How can we

improve
meetings?

1. Who will moderate the meeting?

2. How will the moderator prepare the agenda?
3. Who wants to participate in the meeting?
4. How will the moderator prepare time and place of the meeting?
5. How will the moderator start the meeting?
6. How will the moderator moderate idea sharing?
7. How will the moderator moderate decision making?
8. How will people choose what they want to do?
9. How will the moderator finish the meeting?
10. How will the moderator follow up on the meeting?

Question # 1
Who will moderate
the meeting?

# 2: An employee

# 1: A manager

Moderator possibilities

# 3: An external moderator

A manager is intellectually so challenged,

that he/she is not

capable of
managing the process.
http://news.nzzexecutive.ch/arbeitsmarkt/uebersicht/tv_sprecher_sind_eigentlich_keine_moderatoren_1.8140678.html

2 reasons why an external facilitator is the better choice

Reason # 1
Managers and employees show more respect for an
external facilitator.
Reason # 2
People take things more seriously when an external
facilitator manages the meeting.
Ravn, Ib: Facilitering, p. 27-28.

Further inspiration

http://fac-vid.squarespace.com/bedre-moeder/Ravn%20-%20Bedre%20mder%20gennem%20facilitering.pdf
https://www.scribd.com/doc/22065544/7-Skill-4-Effective-Facilitation
https://www.scribd.com/doc/16915436/08-Facilitation-Skills-Self-Assessment
https://www.scribd.com/doc/7102259/How-to-Be-Good-Facilitator

Question # 2
How will the moderator
prepare the meeting agenda?

Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Meeting-agenda-2556622

Question # 3
Who wants to participate
in the meeting?

Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Meeting-participants-2557939

Question # 4
How will the moderator
prepare time and place
of the meeting?

Task A
Find meeting time

Sources
http://www.doodle.com/
https://www.google.com/calendar/
https://hbr.org/2015/03/the-tools-you-need-to-make-every-meeting-more-productive

Keep the duration of the meeting as

short and unconventional as possible.

Example: 23 minutes.
Adapted from
Pittampalli, Al: Read this before our next meeting, location 294.
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/strategy/strategic_decisions_when_can_you_trust_your_gut

Task B
Define Internet meeting place

Sources
https://hangouts.google.com/
http://www.skype.com/

Task C
Prepare physical meeting room
before the start

Idea to keep focus on customers

Jeff Bezos brought an empty chair into

meetings to encourage meeting
participants to think about the customer.
http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/leadership-lessons-from-jeff-bezos

Ideas to increase interaction

Chairs
Possibility 1: Use no chairs.
Possibility 2: Place chairs in a circle.
Tables
Possibility 1: Use no tables.
Possibility 2: Use as small tables as possible.
Sources
Ravn, Ib: Facilitering, p. 51.
http://sumpeople.ch/2013/12/year-end-reflection-where-is-your-team-where-are-you/

3 ideas to freshen up the room

1. Clean up the room.

2. Get fresh air into the room.
3. Use flowers to make the room look nice.
Adapted from
Ravn, Ib: Facilitering, p. 52.

Idea to save time

Research shows that sit-down meetings were

34% longer than stand-up meetings, but
they produced no better decisions than
stand-up meetings.
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/207490
http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/31505/in-praise-of-stand-up-meetings

Facebooks engineering manager, Mark Tonkelowitz,

holds 15-minute stand-up meetings at 12 oclock.
No chairs and an impending lunchtime keep updates short.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/work/15-secrets-running-meetings-like-the-worlds-top-innovative-companies.html

Question # 5
How will the moderator
start the meeting?

Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Meeting-start-2557961

Question # 6
How will the moderator
moderate idea sharing

Sources
http://answergarden.ch/
https://www.atizo.com/starter/
http://www.partizo.com/
http://popplet.com/

Take photos and/or video clips

of what participants produced

https://hbr.org/2015/03/meetings-when-to-present-and-when-to-converse

People, who work for Lenovo,

stop meetings that are wandering.

http://www.inc.com/chuck-blakeman/great-companies-are-making-all-meetings-optional.html

If someone uses their smartphone or tablet in

a meeting, stop the meeting and ask, excuse
me, is there something about what you are
doing now you need to share with everybody?
Adapted from
https://youtu.be/4QXqgbMuHcE

If someone talks a lot, speak with her / him before the

meeting or during a break, and ask her / him to please
keep her / his comments to a minimum to allow others
to be heard.

https://hbr.org/2013/12/the-seven-imperatives-to-keeping-meetings-on-track/

Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Brainstorming-the-disney-method-1449101
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Brainstorming-the-SCAMPER-method-1452356

Question # 7
How will the moderator
moderate decision making?

