High Performance Meetings
As organisations grow, so do the numbers of meetings. How to keep them purposeful, efficient, and effective? Here are some of our top tips. What might you add?
Commission
Is the purpose of the meeting clear to everyone?
Are the customers of the meeting clear to everyone?
Are there different meetings for different purposes and “modes” of discussion such as downloads, consultation, collaboration i.e. short tactical check-ins, operational coord, creative/innovation workshops, strategy & key capability offsites.
Do Terms of Reference and/or Codes of Conduct exist for each type of meeting to help colleagues keep things efficient and effective?
Cadence
Is there a drumbeat to the various types of meeting?
Are meetings firmly scheduled and prioritised by the required attendees?
Convene
Are agendas, papers, venues, admin etc. collated and shared in good time?
Are agenda items framed as questions that include their purpose i.e. inquiry-based questions? This helps everyone to think more broadly/systemically; helps “introverts” to reflect in advance; and signals to everyone they will be expected to contribute their points of view.
Climate
Has thought been given to the sort of venue that will best support the kind of discussion required by the meeting’s purpose?
Do colleagues feel welcome, safe to contribute, and safe to challenge?
Have colleagues explored any contentious issues with one another prior to the meeting so that misunderstandings and assumptions can be explored and resolved, or at least clarified?
Chair & Conduct
Does the chair check-in with everyone at the start of a meeting to ensure everyone is fully present, and whether anyone has particular needs to enable this?
Phone on/phones off?
Are attendees’ cultural differences/needs understood, appreciated, and accommodated?
Is the chair a fixed or a rotational role? Is a chair required?
Is the chair’s role clear? For example, does the chair sit above the content of a meeting and steer the process? Are they participant? Are they the customer? Perhaps one or more of these?
Does the chair remind attendees of the purpose of the meeting; and steer the process to support this?
Does the chair, and/or colleagues, have the awareness and skills to steer discussion towards debate or dialogue as appropriate?
Do colleagues call out the chair, or other colleagues, when discussions become too narrow, stalled, or otherwise unconstructive?
Have chairs been allocated for absent colleagues, key stakeholders, and the 13th Fairy (a metaphor for a forgotten or overlooked guest from the fairy tale “Sleeping Beauty”).
Is it assumed the “boss” is the chair? Why? What are the risks that he/she will lose sight of the meeting process and time if they are also immersed in the agenda items?
Commit
Does the climate allow everyone to commit to decisions even if their contributions have been rejected?
Are actions clearly scoped and owned?
Communicate
Is there an effective mechanism in place to communicate actions and decisions in a timely manner to stakeholders?
Have any disclosure issues been considered and agreed?
Do colleagues fully own and promote the key messages from the meeting? (“Cabinet loyalty”).
Collaborate & Complete
Do colleagues collaborate readily over cross-cutting actions, and hold one another accountable for their contributions without requiring escalation to the chair/customer?
Are actions tracked on a shared tool (e.g. using RAG) so that subsequent meetings don’t waste time on verbal reporting, and can focus instead on priority outstanding actions?
Continuous Review
Do colleagues remain creatively critical of the process and contribute suggestions for improvement?
Is there a formalised process of review?
