Running a meeting
The types of meeting, the three stages of a meeting (before, during, after), the roles, the facilitator's three functions and the response to five difficult participants.
- 25 cards
- 5 topics
- Free
The outline, topic by topic
Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.
- Concepts
- Questions
- Sort and link
- Scenarios
- Understand
A few cards from the deck
Agenda: what is it?
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The list of points to cover, in order, with a duration for each and, ideally, the expected outcome.
An agenda that only lists topics (“Project update”) does not prevent drift. Each item must say what you want out of it: a decision, an item of information, a list of ideas.
The team has to choose between two libraries for the project. Which type of meeting is this?
- A decision meeting
- An information meeting
- A creativity meeting
- An exchange meeting
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A decision meeting
The aim is to settle, which requires a decision mode known in advance (consensus, vote, an owner who decides). Information flows down, exchange compares viewpoints, creativity produces ideas without choosing.
A meeting runs in three stages: … (objective, invitation), … (facilitation) and … (minutes, follow-up of actions).
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A meeting runs in three stages: before (objective, invitation), during (facilitation) and after (minutes, follow-up of actions).
A badly prepared meeting is rarely saved during, and a meeting with no follow-up changes nothing: the time after serves to check the actions progress.
Round table: what is it?
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A moment when each participant speaks in turn, without being interrupted.
It gives the floor to the quiet ones and stops the talkative from setting the direction alone. It is used at the start, to collect expectations, or at the end, to check everyone leaves in agreement.
An hour of meeting, no decision, everyone leaves with their own version. Which fix is most effective for the next one?
- Invite more people so that every position is represented
- Make the meeting longer so everyone has time to elaborate
- Send everyone their own notes to compare
- Write the objective at the top of the agenda and read out the decision log before leaving
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Write the objective at the top of the agenda and read out the decision log before leaving
Without a stated objective the talk has no aim; without a closing summary each person keeps what suits them. A decision log read aloud fixes a shared version.