Leading More Effective Meetings

Editor's Notes

2. 1. Meetings are Hard 2. Most people think meetings suck....but nobody thinks THEIR meetings suck. 3. Meetings are SIMPLE to fix...but not EASY to fix.
4. Default should be: don’t call a meeting. Talk one-on-one. Eliminate recurring meetings, or cancel many occurrences of them.
6. This is great for people who sabotage meetings. Pro tip: schedule attendees for specific time blocks. (person A 1:40-1:50 person B 2:05-2:20).
7. An hour shouldn’t be the default. Make it 30 minutes. Pro tip: scrums or standing meetings. (literally, standing)
8. Obsess about starting & ending on time. It’s a credibility issue. Pro tip: start at unusual times (2:10 etc).
9. 3 critical roles: Every meeting needs a “bus driver” who’s responsible & selfless and keeps the bus out of the ditch & moving forward. Send notes to participants after meeting (= accountability). Everyone else is watching the clock - shouldn’t someone who can do something about it?!
10. The "How will we know when the meeting is done?" test. State it in the invitation and to begin the meeting. Example: “We’re meeting to finalize the timeline for the upgrade project.”
11. Helps with planning (don’t leave things out, what order, who should attend, materials, etc), allows ppl to pre-think issues, and keeps the meeting on track. Pro tip: add times to each section & keep those hard edges.
12. Engage all participants. Ask “Ray, what do you think?” Vote with stickers. Follow up offline “What did you think? Great! Please share at next meeting.”
13. Owner, verb, deliverable, deadline. “Brian: receive final project approval by 11/5.” One owner! A verb! Specific outcome! Deadline!
14. Follow up on action items, after the meeting & at the beginning of the next meeting. We’re all busy with multiple priorities - this builds accountability over time! Pro tip: send thank you notes as a follow up activity!
15. "Thanks for bringing that up. We'll add that to the agenda for the next meeting" then have followup conversation offline.
16. Follow up on action items, after the meeting & at the beginning of the next meeting. We’re all busy with multiple priorities - this builds accountability over time! Pro tip: send thank you notes as a follow up activity!
18. Demand a purpose and agenda for meetings you attend.
19. This is controversial. Use laptop/iPad/phone. As items come up in the meeting, do them or add them to your project mgmt system. Process email (sometimes).
20. Volunteer to help: work on the agenda, take notes, be timekeeper, oversee the technology, etc).
21. Sit with “the enemy” to change the meeting dynamic. Break up the clusters. Sit with the vendor or with the other department.
22. Don’t be afraid to leave when the meeting is no longer productive (“I’m sorry, but I have another appointment.” Even if the appt is sometimes with yourself).
23. 1. When you implement these, people will KILL you for it. Persevere! Find a kindred spirit. 2. Start modest & build up. Pick 3 or 4 of these and start there.