. be productive. 

Always end the meeting by

• confirm key discussions + next steps
• develop communication
• gather session feedback

Virtual Meetings

• turn on video for visual cues
• cut of status updates
• encourage collaborative problem solving
• give each person time on the agenda
• kill mute
• ban multitasking
• check-in
• assign a Yoda - keeps everyone inline

Book to Read:

Smart leaders, smarter teams - Roger Schwarz