For example, most people need some sort of a “meeting warm-up” to settle in, especially in a virtual setting where it can be difficult to feel connected. As Dick and Emily Axelrod outline in their 2014 book, Let’s Stop Meeting Like This, how people engage depends on how welcome and comfortable they feel. Then consider the tone that will help these individuals contribute their best work. Who needs to be here? As a general rule, invite those who have something to contribute to the purpose, have a key role in decisions, or will be affected by the outcome. Once you have clarified the purpose for yourself, put it into the meeting invitation so people are more prepared to focus when they arrive.Ģ. Then ask yourself, does this need to be real-time? Although live conversations are great for quick back-and-forth and high-intensity conversations, asynchronous chats via Slack, Microsoft Teams, or other tools can allow for more relaxed, ad hoc gathering of ideas or feedback, with automatic documentation. Think about the opportunity or need that led you to connect this particular group: It might be developing a plan, solving a problem, evaluating a risk, deepening relationships, or some combination of the above. Why are we gathering? Designing the right structure depends on your purpose - whether it is a one-time event or a recurring meeting. To get started, consider these four questions.ġ. The key is to step back and think like the “architect” of your meeting, to use the term preferred by my colleague Rick Lent, author of Leading Great Meetings. And even a small investment in meeting design can help you engage your participants, facilitate creativity and collaboration, improve the quality of decisions, and promote motivation and accountability. Yes, it helps to have an agenda and to use check-ins, breakouts, or the coolest whiteboard app, but there are many more options available. One way out of this situation - whether online meetings predominate for the foreseeable future or we transition more quickly back to face-to-face - is to recognize that all meetings need to be actively designed. As we have seen in so many other arenas, the coronavirus pandemic is highlighting a problem that already existed: Meetings need to be better.
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