meeting best practices overview

Effective MeetingsMamie Kanfer Stewart

Mamie Kanfer StewartFounder & CEO of Meeteor

We’re about productive meetings.•Web and mobile apps•Workshops, webinars, etc • Blog on best practicesHello!

1/3Of all meetings are unproductive!

Meetings are Everywhere

• The meeting lifecycle

• Meeting preparation

• Meeting participation

• Meeting follow-through

• Next stepsToday’s Agenda

The Unfortunate Truth

• Manage your tasks• Plan meeting agenda• Prepare for meeting conversation

• Facilitate the conversation• Contribute to the conversation• Capture the meeting outcomes

• Share meeting outcomes• Refer to meeting outcomes

The Meeting Lifecycle

MEETING PREPARATION

• How meeting preparation can lead to better meeting results.

• The key components of effective meeting preparation.

What You Will Learn

• Decide if you really need a meeting.

• Ensure the right people are there.

• Determine if you need to be at the meeting.

• Enable others to prepare.

• Know if the meeting was successful.

Why Prepare

for a Meeting

• Why you are meeting (desired outcome)

• What you will do (agenda topics/activities)

• How people can prepare (pre-reading and instructions)

• How people should act (norms)

Agenda Best

Practices

The 6 Meeting Whys

Desired Outcomes : Examples

THIS NOT THAT

List of 5-8 ideas ready to share with

management for their input.

To brainstorm ideas.

Alignment on progress and resolution of open

questions.

To check in with the client and get

feedback.

• Provide context, get people in the room and up to speed.

• Take in the information at the individual’s own pace.

• People do their best thinking (particularly introverts).

• Spend more meeting time discussing content and less time presenting.

The Power

of Prewor

k

THIS NOT THAT

(approx. 10 min) Review attached file and come prepared to answer these questions:• What surprised you?• What concerns you?• What is missing?

Review attached file.

Prework : Examples

• Create shared understanding of what behavior is allowed or preferred.

• Empower participants to engage with greater confidence.

• Serve as a tool to support the meeting facilitator.

The Power

of Norms

THIS

• Share ideas first and reserve judgment for later

• Use a backburner to hold off-topic ideas in order to keep the conversation focused

• Signal when you are inquiring / advocating / playing devil’s advocate

• Avoid “no, but” statements – try to build on the ideas of others with “yes, and”

• Decisions will be made by majority vote• Keep meeting conversation confidential

Norms : Examples

• Ask for an agenda.• Get input from others

on the agenda.• Share the agenda and

prework at least 24 hours in advance.

• Send a reminder for the prework 24 hours in advance or the morning of the meeting.

Tips for Effective Preparati

on

MEETING PARTICIPATION

• Techniques to facilitate and engage in the conversation.

• How note-taking can drive productive conversations.

• The 4 types of meeting notes you should capture. What

You Will Learn

• You don’t need to be the meeting leader.

• You contribute value through your own ideas and eliciting those of others.

Everyone is a

Facilitator

Facilitation

Techniques

LEVERAGE THE AGENDADevelop a thoughtful agenda so it can guide your conversation.

Techniques– Start with a check in– Follow the agenda– Call upon a norm– End with a check out

Facilitation

Techniques

ASK QUESTIONSAsk questions that surface underlying beliefs, values and assumptions.

Techniques– “Say more…” and The 5 Whys– Principles vs preferences

Facilitation

Techniques

SYNTHESIZEListen and push the conversation forward by repeating back what you’re hearing.

Techniques– Mirror and Reflect– Frame options

Facilitation

Techniques

MAKE SPACEInclude activities that support reflection and contribution by all participants.

Techniques– Think then share– Fist of Five

• Drive toward a decision.

• Clarify next steps.• Create alignment.• Keep the meeting on

track.• Keep others

informed.The

Power of

Notes

The Four Types

of Notes

1. NOTESContextual information with minimal future value.

ExampleMamie doesn’t like that the blue call to action buttons are all the same.

The Four Types

of Notes

2. LEARNINGSInsights and big ideas worth remembering.

ExamplePrimary focus for this website is to get people to book a product demo. Secondary focus is to get visitors to subscribe to the blog.

3. DECISIONSAgreements and their explanation.

ExampleDecision: Leave ‘book a demo’ as current button styling and change ‘subscribe to blog’ styling into something different.

Rationale: We need to clearly draw attention to the main action and differentiate between that and the secondary (or any other) action.

The Four Types

of Notes

4. TASKSActions with an owner and due date.

ExampleWhat: Create options for secondary CTA buttons/links.

Who: Dan

When: 8/15/16

The Four Types

of Notes

• Make visual reminders for facilitation techniques.

• Share facilitation responsibility.

• Assign or rotate the note-taking role.

• Wrap up with a review of the Decisions and Next Steps.

• Reference previous notes.

Tips for Effective

Participation

MEETING FOLLOW-THROUGH

• How to measure the success of your meeting.

• How to manage meeting outcomes.

What You Will Learn

• Did you achieve the Desired Outcome?

• Did you stay within time limits?

• How engaged were the meeting participants? (scale of 1-5)

• Were the meeting outcomes acted upon?

Measuring

Success

• Share written documentation (notes) of meeting outcomes.

• Communicate to other stakeholders.

• Transfer critical information.

• Reference outcomes as needed.

Managing

Outcomes

• Everyone needs to prepare for a meeting.

• Norms, asking questions and other techniques can help you facilitate AND engage.

• Capture good meeting notes, confirm them, and share them.

• Be responsible for following through.

Key Takeawa

ys

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Check out the Meeteor Meeting App at

www.meeteor.com@MeeteorHQ

Mamie.kanfer.stewart@meeteor.com@MamieKS

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