QUICK GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE MEETINGS BEFORE Meeting Guidelines

ACTIONS
Determine 3 Ps: Purpose, Payoff, Process

QUESTIONS / CONSIDERATIONS
What is the purpose and desired outcome or payoff?
NOTE: The purpose should state why a meeting is needed. Write one by finishing this sentence. The purpose of the meeting is to ________. Outcomes / payoff focus the meeting by indicating what information is to be shared and what decisions / actions need to occur. The process / plan is the actual agenda that accounts for the leaders, content, sharing, processing, and logistics of the meeting. Is a meeting really necessary to achieve the purpose and payoff? Determine cost/benefit of having meeting. What alternatives exist to meeting? (phone, email, documentation, etc.)

Identify Required Attendees

Who should attend the meeting based on purpose and payoff? What are the knowledge levels and requirements of attendees? What is the chemistry of the attendees? What unexpected issues might arise?

Send Outlook Meeting Request

Should be sent NO LATER than 24 hours in advance if preparation is required (More advanced notice would be preferable24 hours should be an exception). Should include: Logistics: Time, date, location, meeting place information, assigned roles, PCD code for logging time (if applicable). NOTE: Timing of meeting sensitive to global timing issues when establishing a meeting with Be attendees in different time zones. If standing meetings, trade off the time to accommodate attendees needs. Studies show that the best time to meet for decision making/brainstorming type meetings is between 9:30 11:30 a.m. and 3:00 5:00 p.m. Agenda that includes 3 Ps: Purpose, Process, Payoff. Sequence agenda topics in order needed to achieve outcomes / payoff. Agenda items should support achievement of overall meeting objectives/payoff. Agenda items should include time allotment, topic / subtopics, method (discussion, brainstorm, presentation), owner and outcome (Decide Inform). Pre-Meeting Action Items: Assign action item(s), person(s) responsible, and date for completion. Includes any information necessary to review / act upon prior to meeting in order to accomplish meeting payoff. NOTE: For Pre-Meeting Action Items, abide by these rules: - Explain why its important. - Give adequate lead time. - Provide clear instructions (Review, analysis, edit, etc.). - Emphasize need to complete in advance. - Assign it only if you intend to use it.

Agree to Team Operating Norms

Set Ground Rules to create a team contract of how people will behave. It keeps meetings focused and on target. Examples: All attendees participate (Determine methods to gain full participation while acknowledging the impacts of different global cultural dynamics on how people share information and opinions) Rotating assigned roles: Facilitator, Co-facilitators, Presenters, Note Taker, Process Observer, Timekeeper. Challenge ideas, not individuals. Agree on open, respectful communication. Start on time / Stop on time (SOT / SOT). Establish consequences for being late (i.e. Owe facilitator a dollar, automatic note taker next meeting, etc.) One conversation at a time Confidentiality Regularly evaluate the meeting

Portions have been adapted with permission from The Consultants Tool Kit, by Mel Silberman

FTI Training & Development 1

QUICK GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE MEETINGS (continued) DURING Meeting Guidelines

FACILITATION TECHNIQUES
BEGIN MEETING BY: Greeting attendees. Conducting roll call (If multi-site or new attendees). Reviewing 3 Ps and Preview Specific Agenda topics. Announcing / confirming assigned roles (scribe, co-facilitator, etc.). Asking for additional agenda items. Reviewing action item status from last meeting. END MEETING BY: Asking three questions: What key points did we cover? (Review of agenda topics / discussions) What tasks / action items were assigned to whom and by when? Overall, what did we accomplish? (Decisions made, confirm outcome / payoff was achieved) Reviewing Parking Lot issues and determining next steps of those items not addressed during course of meeting. Regularly evaluate the effectiveness of meetings: What went well? What could be improved? Etc. Thanking attendees and reiterating next meeting timing / location / roles, if appropriate.

FACILITATE MEETING BY: Staying objective. Balancing productive discussions with the need to keep group focused on intent of agenda and payoff. Use Parking Lot to capture important issues that arise but are not critical for achievement of this meetings payoff. Recapping and refocusing attention back to agenda by paraphrasing comments, discussion points, action items before moving to next topic on agenda to ensure understanding. Make procedural suggestions as needed to adjust the agenda items and discussions to meet payoff.

