Effective Meetings Workshop

ULS Leadership ProgramKaren Calhoun

22 October 2012

This work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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What You Said About Problems with MeetingsLack of agendas* Hard to schedule *Tracking outcomes and

assignments; following up *

Better facilitation; getting people to participate

Clearer, better, more creative and innovative outcomes

Effective use of meeting time

Unproductive meetings; meetings held “just because”

Attendees unprepared Too many meetingsMeetings too longTraveling between

Thomas and Hillman when meeting is not productive

Technology in 272 not good for virtual meetings*Top three

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Agenda Topic Time

Arrival, social time, & What You Said

10:00-10:15 am

Why have a meeting?10:15-10:30 amYour role as chair – are you

willing?

Ground rules10:30-10:45 amGetting people to participate

(handouts)

Short break 10:45-11:00 am

Designing a meeting – Agendas (exercise)

11:00-11:45 am

Outcomes, assignments, following up (handouts)

11:45-12:00

Lunch and social time 12:00-12:30 pm

Dealing with process problems (exercise)

12:30-1:15 pm

What have you learned today? (exercise)

1:15-1:45 pm

Close and get on shuttle 1:45-1:50 pm

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Why Have a Meeting?Inform and gather

inputKick off a project or

processEvaluate work in

progress; identify next steps/assignments

Evaluate completed work

Plan and/or prioritizeMotivate

Make or validate decisions

Establish new ways of doing things

Provide forum for airing concerns or asking questions

Solve problemsWhat else?Can you classify the meetings you

are going to next week?

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Does the meeting have a clear purpose or purposes? If not (and you are in charge) DON’T MEET!Alternatives to meeting

Weekly newsletter?Post info on SharePoint?Plain old memo, report or email?Have an informal conversation(s) on phone, in

person, via email?Combine with something else?What other ideas?

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Kinds of Meetings – Face-to-Face and VirtualStand up meetings – operational – very short

– sometimes dailyWeekly / tactical / progress reviewMonthly / strategic / longer term planningFormal governance meetingsQuarterly/Semiannually etc. – long time

horizon, sometimes off site (less often virtual)

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Your Roles as Chair

Chair

Organizer

Facilitator

+ Delegator:Be specific – who,what, when, how?

+ Sometimes:Recorder – if you can’t recruit one

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Am I Willing to …Invest my time in planning meetings?Invest my time in capturing actions, decisions,

following up and communicating?Model the behaviors that the organization needs?

Encouraging and engaging in dialogue?Building consensus?Listening?Facilitating listening and 2-way learning?Communicating sideways, up and down?Engaging in crucial conversations (managing

conflict)?

Based on ideas in Haycock 2011:http://www.slideshare.net/KenHaycock/effective-meetings-7169529

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Chair as FacilitatorReflect the group, not yourselfObserve and manage meeting progressManage disruptions and conflictDevelop peopleEncourageSeek participationClarify Summarize

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Ground Rules and Norms – for everyone in the meetingArrive on time, end on timeCome preparedBe respectful and honest in communicationsComments succinct and on topicDon’t interruptSeek first to understandFollow up actions that are assigned to youSigns for “accept,” “can live with,” and “cannot accept”?Oral reports okay or not?What happens when someone misses a meeting or is

frequently late?Confidentiality?What else?

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Getting People to ParticipateTakes practice!Tell less, ask more - Ask questionsSee handouts

Listening Observer WorksheetRoles People Play in GroupsData Collection/Discussion Methods and

TechniquesLinear Problem Solving/Decision Making

ModelBrainstorming Rule Sheet

The handouts are used with thanks to Chet Warzynski, Roxi Bahar, and Clint Sidle, Cornell University Organizational Development. They are taken from their“Discovering Leadership” Workshops, 1999-2000.

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Take a Break!

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Meeting Traps Leadership:Poor planningNo agendaInsufficient follow-up

Capabilities:Not enough knowledge about conducting meetingsRight people not presentParticipants are unprepared

Focus:Disruptive behaviorDelayed decisionsUnclear objectives

From Endicott , Lazar and Ford 2006http://www.slideshare.net/ringer21/too-much-time-wasted-in-meetings-why

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Designing a Meeting (Exercise)Work in pairs – 30 minutes (15 minutes each person)15 minutes - reporting outIn pairs, study the following handouts:

Key Questions for Meeting DesignersMeeting Design ExerciseRoles People Play in Groups (from prior exercise)Data Collection/Discussion Methods and Techniques (ditto)Meeting Agenda

Work together to design and produce agendas for two upcoming meetings using these handouts

Reporting out: Discuss the process of completing your Meeting Design Exercise form and describe what you learned from the exercise (max 2 minutes each person)

Handouts are from “Discovering Leadership” workshops

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Actions and Decisions - Outcomes, Assignments, Following Up Identify actions and/or decisions/proposals madeAssign responsibility and time frame for actionsCreate action log and use it to track progress and

encourage accountabilityAfter the meeting, ask yourself: Who needs to know?

What and when?Follow up with other stakeholders as needed (esp. if all

the stakeholders were not in the room)Communicate results (e.g., post agendas and action

notes to SharePoint and announce their availability)Keep “parking lot” of undiscussed topics What else?

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Lunch!

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Dealing with Process ProblemsApathyFearBlockingNegativityCynicism, sarcasmDominatingInterrupting on a

regular basisWithdrawal,

“checking out”

Late arrivalsConflict avoidanceInattentionSide conversationsStraying off topicMultitasking (e.g.,

working on cell phone or tablet not related to meeting)

SnipingWhat else?

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Coping with Dysfunctional Behaviors in Meetings (Exercise)Purpose – Review and test various coping strategiesWork alone – 5 minutes – examine the situations in the

Meeting Management Worksheet (handout)Work in groups of 4 – 20 minutes – try to achieve group

consensus on the best way to rank the suggested responses (1 = best suggestion; 2=middle; 3=worst suggestion). Write your responses on the flip chart.

Karen distributes Meeting Management Suggested Rankings Sheet and explanatory notes. Groups compare their responses to the Suggesting Rankings – write on flip chart (see next page) – 5 minutes

Group discussion of the questions on the next slide – 10 minutes

Credit: Doyle, Patrick, and C.R. Tindal. 2003. “Meeting Management: Coping with Dysfunctional Behaviors.” In The Pfeiffer Book of Successful Leadership Development Tools, 291–304. San Francisco CA: Pfeiffer.

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How to Write Your Results on the Flip ChartSituation One - Saboteur

Your Group’s Ranking Doyle and Tindal Suggested Ranking

# #

# #

# #

Situation Two - Sniping

Your Group’s Ranking Doyle and Tindal Suggested Ranking

# #

# #

# #

Situation Three Etc.

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What are the best ways to cope with dysfunctional behaviors?Which of the behaviors in the exercise did you

recognize? What were your reactions to being in the chair role and deciding how to deal with the dysfunctional behaviors?

What, if any dysfunctional behaviors occurred in your subgroup as you worked toward consensus? How did your subgroup deal with these?

We did not discuss coping with conflict. What interest might you have in covering conflict management in an hour-long future workshop?

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Closing Exercise – What Have You Learned Today ?Work again in pairs – 10 minutes (5 minutes

each person) – answer this question:What have you learned today that you will use

tomorrow or before the end of the week? How will you use it?

How will you evaluate your progress over the next six weeks or so?

Reporting out and group discussion – 15 minutes

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Thanks for coming!

Please don’t forget to fill out the evaluation

form in DropBox!

Photo by Edgar Barany. CC-BY-NC. http://www.pragjesu.info/prague-autumn-leaves-l.htm