8 tips to improve meetings

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Decide if the meeting is needed. Find a moderator to manage the meeting. The moderator prepares the meeting. The moderator starts the meeting. People listen to ideas of each other. The moderator manages decision making. People choose what they want to do. The moderator finishes the meeting.

Tip # 1
Decide if the meeting is needed

Possibility A: Manager has taken a decision A meeting is not needed The manager informs about his/her decision

Possibility B: Manager has not taken a decision

A meeting is needed

We must keep meetings about decisions. The only way to do so is to cancel the informational meetings.

Source: Pittampalli, Al: Read this before our next meeting, location 374.

Inviting peoples input when youve already made up your mind demotivates people.

Source: Jim Collins. http://bigthink.com/series/70/series_item/4981

Using the word money instead of time when scheduling your week, youll be more careful and judicious about whether to spend your time in meetings or not.

Source Mr. Robert Kaplan, Harvard Business School. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204642604577215013504567548.html

Every time someone called a meeting, Will Wright, designer of computer games such as The Sims, charged that person a dollar. Although he collected a lot of dollars, this requirement made people think twice, even though it was only a dollar.

Source https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Governance/Leadership/Why_good_bosses_tune_in_to_their_people_2656

Tip # 2
Find a moderator to manage the meeting
Source: http://fac-vid.squarespace.com/bedre-moeder/Ravn%20-%20Bedre%20mder%20gennem%20facilitering.pdf p. 3.

A manager is intellectually so challenged, that he/she is no longer capable of managing the process.

Source
http://news.nzzexecutive.ch/arbeitsmarkt/uebersicht/tv_sprecher_sind_eigentlich_keine_moderatoren_1.8140678.html

# 1: A manager

# 2: An employee

Moderator possibilities

# 3: An external moderator

2 reasons why an external facilitator is the better choice

Reason # 1 Managers and employees show more respect for an external facilitator. Reason # 2 People take things more seriously when an external facilitator manages the meeting.

Source: Ravn, Ib: Facilitering, p. 27-28.

Moderator skills
Take initiative. Organize, structure, focus on time. Ask questions, involve people. Listen. Restore order when needed. Summarize. Communicate using ICT.
Sources http://www.scribd.com/doc/7102259/How-to-Be-Good-Facilitator http://www.scribd.com/doc/22065544/7-Skill-4-Effective-Facilitation http://www.scribd.com/doc/16915436/08-Facilitation-Skills-SelfAssessment Tan, BCY; Wei, Kwok-Kee; J-E Lee-Partridge: Effects of facilitation and leadership on meeting outcomes in a group support system environment. European Journal of Information Systems (1999) 8, 233246. http://fac-vid.squarespace.com/bedre-moeder/Ravn%20-%20Bedre%20mder%20gennem%20facilitering.pdf p. 12.

Tip # 3
The moderator prepares the meeting

Task A
Define the reason for / purpose of the meeting
Source: http://fac-vid.squarespace.com/bedre-moeder/Ravn%20-%20Bedre%20mder%20gennem%20facilitering.pdf p. 3.

Ask yourself why the meeting session is needed. Defining the reason / purpose of the meeting may be the key to solving the problem.

Source: http://www.iaf-methods.org/node/5106

Task B
Make the agenda

To help people be fully engaged in the meeting, plan the meeting in 10-minute sessions.

Source http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/03/how_to_conduct_a_virtual_meeti.html

If people have a chance to look over the agenda [prior to the meeting], they will be more likely to have something to contribute to the discussion.

Source Simple Facilitation Ideas to Keep Peace at Partner Meetings. Law Office Management & Administration Report; Apr 2004

Task C
Invite competent meeting participants

Step # 1

Find people who have knowledge and will to contribute competently. Invite only the people who are absolutely necessary for resolving the decision that has been presented.

Source Pittampalli, Al: Read this before our next meeting, location 308.

Step # 2 Involve maximum 10 people in the meeting. Step # 3 Focus on results - including involving a person to the meeting who has power to make decisions.

