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Similaire à Effective Meetings
Similaire à Effective Meetings (20)
Effective Meetings
- 1. “ If a problem causes many meetings, the meetings eventually become more important than the problem” “ If you cannot convince them, confuse them” “ The efficiency of a committee meeting is inversely proportional to the number of participants and the time spent on deliberations” “ Never argue with a fool at a meeting. People might not know the difference.”
- 5. The 5 stages of meetings Ritual Reporting Ideas Problem Solving Sharing
- 10. What type are you? Hierarchy Cooperative Autonomous
Notes de l'éditeur
- Organisations need to harness all the good ideas individuals have. Personal commitment of individuals to decisions is far greater when each has been involved in the decision making process. However, managing groups can be frustrating,like herding cats.... If you want nothing to happen, form a committee and give the problem to them. Many groups/committes operate at a very low level of effectiveness - with them being more of a social interaction where everything but the topic is discussed and nothing is decided. It doesn't have to be this way. A well run group can be an effective, efficient, problem solving and decision making entity. How can this be possible? You need to learn the way that groups work. Groups of people, wherever they meet, tend to have certain characteristics and particular stages through which they move. NEXT SLIDE
- HNDOUT - Is your meeting necessary?
- RITUAL STAGE Behaviours - greetings, polite, acknowledgments of each other, kidding around and similar social interventions. May need to spend some time in this stage otherwise some people may not feel secure enough to move onto the next stage. REPORTING STAGE Attendees seek to report the actions of others. Behaviour - statements such as “we tried that once before”; the things that Fred Bloggs did when there was a similar occurrence etc. The reports avoid expressing the individuals own ideas and feelings about the item. Unless the facilitator intervenes the behaviour will continue and not move towards problem solving and decision making. MY IDEAS AND JUDGEMENTS STAGE The first step towards problem solving as individuals start to feel confident enough to risk giving their own opinion. Behaviours include watching others carefully for adverse reactions. The facilitator encourages this type of behaviour by making positive comments about the ideas presented and encouraging others to tell what they think. In a productive group there will be a building of trust and respect which will assist the transition to the next stage. SHARING MY FEELINGS STAGE This is a time of higher trust and tendency to encourage collaboration and feeling of working together on the problem. Behaviours - respect between individuals increases, assisting in ensuring that the agendas each has brought to the meeting become positive in contribution, rather than hindering. PROBLEM SOLVING STAGE Individuals now have high ownership of the decision made and commitment to their implementation. Behaviours - high interest and high energy. Spirit of collaboration prevails.
- Some pointers to move groups to increased effectiveness: All committees and groups should have a clear purpose. The facilitator should, from time to time, remind the group of the purpose or mission that they have. Each meeting should have specific expected outcomes that are listed in the agenda and state what decision is required. Minutes are a useful record BUT do not produce action. Use an action sheet instead. HANDOUT Planner & Action Sheet. DISCUSS
- We need to create distinctions for people in terms of the type of meeting being held, and then manage those expectations. Organisations meet for lots of different reasons and therefore different kinds of meetings require different kinds of conversations. If people aren’t clear about the type of conversation, then the meeting probably won’t achieve a clear outcome. There are 3 types of conversation: Possibility - the group acknowledges it has come together to generate ideas and not to make decisions. The goal is to maximize creativity. Opportunity - Here the goal is not to reach a final decision but to narrow down a field of ideas or options. Here information is gathered, there is some analysis and then options are created and people may take positions. Action - the goal is to decide and commit - such as we want to leave this room with 3 strategic planning priorities for next financial year. You have to make sure everyone understanding these distinctions and discipline will need to be imposed at those meetings. Remember meetings don’t go off topic - people do. Why is this important? Example a brainstorming session (a conversation for possibility) where people won’t speak up incase someone shoots down their idea or worse, it gets turned into an action.
- Always play by the rules of engagement Need to have clear expectations on how people should act. Why is this important? If the meeting lives up to the expectations then people feel they have had a good experience. If the meeting violates those expectations people become upset or withdrawn. Key is to translate the implicit expectations to explicit agreement, such as: Starting and ending on time. All meetings must have a clear objective and the conversation correctly identified. If a clear objective cannot be agreed on in the first 10 minutes then cancel the meeting and reschedule once the objective has been defined clearly. Be clear that not all meetings end with a decision - a decision is a pain killer like panadol. They offer relief from the tension of what lies ahead, from the uncertainty of the world. They can create an illusion of progress - we’ve finally made a decision and don’t have to worry about that issue anymore. It takes courage for a group to end a meeting WITHOUT making a decision. Roles - DISCUSS - Superordinate, Facilitator, scribe, time keeper, participant, administration. Next lets look at how you as the facilitator (or leader) can manage the flow and look after individuals. NEXT SLIDE
- Facilitator should set the RITUAL by greeting everyone - encourage social interaction. Give the group time to respond to the agenda and add items if relevant. Be prepared for the first agenda item to provoke a REPORTING response. Push the group through this stage by asking people what they think as an individual. Remember, it is better to go slowly and thoroughly than push the group and get no commitment. If effective collaboration does not occur the facilitator should evaluate the effectiveness of the decision reached by asking a leading question, “how do you feel about what we have done on this item?” If participants are satisfied - record the decision and the action, confirm it with the group and move on. If the group gets too comfortable and over collaborative there is a danger of groupthink or social loafing occurring. Overcome this by introducing a more task orientated focus “lets see if we can get these two items completed before we break for coffee.” or “We seem to have discussed that enough. Lets move onto the next item.” The facilitator needs to ensure a good balance between concern for the individuals need to feel comfortable and productive and the concern for task accomplishment. So what kind of facilitator are you? NEXT SLIDE
- HIERARCHY You direct the process. Exercise power over the process. You lead from the front by thinking and acting on behalf of the group. COOPERATIVE You share your power over the process. You enable and guide the group to become more self directing by conferring with them. You prompt and help group members to make decisions. AUTONOMOUS You respect the total autonomy of the group. You do not so things for them or with them. You give them freedom to find their own way. You create a condition within which people can exercise full self determination. What does a facilitator do? Moving the meeting using a structured process. Invites bur does not demand equal participation form everyone. Help reach agreement (may not be concensus). Does not take sides or state an opinion. To interpret and restate. Keep the group on task. Free the group of a chairperson. Follow up after meeting.
- Dont worry too much about detailed minutes being taken. Focus instead of 3 categories of information: 1. Decisions reached. 2. Action items that people need to follow up on. 3. Open issues. The recording of these items provides input for future meetings and sharpens the quality of participation. HANDOUT - Group Memory and Action Plans HANDOUT - Questionnaire - get the group to fill it out as a tool to assist discussion.
- ANSWERS Ask which of the 5 stages of meetings do we fall into? Can facilitation techniques and rules of engagement help create a more supportive environment? Look at using the group memory and action template. Assess how the group is going with a meeting maintenance check or a meeting audit survey and discuss with the group.