Multi-Site Meeting Challenges Participants arriving late disrupting call. Other sites having side-bar (mute) conversations. Limited participation / involvement from other sites. Difficulty in following along with discussion when flip charts and other visual tools are being developed during course of meeting.

Multi-Site Meeting Tips Establish and enforce ground rules (ESPECIALLY start on time / Stop on time. Do NOT back track to get late arrivers up to speed. Wastes time of those on time and sends message that its okay to be late). Assign roles of co-facilitator at each site. Helps ensure greater involvement, adherence to ground rules, and ensures that visual tools / flip charts will be modeled at each location. Refer to the page number, agenda topic item, and handout being used frequently. Ask for input from attendees by name and / or location frequently (i.e., What are your thoughtsSally? What do you think about thatRobert?). Have site break out sessions followed by entire group debriefs to encourage involvement, discussion and breadth of ideas. Use tele-conference capabilities when possible, especially in brainstorming / decision making type meetings.

Ensure Team Enforcement of Ground Rules Have the team be responsible for monitoring the adherence of ground rulesthey established them, ensure they own them.

Use a Parking Lot The parking lot is a visible space to scribe items that are important, but not relevant to the issue at hand. Flip chart these items so they are captured to be dealt with later. Parking Lots help meetings stay focused and on track by minimizing tangent conversations.

Presentations Guidelines Presentations can be time wasters if they are not planned and facilitated well. Follow these ground rules to ensure quality and critical thinking: Separate presentation from discussion. Allow clarification questions only during presentation. Give participants reflection questions: What points did you agree/disagree with? How could the proposal be improved? What new questions does it raise?

QUICK GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE MEETINGS (continued)

Portions have been adapted with permission from The Consultants Tool Kit, by Mel Silberman FTI Training & Development 2

DURING Meeting Guidelines

TROUBLESHOOTING
Disruptive Behaviors and Strategies Late Arrivers: Start on time, dont update. Side Conversations: Stop, look at offenders. Ask if they would like to share their idea. Dominators: Ask them to scribe; use ground rules; seek input from all participants. Quiet members: Periodically draw them in without putting them on the spot. Rambling: Stay focused on agenda, use Parking Lot if point is relevant. Negativity: Ask group to comment on negative opinions. Check for agreement / disagreement. Dealing with Unruly Behavior Establish ground rules before problems occur. Refer to them often. Confront unruly behavior. Expect all participants to share responsibility for meeting process. Communicate nonverbally. Recognize helpful behavior. Meet privately with repeat offenders. Create group signals for confronting behavior (3-knock rule, periodic process checks).

Recognize Symptoms of Conflict Ideas get attacked before they are fully stated. Comments are personal attacks. Suggestion does not build on previous ones. Win-lose pressures. Victim mentality (versus proactive). Members take sides.

Act to Resolve Conflict Recognize that conflict is a natural, inevitable aspect of team process. Mutually agree resolution is desirable. Empathize with each other. Move from problem identification to solution. Seek a variety of opinions on issue. Listen.

Consensus Building

Processing Conflict Acknowledge feelings. Feelings cannot realistically be left outside the meeting. Get them into the open. Remain neutral. Respect peoples right to have their feelings and encourage expression. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. Model and expect this behavior. Process feelings by: Taking a break. Silently brainstorming issues on cards. Round-robin sharing of concerns. Identifying areas of conflict and commonality and ideas for bridging gaps. Suggesting ways of resolving conflict. Refocus conversation on original topic/goals.

Consensus is a psychological state of supporting an action for decision that the group decides to pursue. Formula: C=A+S (Consensus=Agreement+Support). Test for consensus by verbal polling or a written vote. Use consensus to determine team functions (meeting frequency, ground rules, roles, etc.); agree on team projects; agree on key implementation points of projects. Recipe for consensus: - Ive heard and understand your position. - Youve heard and understand my position. - The decision does not compromise my values or ethics. I can support the proposed decision.

AFTER MEETING

Ensure that Minutes / Action items are documented and sent to attendees within agreed upon timeframe. Follow up on Parking Lot issues. Communicate outcomes to larger audience, if appropriate.

Portions have been adapted with permission from The Consultants Tool Kit, by Mel Silberman

FTI Training & Development 3