lean meetings (athens ruby meetup #25)
TRANSCRIPT
Lean Meetings ...or, How we learned to enjoy and have productive meetings
Hello!I am Nikos DimitrakopoulosI am here because I’m a developer (at heart) who does a lot of meetings. You can find me as nikosd @ github and twitter
Place your screenshot here
How many meetings?
Hello ^ 2!I am Kyriakos KentzoglanakisI am here because I want to be enjoying my lot of meetings (instead of loathing them) You can find me as kkentzo @ github and twitter
What is this presentation about?
▪ Convince you that meetings can be productive and fun.▪ Give some practical tips on how to run meetings.▪ Give some practical tips on how to participate in meetings.
Now some trivia...
Why?
This is what it felt like in e-Travel in regards to meetings.
Most challenging areas
Topics from easiest to hardest:
1. Technical decisions inside a single team2. Cross team technical decisions3. Identification of affected areas & complexity (cross-dept)4. Taking scope/feature decisions (cross-dept)
And?
After some intensive and open sessions with▪ Spyros Adam▪ George Drakopoulos▪ Marilena Papageorgiou▪ Ioannis Karadimas▪ Vasilis Kalligas▪ Tasos Latsas▪ me and Kyriakos
we have prepared and put to use as a pilot inside the company the material that we are going to discuss today.
And?
Common types of meetings
▪ Scrum meetings▪ Code reviews▪ Technical meetings▪ Cross departmental collaboration & syncing▪ HR stuff
Common symptoms of bad meetings
▪ No accomplishment▪ Drifting ▪ Wrong level of abstraction▪ Not enough time▪ Multiple meetings for the same topic
FEAR NOT!It’s simple!
FEAR NOT!It’s simple!… but not easy.
I.The heart of a meeting
#1: Start from the end
The single most important thing for a meeting is a clearly defined and unambiguous goal.
● Two sentences top.● Must answer the “why”.● Must be realistic.● Must be practical.● Must explain what is enabled after the meeting.
#2: Describe the outcomes
What will happen after the meeting?
● What written material will be produced?● What should be handed to participants?
#3: Imagine the how
How will the group achieve what’s needed?
● Start from the end (the goal) and go backwards.● Ask yourself: Is the time sufficient?● Ask yourself: Do we have all people needed?
#4: Define the people needed
Who is needed in order to answer all the questions?
● Those requesting the goal/will benefit from it● Those who are affected from the outcome of the
meeting● Those who will carry out the work needed
As many people as needed but no more.
Summary of Part I
#1. GoalSet a clearly defined and unambiguous goal.
#2. ArtifactsSpecify in advance what will be enabled after the meeting and what are the artifacts of the meeting.
#3. ProcessDefine the tactics that will be used in order to achieve the goal. Ask the proper questions in the right way.
#4. PeopleThink and invite those who are needed in order to answer the questions and those who are affected from the outcome.
Interlude / takeaways
● Using the above you get about 50% of the overall benefit.
● Preparations for a meeting can take from 15 minutes to multiple hours (2 or 3 for a complex meeting).
● Don’t schedule or attend a meeting without the previous well-defined and understood by you.
That’s it?No
I: Preparations II: ??? III: ???
II.The actual meeting
#5: Eyes on the ball
How to keep people focused?
● State the goal & the artifacts upfront.● Keep the goal & the artifacts visible at all times.● When drifting, read aloud the goal.
#6: Explicit constraints
How to prevent people from drifting?
● Collect constraints before the meeting.● State them upfront.● Keep them visible.● Keep visible new ones.● Use them to constraint the discussion.
#7: Respect decisions
How to prevent people from doing loops?
● Collect decisions as they come.● Keep them visible.● Use them to constraint the discussion.
#8: Don’t let the ball drop
● Collect action items as they come.● Keep them visible.● What/Who/When.
Summary of Part II
#5. Visible GoalKeep the goal visible throughout the meeting.
#6. Visible constraintsKeep (new and old) constraints visible throughout the meeting.
#7. Visible decisionsKeep (new and old) decisions visible throughout the meeting.
#8. Visible action itemsCollect and keep action items visible throughout the meeting with clear owner/deadline.
Interlude / takeaways
● Using the above you get an additional 30% of the overall benefit.
● Facilitation skills are built (practice makes perfect)● Be visible, be explicit, be ruthless
That’s it?No
I: Preparations II: Facilitation III: ???
III.After the meeting
#9: Closure & summary
Before breaking up the meeting:
● Review the whether the goal was achieved.● Go through the artifacts (decisions, action items, etc).● Give a big thank you to everyone.
How does it look like?
#10: Share the artifacts
After breaking up:
● Debrief or take screenshots of the artifacts.● Share them with everyone.
Interlude / takeaways
● Using the above you get the last 20% of the overall benefit.
● Should be the simplest one.● Expect 15% time overhead for the facilitator.
Summary of Part III
#9. Closure & summaryShare the feeling of achievement - you earned it!
#10. Share the artifactsMake sure everyone has the material generated.
That’s it?Almost...
I: Preparations II: Facilitation III: Closure
What’s next?
● Advanced tools for the process● Handling difficult topics● Handling difficult people
What’s next?
Are you interested for more info? We are still working on it.
Get in touch.
Thanks!!● Questions?● Feedback?