Have you ever been in a bad meeting? When did you realize it was going off the rails? Do you purposefully sabotage meetings that are floundering? This week we talk about meetings because we’ve been sucked into and stuck in so many that this episode turns into a bit of therapy. We also have been meeting facilitators, and understand that sometimes work must be accomplished – but how do we get there?

Meeting Tips

Are you leading a meeting? Some questions to ask before your meeting:

• Does every person need to be there?
• Who ISN’T represented there?
• Avoid long introductions about dogs. Maybe do them in chat or via email beforehand
• Have the courage to shove the car out of the mud
• What is the goal of this meeting?
• Creative meetings vs. informative meetings
  • Meetings are not the solution to people not reading email, unless it’s a safety thing.
• Meetings are not therapy sessions – BUT SOMETIMES THEY ARE

Zoom Meetings

• Know how to mute everyone
• Have people raise their hands
• Don’t ask a question to the whole group if it’s over six people
• Have them raise hands or call on people
• Set people up for success in the meeting. If you want to accomplish something in the meeting, let people know ahead of time so that they can think ahead.

Meetings are Like Dinner Parties

• Invite meeting attendees into the meeting as guests.
• Set expectations
• Invite people into conversations who seems to be hanging back.
• Set the table. Even just the presence of food can help grease the wheels.
• Followup afterward with notes and actions to keep everyone on track.

What Some Smart People Have to Say About Meetings

Interesting thoughts on meetings by people that do them prolifically and study them – Meeting Facilitation by Doug Ferguson. They alsotTalk about what to do after the meeting and how to talk about what was accomplished. Suggested Tools: Google Docs, MURAL, Miro, Figma

Why Meetings Go Wrong (HBR) includes some controversial strategies like, banning the mute button. They also suggest that if you’re using an agenda, write it in the form of questions to invite people to think deeply about the points.

Things That Blew Us Away

Rob: A family that walks on all four limbs

Christen: Social loafing! The phenomenon that people working in a group exert less effort when working on a goal together. When is it loafing and when is it letting others run with an idea?