Meeting techniques

Nishantha Kamaladasa
 Time is precious

You need to have a return on investment

(in terms of time)
 Most of them should not have been held

They kill time; drags unnecessarily

My There is no direction; discuss everything on earth;

experience nothing useful at the end

Lot of talk but no decisions and no actions (NATO)

about Few talk most remain silent

meetings Even lesser number listen, majority engage in other

work
It is a battle ground; few competing with others to
show off
To call or not to call?

When to call When to avoid

If you need to get different insights of
• If there are only announcements
the participants to take a decision to be made
• If you don’t intend the invitees
to speak
To get agreement on a decision you
already has made
• As a means of transferring the
blame or warn
• To get data (eg - on progress)
To recognize or appreciate some • Any other one-way
action or person
communication
Regular meetings?

MEETINGS FOR THE SAKE OF AVOID UNLESS THERE IS

MEETING SPECIFIC PURPOSE
 Without calling a meeting see
Most of whether there are other cost-
effective alternatives
them • Sending a letter
should not • Sending a video

have been See whether they are held too

closely to each other
held
• Call the meetings at a lesser frequency
 Some people are called without much thought (in
case they are wanted)-

They kill time;

• Invite only the most relevant
• Get them on board via teleconferencing for a brief period
when required

drag If there is an issue that requires deeper analysis

avoid discussing it during the meeting - appoint a
unnecessarily committee and get the committee to report back

Fix them close to the lunch time or close to the

closing hour
 Chair should
There is no Have an agenda
and stick to the
intervene when
the discussion
direction; agenda
goes out of the
scope of the

discuss meeting

everything on If there is any

Decide whether
such could be
earth other topic take
it under any
taken as an
agenda item in
other matters –
the next
not in between
meeting
 Agenda item should be closed
with a decision
Decide who should be
Lot of talk but
no decisions responsible for the decision
and no action The time frame for
(NATO) implementation
Resources necessary for the
implementation
 Get silent people to talk

Most
remain Cut short long unnecessary explanations
– Ask those people to put their ideas in

silent;
writing and circulate before the next
meeting

A few talks
Ask people who have ideas to raise their
hands and get the most silent speakers
to speak first
 Call for attention
Even lesser
number
listen, Identify those who do other
work and get their attention by
majority asking their views
engage in Avoid bringing unnecessary
other work people to the meeting
It is a battle ground; few compete with each
other to show off

Put the issues in to focus

by decoupling personal
issues and technical issues

Ask for solutions from the

people who bring
problems
 • Participants are
defensive /
aggressive
• Busy pushing their
own thoughts on
others
Meetings are
not useful when

• People are willing to

They are useful when work together to find
solutions
 Prior to the meeting – planning phase

At the commencement
Meeting During the meeting
management
At the end of the meeting

After the meeting

 • Be clear about the purpose
• Decide who should be invited (who should be
on-call)
• Decide who is going to record minutes
• Prepare an agenda and decide who is
Prior to the responsible for what
• Decide the duration, date, time and place
meeting • Circulate the notice and if necessary, a letter
indicating what preparation people need to do
before coming for the meeting
 KKK1

On time - start with a welcome

Read the notice

At the
commencement Announce any protocols that will
be followed

Any special expectations

Slide 16

KKK1 Keshaya Kaavyashri Kamaladasa, 10/21/2021

 Stick Stick to the agenda

Go through the last meeting minutes

Go through
and discuss any outstanding matters

During the Record Record meeting minutes

meeting
Stick Stick to the announced protocols

Manage Manage time

 • Participants do
not have
hierarchical
differences

Meetings are more useful • Willing to open out

when and listen, without
being cautious about
hierarchy
Where hierarchy
matters
Chairperson/ leader
should listen more, speak
less
Chair/leader should listen
first and speak last
 Chair/ leader
talk more,
listen less They want
But it does to score;
They are
not happen after credit
Chair/ leader
talk first
 Give the credit to
the team
Good leaders
Take the blame
Meetings are more useful
• When details are not • But instead
dealt • Policies are made,
• within which details could
be worked out by individuals
later
 Brain storming
Helpful
techniques for
conducting Tree diagram
meetings

Fish-bone diagram
Brain storming
• Express in few key words/one
sentence
• Give everyone a chance
• Ask for crazy ideas
• Appreciate all (don’t judge)
• Write everything and display
• Go several rounds – keep building on
others’ ideas (cross fertilization)
 How can we satisfy the customers?
Tree diagram
 How can we get good
food

Tree diagram
 How can we deliver a
Tree diagram good service
Tree diagram

How can we make

the environment
pleasant
Tree diagram
Fish bone
Task roles

Opinion/information Opinion/information
Initiator Elaborator
Giver Seeker

Coordinator Orienteer Evaluator/Critic Energizer

Social roles

Encourager

Harmonizer

Compromiser

Gatekeeper/Expediter

Observer/Commentator

Follower
Disruptive roles Aggressor

Blocker

Attention Seeker

Disruptor/ Playboy (girl)

Special interest pleader/ Help seeker

Dominator

Confessor
 • Distraction by bringing • Allow it to express but
Handling an important point (but do not allow a
difficult outside the main
theme)
discussion; leave it for
another day/ another
situations/ • Ridicule a comment or forum
suggestion and avoid • Call for objectivity –
difficult discussing it repeat the purpose
people • Without responding to
a question directly,
• Call for objectivity –
repeat the purpose
come out with a load of
excuses or keep silent
• Assertive statements • Ask for data /
without data evidence
Handling • Cross talks and group talks • Get them to address the
chair
difficult • Dominating and creating a
dialogue
• Get other’s comments
before responding
situations/ • Ignoring an important • Call the audience to
comment and bringing react to the important
difficult something entirely new point first
people • Several people talking at
once
• Identify them and give
the order in which they
could respond
• Repetition • Tell that it has been
discussed and issue is
closed
 Announce the decisions (activities to be
Announce undertaken, who is responsible,
reporting protocols, etc)

At the end of Announce

Announce how far the purpose achieved
the meeting and what remains to be achieved

Thank everyone for the participations

and specifically mention those who
Thank
contributed for the success of the
meeting
 Prepare the minutes and circulate
the minutes as early as possible

After the Take any action that arise out of

meeting the meeting outcome

Track the progress

Magic number for meetings

+/- 2
 We will learn from the first
meeting
We are
learning
systems Behave accordingly in the rest
of the meetings
 Contents
• Achieving
results

Process
• Creating
solidarity/
Two aspects building the team
• Individual
satisfaction