Meetings

General Guidelines

Three main things about meetings:

1. Decide if a meeting is necessary and, if so, what type should it be
2. Distribute the workload among members - Have multiple team members help run meetings.. This has the dual benefit of distributing the workload, helping members learn how to effectively participate in groups, and keeping members involved.
3. Meetings have 3 phases and members need to prepare for each
   • Premeeting
   • During the meeting
   • Follow-up after the meeting:
     

Types of Meetings

The type of meeting will have a big impact on how you structure it. The main types of meetings and the aspects of the group process each type requires are listed below.

The First Meeting

The first meeting sets the tone. Patterns of behavior started here may have profound influences on later team activities.

Three goals for the first meeting include:

• Developing a shared, common understanding of the team's charge
• Making a start on defining team ground rules, working relationships and so forth (in short, developing shared understandings about tasks, procedures, etc.)
• Begin to develop a sense of "groupiness" or identification with the team - handle introductions, begin to develop a sense of shared purpose

Things to watch out for:

• Premature consensus on a solution - groups often want to decide and get of there but this may not lead to the best decision.
• Unbalanced participation along the lines of prestige or other attributes - certainly, you want the opinions of experienced members but new members can contribute useful and even innovative ideas too.

General Premeeting Preparation

• Define the meeting purpose and decide if a meeting is the best way to accomplish this goal - ask what would happen if the meeting were not held and ask what other ways the goal could be accomplished

• If so, decide on the meeting format

• Decide how long it should last

• Decide who should attend (e.g., any outsiders necessary?)

• Circulate the agenda
  • Send out draft
    • Try to use action verbs with objectives rather than just headings when crafting agendas (e.g., approve minutes; approve or deny a request)
    • Try to assign preliminary time estimates to each item
  • Ask for input
  • Revise as necessary
  • Circulate final agenda

 

• Send out any supplemental materials that need to be read before the meeting

• Get the necessary practicalities under control
• Reserve the room and confirm the reservation
• Obtain necessary audio-visual equipment (e.g., flip charts and pens, whiteboards and markers, projectors, etc.)
• Obtain refreshments if necessary

• Consider rotating the role of running meetings - this helps develop skills and creates involvement but can be troublesome if the leader is unskilled - again advance preparation and practice can be useful

• Ensure that the following roles are filled by someone during the meeting:
  • Timekeeper - pays attention to amount of time spent on each issue and overall time use by team
  • Record keeper - records comments as necessary (e.g., on board or flip charts) and takes minutes or keeps written record of actions
  • Facilitator - pays attention to how the meeting is going.
    • Do members understand what is going on?
    • Is participation structured properly? Have all members indicated their positions/given information, etc?
    • Is conflict constructive?
    • Is the decision making process sufficiently rigorous?

Running a Meeting

• Open the meeting with a short summary of its purpose and agenda

• Remind the team of the ground rules it decided to follow

• Ensure that the agenda is kept in mind

• Allow all parties to express their opinions

• Minimize irrelevant debate (use the decision procedure the group chose to help do this)

• Ensure that the agreed-upon decision process is being used

• Manage disruptive behaviors and conflict effectively

• Effectively wrap-up the meeting
  • Clarify understanding of what was accomplished
  • Ensure everyone knows what the next steps are and the next assignments are
  • Schedule the next meeting if necessary
  • Evaluate the meeting itself
    • Ask members (either through discussion or through a questionnaire)
      • What went well
      • What could have been improved
      • What should we specifically do about it and set follow-up deadlines and milestones

Post-meeting Activities

• Try to have the record keeper send out a summary of the meeting within 48 hours (detailed minutes can be done later)
  • Be sure to include actions, who is responsible, and deadlines

• Provide any resources you've promised

• Periodically follow up on how actions are progressing and arrange assistance if necessary

• Contact members who didn't get heard or who felt unsatisfied with the results