Possibility A
The moderator summarizes
and concludes.
Everyone silently agrees.

The facilitator summarises what he / she has

heard to secure agreement. And says:
So what I am hearing is that ....... Am I right that
you agree with this?
http://fac-vid.squarespace.com/bedre-moeder/Ravn%20-%20Bedre%20mder%20gennem%20facilitering.pdf p. 9.
https://hbr.org/2016/02/before-a-meeting-tell-your-team-that-silence-means-agreement
http://unlessiheardifferently.com/

Possibility B
The moderator makes a vote
where the majority decides

Ideas
Idea # 1

Idea # 2
Idea # 3

Votes for

Votes against

A majority vote allows every voice to be

heard and is generally viewed as fair.
https://hbr.org/2015/03/a-checklist-for-planning-your-next-big-meeting

Be aware that it may be difficult for some

people to declare their opinion publicly.
https://hbr.org/2015/03/a-checklist-for-planning-your-next-big-meeting

Possibility C
The moderator uses
6 thinking hats

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Six-thinking-hats-1455136

Possibility D
The moderator asks a
manager to decide

Leaders choice is usually the fastest approach,

so it is the most appropriate in a crisis.

https://hbr.org/2015/03/a-checklist-for-planning-your-next-big-meeting

George, Id like to hear your opinion as

manager: What do you think we should
do? Please be concrete.

Further inspiration
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-can-we-make-better-decisions-2058027

Question # 8
How will people choose
what they want to do?

End each meeting with action

steps.

http://www.innovationmanagement.se/2011/05/09/how-to-make-your-ideas-actually-happen/

What to do

Period to do it

https://hbr.org/2014/08/save-your-next-staff-meeting-from-itself/

Who will do it

Two important things for making effective decisions:

1. Ask who wants to do what.
2. Ask when people want to do and finish tasks.
Sources
http://blogs.wsj.com/management/2009/03/24/the-facebook-generation-vs-te-fortune-500
https://hbr.org/2013/12/the-seven-imperatives-to-keeping-meetings-on-track
https://hbr.org/2013/06/making-virtual-teams-work-ten

In the modern meeting, minutes are not

required.

All we need to know is the decision and

the action plan.
Pittampalli, Al: Read this before our next meeting, location 358.

The moderator ask people, who takes responsibility for

doing a certain task, to
write down the task at the meeting in
his/her own words.
say out loud when he/she will have finished
the task.
Ravn, Ib: Facilitering, p. 88-89.

Question # 9
How will the moderator
finish the meeting?

Task A
The moderator asks every meeting
participant to shortly say what
he/she has chosen to do when
http://www.entrepreneur.com/management/operations/article207490.html

Task B
The moderator asks people to
share what they found the
most important actions steps
Ravn, Ib: Facilitering, p. 90.

When you meet with clients or colleagues, end each

meeting with a quick review of captured action
steps.

Each person shares in maximum 30 seconds what he/she learned.

http://www.innovationmanagement.se/2011/05/09/how-to-make-your-ideas-actually-happen/

Task C
The moderator ends
the meeting on time
http://fac-vid.squarespace.com/bedre-moeder/Ravn%20-%20Bedre%20mder%20gennem%20facilitering.pdf p. 10.

Question # 10
How will the leader
follow up on the meeting?

Write and distribute a 1 page meeting

summary within 24 hours with information
about who has chosen to do what.
https://hbr.org/2015/11/two-things-to-do-after-every-meeting

Follow up with people to find out what other

skills people need to do what they have
said they would do.
https://hbr.org/2015/11/two-things-to-do-after-every-meeting

https://twitter.com/frankcalberg