Below are some suggestion on how meetings can be planned, structured and delivered to dramatically improve the quality of the results and the staff engagement.
1. understanding the purpose of the meeting
Every meeting should have a clear purpose understood by all participants and regularly reviewed to see if it is still relevant or needs to be adjusted or even scraped.
The agenda of every meeting should reflect the purpose of the meeting and have outcomes and timings for each agenda item that helps move forward the purpose of the meeting.
2. setting agendas
Instead of a briefing, send it out beforehand and ask participants to submit questions. Or use the briefing document as a start for the meeting to develop a frequently asked questions (and answers) section before the briefing goes to a wider circulation.
Instead of receiving reports, change the agenda item to a question that engages. Perhaps replace “Progress against budget” to “How can we reduce costs by 5%?”
As one staff member responding to a question about how good staff meetings are, said, “the most interesting meetings are when I speak!”
3. engaging staff
Let's start the meeting with an ice breaker so that everyone speaks in the room early on. The longer a participant is silent the harder it is for her/him to break thorough and participate. The less individuals contribute the less value they give the meeting and the increased likelihood of attention drift.
Meetings could be different, after a quick review of the action notes from the last meeting, let's make the first topic the most interesting one. Make sure the agenda sets it as a question not a statement. For example: “How can we increase the diversity of service users?” Rather than a progress report on the organisation's diversity plan.
4. the role of the chair
Should we split into small groups to answer some or all of the questions?
Should we get different people to present and if so, how do you avoid death by PowerPoint?
My research suggests there are three key roles for the chair to facilitate a successful meeting.
Firstly, to set the agenda. Good chairs ask for (and receive) agenda items linked to purpose. They set the tone of an action orientated meeting with a written agenda and a logical interesting set of questions for the meeting to tackle.
Secondly the chair’s role is to actively engage all participants in the meeting so that differences are aired, explored and summarised.
Thirdly the chair will ensure there are clear action points allocated to individuals with a deadline and follow up process to ensure the work is progressed.
other roles in a successful meeting
These tasks, if at all possible, should be delegated to one or more members of the team, for example;
- Arrangement of venue
- Time keeper
- Issue of agenda and any papers
- Minute or action note taker.
If you are not happy with your current meetings. Try one thing from each of the sections in this short blog.
- Review with your team the purpose of the meeting
- Use the purpose to shape the agenda.
- Use ice breakers to get everyone to speak in the meeting within the first five minutes.
- Ensure at least one of the agenda items is a genuine question that you want contributions to before taking a decision.
- Consider adjusting the meeting structure to include break out work (in small groups or pairs) and allow for feedback.
- Practice summarising and identifying next steps.
- If necessary, delegate one or two of the other meeting tasks.