Productive Meetings

By Ashraf Al Shafaki

Productive Meetings

Why we need meetings Common problems in meetings Elements of a meeting Flexible meeting methods Sequence of a meeting

Why We Need Meetings

To plan for the future To make decisions To communicate to a group of people at once

Common Problems in Meetings

Heated debates Interruptions Participants feeling they were not heard Participants getting extremely tired Important topics not being discussed Meeting decisions not translated into actions Exaggerated meeting time

Elements of a Meeting

People Documents

People

Facilitator Recorder Timekeeper Participants

Documents

Agenda Minutes

Flexible Meeting Methods

Think and Listen Go-Round Check-Ins No One Speaks Twice Mind Maps Constructing Open Agendas Visible Agendas Vision Support Group

Think and Listen

Group participants in pairs Each participant speaks his/her thoughts out while his/her partner listens Participants then switch roles

Go-Round

Facilitator mentions a discussion point Each participant speaks for 2 minutes while everyone listens The chance for speaking is transferred to participants in a circular fashion

Check-Ins

Facilitator asks participants a question Participants answer simultaneously with thumbs up, thumbs down or somewhere in between

Beginnings and Endings

Use go-round for introductions at the beginning of a meeting Use go-round to collect feedback at the end of a meeting by asking participants to
mention something you have enjoyed about the meeting mention anything you would have done differently

No One Speaks Twice

Any participant who speaks once is not allowed to speak again until all other participants are given a chance to speak once A visible count of how many times each participant has spoken can be kept by recorder

Mind Maps

Main topic is written in a circle in the middle of a whiteboard or sheet Subtopics can then be written and connected to the main topic via radiating lines

Constructing Open Agendas

Facilitator mind maps agenda items according to participants suggestions Suggested agenda items are categorized according to discussion time required Items are ordered according to priority Recorder and timekeeper keep participants aware of progress in discussing agenda items throughout the meeting

Visible Agendas

Recorder writes agenda on whiteboard or flipchart sheet in mind map form

Vision Support Group

Divide participants into small groups Each group goes through a think and listen then go-round answering 4 questions:
What is going well for me? What is difficult for me? What are my long term goals and vision? What are my next achievable steps towards this vision and these goals?

Sequence of a Meeting

Introductions Briefing Agenda creation Discussion of agenda items Collecting feedback

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