Elle Oliver - Professional Development Consultant, Northrop Grumman Space Technology

CREATING EFFECTIVE
MEETINGS
Course Objectives
and Outcomes
You Will Learn:
• The IMPORTANCE of planning and preparing
tools and techniques to help ACCOMPLISH
more at meetings.
• Reasons and best practices for DIFFERENT
types of meetings.
• How to deal with BEHAVIOR that detracts from
effectiveness at meetings.
• How to create feelings of TIME WELL SPENT
for meeting participants.
 Questions About
Meetings
Describe the most common problems with meetings (either from the leader
or participant perspective).

Describe characteristics of a best or successful meeting (either from the

leader or participant perspective).

What types of meetings do you typically attend?

What types of meetings do you typically conduct?

What percentage of your time is spent in meetings? _________

What are Your Pet Peeves?
 AGENDA
Introduction 10 minutes
Introductions and course overview

Meeting Effectiveness 30 minutes

Why do we have meetings?
Planning/Preparation:
RE-1: Required? Types of Meetings
RE-2: Readiness?
RE-3: Restraints?
RE-4: Record?
RE-5: Regulate? Problem solving tools/techniques
RE-6: Review?
RE-7: Results?

Enhancing Contribution 15 minutes

Group Exercise
Wrap-Up 5 minutes
MEETINGS ?
We meet because people
holding different jobs have to cooperate to get a
specific task done. We meet because the knowledge and experience
needed in a specific situation are not available in one head,
but have to be pieced together out of the knowledge
and experience of several people.*

*Dr.. Peter Drucker, The Effective Executive

MEETING
2
EFFECTIVENESS 1 3

1. QUALITY-- Achieve Objectives

2. TIME -- Use the Minimum Amount

3. Satisfaction of ALL participants

TYPES OF MEETINGS:
•

Information Giving
‹ One-way
Information communication
Giving
‹ Disseminate
information
‹ Advise

‹ Update

‹ Non-participative
•
 TYPES OF MEETINGS:
Information Exchanging
‹ Two-way
communication
‹ Share
information/ideas
‹ Staff reports

‹ Performance
discussion
‹ Participative
 TYPES OF MEETINGS:
Information Creating

‹ Open
communication
‹ Make decisions
‹ Solve problems
‹ Discuss ideas
‹ Participative
Information Creating
 The
Meeting Process

The “RE-7” Approach:

RE-1: REQUIRED?

RE-2: READINESS?

RE-3: RESTRAINTS?

RE-4: RECORD?

RE-5: REGULATE?

RE-6: REVIEW?

RE-7: RESULTS?
 Is This Meeting Necessary ?
What is the Is this

PURPOSE the right

of this meeting? TIME ?

What

will happen if I don’t call this

MEETING?

What How

ALTERNATIVES MUCH will this

do I have? meeting COST?

 Am I Ready?
is the end result I expect to
1 What achieve through a meeting? 2 Who
Accept reports – gain clarity - validate information
Reach a group decision Train participants
Analyze or solve problem Resolve conflicts
Gain acceptability for ideas Generate new ideas
Communicate information to group - Consistency

3 What 4
Kind of environment do I need to
When
promote?
Set up will I need?
Constraints or limitations do I have?

5 Where 6 What Do I need to cover in the meeting

to get the results I want?
Create a plan… What should the
agenda include?

Send out agenda 24 hrs.

prior to the meeting!
What Are My Restraints?

Who Will Record the Meeting?

Assign someone to capture meeting minutes. Include the following items:
• Who attended?
• What decisions were agreed on?
• What assignments/action items were
made and to whom?
• Are there any open items remaining?
• What will be the topic for the next meeting?
• When will the next meeting be held?
• Who will be attending?
 How Do I Regulate the Interaction?
Balance Leading and Facilitating

Leading means stating your Facilitating a group involves

case, providing information creating a vacuum or “void” for
or opinion, making others to fill. Sincere questions
proposals, stating and accomplish this goal.
enforcing rules. We lead
by making statements.
Leading Provides
Control

Facilitating Creates
Participation

Leading Has Value Facilitation Increases Results

You can get people involved by leading and Through facilitation, you serve the group
Controlling. Usually, this will involve the and let its members be the stars, so
Outgoing and aggressive people in the group essential to learning.
who will offer their advice.
Leadership/Facilitation Techniques

