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Lesson#37
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EFFECTIVE TEAM MEETINGS
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EFFECTIVE TEAM MEETINGS
Team Meetings
Team meetings keep members informed and provide a forum for problem solving,
decision-making,
and innovation. Meetings, when productive, are also one of the primary ways to
develop team member
relationships, enthusiasm, and spirit.
Effective Meetings at Work: Focused, Crisp and Short
Why Do We Love Meetings?
o Get full attention
o Learn Things
o Uncover Information
o Follow-up questions can be answered
right away
o Full Review of material/activities
o Efficient form of decision making
o Accountability
o Opportunity to prepare
Why Do We Hate Meetings?
o Technology is not helping,
videoconferencing too expensive, teleconferencing is inadequate
o Virtual teams need better tools
o No clear purpose
o Attendees come unprepared
o Meeting overload
o Outlook/Time Tracker not used
consistently
o No agenda
o Too much time wasted
Do We Need to Meet?
o The purpose of a meeting is…… to
utilize the talents of all present? Share Info?
o You get feedback from all
o Who decides to meet?
o Who needs to be there?
o Which meetings can we eliminate?
o What are the alternatives to
meetings?
Types of Meetings
o Leadership/Management: to
review the overall organization performance, setting up new
goals and targets, headed by CEO, or Chairman.
o Department Specific: to review
the departmental performance, headed by the head of
department.
o Project Management: to review
the overall project performance, headed by Project Director
or Project Manager.
o Other Meetings
o Quarterly Business Review:
to review the quarterly progress report of all the
departments in the organization.
o Client Specific: to meet with
specific client/customer to discuss the business matters
etc.
o Functional Team: meeting with
in the department between different teams exist in one
department.
o Special Project: meeting on
special project
o Performance Review (1-1): to
review the performance
o Others: a number of
unscheduled meetings has also arranged on different level of organization.
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Meeting Techniques:
o Ask yourself, "Is this meeting
really necessary?"
o Have a goal for the meeting. What do
you want to accomplish?
o Have an agenda with clearly stated
items and the amount of time to be allotted each one. Send
out the agenda at least one day ahead of the meeting.
o Limit attendance and appoint a
leader.
o Stay focused on the agenda. If a new
topic is introduced, add it to the list of future agenda items
or negotiate with the group if it should be discussed now. Have a clock in the
room.
o Strive to get everyone involved in
the discussion, avoid domination by one or two members.
o Foster rigorous debate and
brainstorming, while respecting each other's opinions.
o Use visual aids. Have a flip chart
and use it.
o Keep minutes of the key points raised
and actions to be taken, then follow up.
o Do a two-minute evaluation of the
meeting. Ask everyone what went well… what could be
improved.
Better Meetings
o Preparing for the meeting
• What’s the purpose of the meeting?
• Suggest an agenda
• Send in advance
• Invite revisions
o Listening
• In most cases, spend most of your time
on listening.
• Ask questions to guide the meeting and to
insure that soft-spoken contributors are
heard
• Help moderate the dominating
non-contributors
o Concluding
• Summarize key accomplishments of the
meeting
• Note next steps
• Assess how you might improve next time
Meeting Roles
o Primary facilitator
• Responsible for organizing the meeting
and guiding the execution.
• Writes the agenda describing objective and
scope of meeting.
• Distribute the agenda to the meeting
participants
o Minute taker
• Responsible for recording the meeting.
• Identifies action items and issues
• Release them to the participants
o Time keeper
• Responsible for keeping track of time
The Meeting Process
o Plan
o Start
o Conduct
o Close
o Follow Up
Planning Meetings
o Objectives
• Idea and purpose of the meeting should
clearly define. And conveyed to the all
participants.
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o Participants and assignments
• Who should attend the meeting? Meeting
member with the organization. In case of
external member, informed him before the time.
• Advance preparation, if any
o Agenda
• Necessary activities related with
meeting
• Prioritize the activities.
o Date, Time, and Place
• Optimal time of day, which will be
given by the chair of the meeting
• Maximum length of meeting
• Logistics and technology
o Leadership: who will chair the
meeting? CEO, departmental heads.
o Written plan
• Advance distribution to attendees of
the four items listed above
o The Meeting Process: Planning
• Ensure all team members are aware of
meeting time and location – address possible
barriers to attendance.
• Reserve meeting room before the meeting.
• Prepare materials for each participant
equally.
• Follow-though on commitments made at
last team meeting
o Before the Meeting
• Set agenda in advance and
distribute: Have a clear agenda -- and stick to it. Watch out
for tangents or brainstorming at the wrong times. Keep track of side issues for
later
discussion
• Confirm attendance or early regrets
• Contribute to agenda in advance
• Prepare your discussion items
• Read draft materials to be discussed
• Bring all relevant materials
• Arrive 5 minutes before meeting
• Identify each type of issue on agenda
• FYI -- Communicate
• BS -- Brainstorming
• PS -- Problem Solving
• DECIDE -- Decision needed
Role of Team Members
• Contribute agenda items
• Contribute to discussions
• Practice & encourage active listening
• Follow through on tasks of Partnership
Agreement
• Share appropriate information with
co-workers
Tips and Tricks – Before Meeting
• Know your audience/participants
• Know your agenda/topics
• Know the objectives you want to achieve
• Do the homework before meeting
• Know the room/seating arrangements
• Feel good about how you look
• Assign time frames and discussion leader
to each item
• Updates on decision taken during
previous/last meeting (action taken)
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The Meeting Process: Start
• Arrive early
• Set up the room
• Greet team members
• Reach consensus on an agenda
• Set or review team rules
• Begin within a few minutes of scheduled
start time
The Meeting Process: Conduct
• Cover one agenda item at a time
• Manage discussions
• Maintain focus and pace
• Address and work through conflicts
The Meeting Process: Close
• Summarize decisions
• Review action items & discuss “homework”
• Schedule next meeting(s)
• Evaluate the meeting
• Thank team members
The Meeting Process: Follow Up
• Distribute meeting notes/minutes
promptly
• Fill agendas, notes, and other documents
• Follow-through on activities
Meeting Length and Frequency
Things to try:
• Shorter meetings
• More frequent meetings
• Cut meetings short if necessary, and
reconvene later
Meeting Room Facilities
Audiovisual
_ A computer of the
appropriate spec
_ Intranet and internet access
_ A projector/Multimedia
_ Video Conferencing (if
required)
_ Seating arrangement should
suit the purpose of the meeting
_ Auditorium-style to promote
efficient one-way information delivery
_ In the round to encourage
cross-team communication
Virtual Team Meetings
• Include all participants as
facilitators and discussion initiators
• Ask specifically to each remote member
to contribute
• Be sensitive to time zone issues, vary
times
• Technology must be the best as possible
_ Video-conferencing,
teleconferencing
• Build in social time before and after
scheduled work meeting
• Include recognition of key efforts out in
all locations
• Schedule special events when teammates get
together face to face |
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