{"id":17524,"date":"2019-01-04T08:25:49","date_gmt":"2019-01-04T12:25:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/?p=17524"},"modified":"2022-04-13T12:07:20","modified_gmt":"2022-04-13T16:07:20","slug":"how-to-make-meetings-more-effective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tiie.w3.uvm.edu\/blog\/how-to-make-meetings-more-effective\/","title":{"rendered":"How to make meetings more effective"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good meetings can be hard to find<\/h1>\n

\"self-analysisWe’ve all been there:\u00a0<\/span>staff meetings that could have been an email or team meetings spent admiring problems and getting nowhere. And I’m not claiming innocence here:\u00a0 I’m definitely guilty of creating bullet list agendas or meeting with no agenda (or outcome) at all.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But over the past couple of years, I’ve upped my meeting game. I’ve gathered some awesome tips and tricks, and I’m here to share.<\/p>\n

The only 7 reasons for meetings<\/h2>\n

Last fall, I was an eager student at one of Elena Aguilar’s Art of Coaching Teams workshops<\/a>.\u00a0 This training was chock full of brilliance, and I’ve put so much of it into action already. For example, did you know that there are (only) seven reasons to meet? For real. Check it out. Here they are, in no particular order:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Share information<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Learn something<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Solve a problem<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Make decisions<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. Plan<\/span><\/li>\n
  6. Build community<\/span><\/li>\n
  7. Set goals, calibrate, & reflect<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Of course, there are caveats for each of these.\u00a0 Take reason 1, for example, sharing information: if it can be done via email you don’t need to meet! Brilliant! And collaboration should be central to the meeting: otherwise, why are we meeting? The big takeaway here is that you should know the purpose of your meeting at the start.\u00a0 Or better yet, when you draft the agenda.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \"A<\/a>
    I knew it would be a great workshop when Rumi was quoted on the table tents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

     <\/p>\n

    A good agenda is crucial to an effective meeting<\/span><\/h2>\n

    A well-crafted agenda is a beautiful thing. It gently guides the group to a preset outcome or goal. It can create the space to connect and laugh and learn together, it can clarify how (and if) a decision will be made, and it can nudge us back on track if (when) we digress.<\/p>\n

    But it takes some time and thought to prepare an effective agenda. I’ve heard some recommendations that suggest that building the agenda should take almost as long as the meeting itself! Of course, we don’t always have time for that.\u00a0 But I have a few tips that can help streamline the process.<\/p>\n

    State your purpose<\/h3>\n
    A solid agenda begins with a clear outcome (or two or three). What is the purpose of the meeting? What will be accomplished by the end of the meeting? You should be able to articulate the outcome in one to three bullets. For example:<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n