This document discusses how to design productive meetings. It provides tips for meeting facilitators on identifying the right participants, setting ground rules, creating an agenda with clear objectives and outcomes, tracking action items, following up after meetings, and ensuring participation from all attendees. The goal is to avoid unnecessary meetings and maximize productivity by focusing discussions and following through on agreed upon next steps.

1. Designing Productive Meetings
Brown bag Session
Presented by: Salah Elleithy

2. Salah Elleithy
salah@sparkagility.com @selleithy 410.262.5550
Enabling organizational agility and
enhancing team capabilities
serving as a Project Manager, Scrum
Master, Business analyst, Team Facilitator
and Agile Coach.
15 years
Senior Principal Consultant
Agile Coach & Trainer
Certified Trainer in
Training from the
Back of the Room
Masters in Info Systems &
Financial Management

3. • How
Where
do
we
stand?
much
&me
do
we
spend
in
mee,ngs
daily,
weekly
or
monthly?
• How
do
we
avoid
‘unnecessary’
mee,ngs?
• How
much
do
‘unnecessary’
mee,ngs
cost?

4. How
much
&me
we
spend
in
mee,ngs?
How
do
we
avoid
‘unnecessary’
mee,ngs?
How
much
do
‘unnecessary’
mee&ngs
cost?
I
wonder
how
much
it
would
be
if
we
added
‘unproduc&ve’
mee,ngs?!!
Source:
h8ps://www.atlassian.com/,me-­‐was,ng-­‐at-­‐work-­‐infographic

5. Why
do
we
dread
going
to
mee,ngs?
Lack
of
purpose
No
Agenda
Lack
of
progress
Lack
of
objec,ves
Lack
of
visuals
Lack
of
agreement
Lack
of
engagement
Lack
of
outcomes
Lack
of
focus
Waste
of
,me

6. What
is
a
mee,ng?
A
mee,ng
is
an
act
or
process
of
coming
together
as
an
assembly
for
a
common
purpose.
Source:
wikepedia
Accomplish
Work
Facilita&on

7. What
are
the
a>ributes
of
a
produc&ve
mee&ng?
• A
facilitator.
• The
right
par,cipants
(Who
need
to
a8end?)
• Ground
rules
(What
will
it
take
for
the
mee,ng
to
be
a
success?).
• An
Agenda
(What
will
be
the
process
to
get
to
the
outcomes?)
• Ac,ons
items/takeaways
(What
needs
to
be
done?
Who
will
do
it?
And
by
when?)
• Close/Wrap
Up
(What
do
we
plan
to
do
next?
• Follow
through
(Where
do
we
stand
with
the
ac,on
items?)
The
Key
to
a
produc&ve
mee&ng
is
Facilita&on!

8. What
is
Facilita&on?
Facilita,on
is
the
art
of
leading
people
through
processes
toward
agreed-­‐
upon
outcomes
in
a
manner
that
encourages
par&cipa&on,
ownership
and
crea&vity
from
all
involved.
-­‐
The
Grove
Consultants
Interna,onal

9. The
right
par,cipants
(Who
needs
to
a8end?)
• Iden,fy
the
right
par,cipants.
• Know
the
par,cipants
role
and
what
makes
the
mee,ng
important
to
them.
• Ensure
they
are
available
and
ready
for
the
mee,ng.

10. Ground
Rules
(What
will
it
take
for
the
mee,ng
to
be
a
success?)
• Be
open
minded.
• Be
honest.
• Respect
each
other.
• Give
everyone
a
chance
to
speak.
• Agree
to
disagree.
• Stay
focused
(No
mul,tasking).

11. Designing
the
Agenda
• Purpose/Objec,ve
(Why
are
we
here?
And
where
are
we
trying
to
go?)
• Process
(How
are
going
to
get
to
where
we
want
to
go?)
• Desired
outcomes
(What
are
we
trying
to
get
out
of
this
mee,ng?)

12. Make
it
visible!

13. Ac,ons
items/takeaways
(What
needs
to
be
done?
Who
will
do
it?
And
by
when?)
• Be
ac&onable
(Ex:
Define,
Complete,
Research,
etc.).
• Have
only
one
owner.
• Have
a
follow-­‐up
date.

14. Close/Wrap-­‐Up
(What
do
we
plan
to
do
next?)
• Review
agenda
and
outcomes.
• Agree
on
next
steps.
• Thank
everyone
for
their
par,cipa,on.

15. Follow
through
(Where
do
we
stand
with
the
ac,on
items?)
• Send
mee&ng
notes
right
aYer
the
mee,ng
(no
more
than
24-­‐48
hours).
• Follow-­‐up
on
ac,on
items
by
dates
agreed-­‐upon
during
the
mee,ng.
Action items:
Tip:
If
you
have
agenda
and
ac,on
items,
you
can
take
pictures
for
quick
documenta,on
and
send
them
to
everyone.

16. Mee,ng
Materials
• White
board
or
Flipcharts
• S,cky
Notes
• Sharpies

17. Mee,ng
Tools:
Parking
Lot
• Parking
Lot:
used
as
a
placeholder
for
topics
that
could
come
up
but
may
not
be
relevant
to
discuss
during
the
mee,ng.

18. Mee,ng
Tools:
Consensus
• Thumbs
up,
down,
sideways.
• Dot-­‐Vo,ng.
• Priori,zing

19. Virtual
mee,ngs
• Talk
a
roll-­‐call.
• Same
rules
apply.
• Agree
to
NO
mul&-­‐
tasking!
• Start
and
end
on
&me.

20. Common
PiOalls
• Group
think
(Seeking
ar,ficial
harmony
over
healthy
debate).
• Dominant
par,cipant.
• Quite
par,cipant.

21. Does
this
apply
to
mee,ngs?

22. Quick
Summary
Facilitator
Par,cipants
Ac,on
items/
takeaways
Agenda
(process)
Purpose
Outcomes
Close/Wrap-­‐
up
Follow-­‐
through