Source http://newsroom.cisco.com/dlls/podcasts/ciscocast_morten_hansen_110909.html http://www.businessinsider.com/this-is-how-larry-page-changed-meetings-at-google-after-taking-over-last-spring-2012-1

How do you decline a meeting you wont add value to?

Hi Keyvon, After reviewing your meeting agenda, I have decided that although this decision affects my team, I have no strong opinion on the matter, nor do I feel uniquely qualified to participate.

Source Pittampalli, Al: Read this before our next meeting, location 612.

Task D
Define meeting time

Start time

Set an untraditional start time, for example 2.27 PM.

Author Josh Kaufman recommends that you should allow meetings only in afternoons thus allowing you to block out mornings for essential work that only you can do. He claims that this significantly improves productivity, and I am inclined to believe him.

Source: http://www.bqf.org.uk/innovation/2011/08/19/taming-the-meetings-monster-2/

Duration Keep meeting as short as possible. Make meeting duration untraditional, for example 23 min. End time Make sure the meeting has an end time. Strong deadlines force parties to resolve the hard decisions necessary for progress.

Source: Pittampalli, Al: Read this before our next meeting, location 294.

Task E
Define meeting place

Task F
Prepare meeting material

Preparation starts with the meeting leader. He/she must create an agenda and a set of background materials.

Source: Pittampalli, Al: Read this before our next meeting, location 294.

Task G
Find meeting time

Example of tool to use

Task H
Call the meeting

Example of tool to use

Task I
Prepare meeting room before the start

Preparations before web meeting

Idea # 1 Place start slide with key information about the meeting. Idea # 2 Greet people as they arrive. Idea # 3 Play relaxing music.

Preparations before face-to-face meeting

Preparations to save time

Research shows that sit-down meetings were 34% longer than stand-up meetings, but they produced no better decisions than stand-up meetings.

Source Allen C. Bluedorn, Daniel B. Turban, and Mary Sue Love: The effects of stand-up and sit-down meeting formats on meeting outcomes.

Preparations to increase interaction

1. Place chairs in a circle. 2. Use as few tables as possible. 3. Use as small tables as possibles.

Source: Ravn, Ib: Facilitering, p. 51.

Preparations to freshen up the room

1. Clean up the room. 2. Get fresh air into the room. 3. Bring flowers and/or plants.

Source: Ravn, Ib: Facilitering, p. 52.

Tip # 4
The moderator starts the meeting

Input A
Greet people as they arrive
Source http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/01/making-meetings-more-expensive.html

Arrive at meetings early, and greet people as they arrive.

Source http://www.managementexchange.com/story/meetings-can-be-tools-turn-problems-innovation-when-participants-participate

Input B
Start the meeting on time
Sources http://fac-vid.squarespace.com/bedre-moeder/Ravn%20-%20Bedre%20mder%20gennem%20facilitering.pdf p. 4. Boomer, Gary L.: Better meetings, better performance. Accounting today, May 10-23, 2010.

Input C
State the purpose of the meeting and present the meeting agenda
Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/management/operations/article207490.html

Input D
Ask each meeting participant to state, during minute, the result he/she wishes meeting participants to achieve during the meeting

Input E
Define values for the meeting

Ask each participant to choose 1 value for how participants should work with each other. The value, which is mentioned most frequently, is the key value of the meeting.

Openness Experimentation Creation Exploration Creativity

Community Helping Collaboration Kindness Social

Individualism Dominance Control Power Competition Security

Safety Tradition Harmony Conformity

Input F
Make a vote regarding mobile devices

Make a vote on whether the meeting should take place with mobile devices turned on or off. The majority decides.

Tip # 5
People listen to ideas of each other

Source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/70513235/Conversation-Exercises

Source: http://www.slideshare.net/frankcalberg/listening-tips

When one or more meeting participants are no longer required in meeting, he/she/they leaves/leave the meeting.

Source: Pittampalli, Al: Read this before our next meeting, location 595.

