Facebook you hold your next meeting4/15/2023 ![]() What does your group need to be able to dig into the conversation at hand? Is it a pre-read? Relevant data? A field trip? Whatever you choose will set the tone and focus. But rather than just having an agenda, the Axelrods advise thinking of meetings as a “canoe” with various segments, which come together to form a sturdy vessel (with points at either end representing the beginning and the closing).įirst, consider the inputs. Generally, you want to focus most of the time on the conversation you identified in #3 above. How might we create the conditions for that conversation? Now comes the fun part, where you think through the actual flow of the meeting. ![]() Do you need to reconcile different perspectives on your strategy? More fully consider a new risk the management team has been ignoring? Generate more creative ideas for the new product launch? Envision the conversation that will best advance the meeting’s purpose, then design the meeting to enable that conversation.Ĥ. This is why Rick Lent advises describing the “work” your group needs to do together to achieve its goal. What conversation needs to happen? Fulfilling your meeting’s purpose will require effort from all participants otherwise, you would not need a meeting. I like to pose questions in chat for people to respond to as they arrive, such as, “Given our focus on branding today, which company do you most admire for its customer focus?” Ideally, your warm-up will both have a social element and relate to the meeting topic.ģ. For example, most people need some sort of a “meeting warm-up” to settle in, especially in a virtual setting where it can be difficult to feel connected. As Dick and Emily Axelrod outline in their 2014 book, Let’s Stop Meeting Like This, how people engage depends on how welcome and comfortable they feel. Then consider the tone that will help these individuals contribute their best work. Who needs to be here? As a general rule, invite those who have something to contribute to the purpose, have a key role in decisions, or will be affected by the outcome. Once you have clarified the purpose for yourself, put it into the meeting invitation so people are more prepared to focus when they arrive.Ģ. Then ask yourself, does this need to be real-time? Although live conversations are great for quick back-and-forth and high-intensity conversations, asynchronous chats via Slack, Microsoft Teams, or other tools can allow for more relaxed, ad hoc gathering of ideas or feedback, with automatic documentation. Think about the opportunity or need that led you to connect this particular group: It might be developing a plan, solving a problem, evaluating a risk, deepening relationships, or some combination of the above. Why are we gathering? Designing the right structure depends on your purpose - whether it is a one-time event or a recurring meeting. ![]() To get started, consider these four questions.ġ. ![]() The key is to step back and think like the “architect” of your meeting, to use the term preferred by my colleague Rick Lent, author of Leading Great Meetings. And even a small investment in meeting design can help you engage your participants, facilitate creativity and collaboration, improve the quality of decisions, and promote motivation and accountability. Yes, it helps to have an agenda and to use check-ins, breakouts, or the coolest whiteboard app, but there are many more options available. One way out of this situation - whether online meetings predominate for the foreseeable future or we transition more quickly back to face-to-face - is to recognize that all meetings need to be actively designed. As we have seen in so many other arenas, the coronavirus pandemic is highlighting a problem that already existed: Meetings need to be better. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |