Comments closed on article linked in "How to Run Effective Meetings" course

Tyler Sellhorn

The How to Run Effective Meetings course links to the What three things would you recommend to your co-worker to help run better meetings? article written by @Andrew DeBell Unfortunately, comments are now closed on that article. This is me posting the comment I had drafted in reply to the prompt in the course:

"What three things would recommend to your co-worker to help run better meetings?"

1. Lean into the "invitation" part of a calendar event and make attendance optional

2. Build-in time to either refresh or engage with the meeting pre-work during the meeting

3. Begin with the end in mind: what are you trying to achieve with this meeting? Could you achieve that outcome without calling a meeting? Use that instead and prioritize everyone's calendar.

Chris Iacovelli

A few I live by and have recommended to my colleagues:

1. Send the agenda in the invite - far too often across way too many companies, the invite has a vague and ambiguous title with no context for the meeting. How are you supposed to prepare without having a general understanding of the intent?!?
2. Check your device at the door - well not literally, but require participants stay focused in the conversation as opposed to listening with one ear/multitasking only to reiterate  discussions when they are respond with "your caught me multitasking, can you repeat that?" Make a "Multitasking Jar" where participants need to pony up a monetary amount when they are caught.
3. Time box/park discussions - often (again across companies and industries) meeting get derailed as participants go down rabbit holes/dive into the weeds of a specific item (be it requirements/tech solution/how does it work today/etc.). Ensure you time box these "meeting derailleurs" to allow enough time to form the parking lot item but not too much time as to shift discussion away from and overtake the agenda.
4. Minutes and Action Items - capture them in short hand, in real time, and restate the take away items at the end of the meeting to ensure none are missed or there were others from participants. Minutes (not detailed notes verbatim) should go out within a business day where salient points are captured, take aways are identified with description/originator/due date/assignee/priority/concerned parties.