To keep meetings short, Will Wright, designer of computer games such as The Sims, invited the creative but impatient artist Ocean Quigley, the canary in the coal mine. When Quigley raised his hand to be excused, we knew that the meeting had hit diminishing returns.

Source https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Governance/Leadership/Why_good_bosses_tune_in_to_their_people_2656

Tip # 6
The moderator manages decision making

Possibility A
The moderator summarizes and concludes. Everyone silently agrees
Source: http://fac-vid.squarespace.com/bedre-moeder/Ravn%20-%20Bedre%20mder%20gennem%20facilitering.pdf p. 9.

The facilitator will often summarise what they have heard in order to secure agreement before moving on to the next topic. He/she might say: So what I am hearing is ....... Am I right in thinking that you agreed.........

Source Paul Sloane. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5637276/do_your_meetings_fail_to_deliver_try.html?cat=3

Make meeting outcomes visible to the group, and keep the group moving towards meeting outcomes.

Source Tan, BCY; Wei, Kwok-Kee; J-E Lee-Partridge: Effects of facilitation and leadership on meeting outcomes in a group support system environment. European Journal of Information Systems (1999) 8, 233246

If the facilitator sees the meeting going off-track they will intervene and remind people of the objective and timescale. If there is a serious argument or conflict they might call a break in order to quietly discuss things and get back on-track.

Source Paul Sloane. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/5637276/do_your_meetings_fail_to_deliver_try_pg2.html?cat=3

Possibility B
The moderator makes a vote

How many of you vote for: idea / solution / suggestion # 1:..? idea / solution / suggestion # 2:..? idea / solution / suggestion # 3:..?

Possibility C
The moderator asks 2 people to make a decision

Josephine and Burt, you showed that you have great knowledge and ideas about this topic. I would like the 2 of you to please make a decision. Please be back in 5 minutes with a decision. Thank you.

Possibility D
The moderator asks a manager to decide

George, Id like to hear your opinion as manager: What do you think we should do? Please be concrete.

Tip # 7
People choose what they want to do

End each meeting with action steps.

Source: http://www.innovationmanagement.se/2011/05/09/how-to-make-your-ideas-actually-happen/

Agile methods encourage team members to voluntarily sign up for tasks and share ownership instead of assigning task from the top down.

Source Xu, Peng: Coordination In Large Agile Projects. The Review of Business Information Systems; Fourth Quarter 2009.

Tasks are chosen, not assigned The Web is an opt-in economy. Whether contributing to a blog, working on an open source project, or sharing advice in a forum, people choose to work on the things that interest them. Everyone is an independent contractor, and everyone scratches their own itch.

Source Hamel, Gary: The Facebook Generation vs. the Fortune 500 http://blogs.wsj.com/management/2009/03/24/the-facebook-generation-vs-the-fortune-500/

Recognizing individual team members as intelligent, skilled professional agents, and placing a value on their autonomy is fundamental to all other practices.

Source http://www.propernet.com/extranet/mcgill/CLASS%203/3.1%20-%20AgileProjectManagement.pdf

Have the person, who takes responsibility for doing something, do the following: define the task in his/her own words. write down the task at the meeting. say out loud when he/she will have finished the task.

Source: Ravn, Ib: Facilitering, p. 88-89.

Tip # 8
The moderator finishes the meeting

Initiative A
The moderator asks every meeting participant what he/she has chosen to do.

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/management/operations/article207490.html

In the modern meeting, minutes are not required. All we need to know is the decision and the action plan.

Source: Pittampalli, Al: Read this before our next meeting, location 358.

Initiative B
The moderator asks whether a couple of people would like to say what they found great at the meeting
Source: Ravn, Ib: Facilitering, p. 90.

Name:

How was the meeting?

+

Start What, in particular, did you like? 1. 2. 3.

Thanks very much in advance for your feedback.

Finish

Initiative C
The moderator ends the meeting on time

Source: http://fac-vid.squarespace.com/bedre-moeder/Ravn%20-%20Bedre%20mder%20gennem%20facilitering.pdf p. 10.