‹ Initiating ‹ Gate-Keeping
‹ Information or Opinion Seeking ‹ Sharing Feelings
‹ Use of Data ‹ Encouraging
‹ Information or Opinion Giving ‹ Group Sensitivity
‹ Clarifying and Elaborating ‹ Harmonizing/Compromising
‹ Summarizing ‹ Approval/Acceptance
‹ Terminating ‹ Checking Decisions
INEFFECTIVE MEETING BEHAVIORS

Tendency to Show Off: Good ideas get lost with the special effects, taking time,
slowing momentum and blurring sense of purpose.

Critiquing/Criticizing everyone’s ideas, stifling others’ creativity.

Self-Focused/Dominating: Thinking that their assignment is the only reason for

the meeting, they dominate the entire meeting.

Rambling from topic: Talk about items other than those pertinent to the topic
at hand, derailing leader’s and participants’ trains of thought.

Whispering: Share ideas with another individual only, eliminating opportunity for
new input, intimidating other participants and undercutting the spirit of the
group.

Overzealous: Tendency to continue selling even when the point has already been
made.
MEETING RULES
• Listen.
• Start and end on time.
• Actively participate.
• Don’t interrupt when someone is speaking.
• Ask questions to gain clarity/understanding.

MEETING ROLES

• Leader

• Facilitator

• Member/Participant
Ideas
Poor communication
no agenda
starts late

• Scribe

• Minute-taker
REVIEW
During the meeting periodically review what
has been said.
Spend the last few minutes of the meeting
doing the following:

Be sure to summarize key points and decisions.

Restate agreed upon action items and deadlines.

Request next meeting agenda topics.

RESULTS
Get feedback on meeting effectiveness.

Distribute meeting minutes within 24hrs.

Follow up with those with action

items prior to next meeting.
 Problem-Solving Meetings

1. Define the problem.

2. Analyze the problem.
3. Generate several possible solutions.
4. Select one solution and plan its
implementation.
5. Implement the solution.
6. Evaluate the solution.
 Brainstorming Technique
MIND MAPPING

PROBLEM/ISSUE
Cause & Effect Analyses

FISHBONE DIAGRAM

MATERIALS METHOD

EFFECT
ENVIRONMENT
PEOPLE
Cause & Effect Analyses
CHAIN OF CAUSES (FIVE WHY’S)
Cause & Effect Analyses

FORCEFIELD ANALYSIS

PROMOTING LIMITING
FACTORS FACTORS
 More Techniques

‹ Consensus
‹ Process Mapping
‹ Parking Lot
‹ Multi-Voting
‹ Affinity Diagram
‹ Debrief
 Interventions
GROUP OR MEMBER(S):
‹ Difficulty Completing Work ‹ Not Contributing
‹ Conflict Over Priorities ‹ Goes Directly to Solutions
‹ Conflict Over Resources ‹ Conflict Over Expectations
‹ Resisting Change ‹ Arrive Late/Leave Early
‹ Too Angry to Work ‹ Influence When Not the
‹ Too Busy to Discuss Problem Facilitator
 SIX THINKING HATS
• Neutral & objective
• Pure facts & figures
• Imitates the computer
• Identifies info that’s missing
• Never your own opinion
• Symbolizes sunshine, brightness
and optimism
• Positive and constructive
• Probes for value & benefit
• Strives to find logical support
• Permits vision & dreams
• Creative thinking
• The search for alternatives
• Doesn’t have to be logical
• Movement replaces judgment
• Generates new concepts and new
perceptions
• Legitimizes emotions & feelings
• Fears, likes, dislikes, loves, hates
• No need to give reasons or the basis
• Allows exploring feelings of others
• “This is how I feel”
• Critical negative judgment
• Risk analysis
• Logical reasons must be given
• Points out dangers & potential
problems
• Points out faults in a design
• The “control” hat
• Organizes the thinking
• Sets the focus
• Responsible for summaries,
overviews & conclusions
• Ensures that rules are observed
Helpful Reference Materials
‹ Meetings That Work! by Marlene
Caroselli, Ed.D.
‹ Six Thinking Hats by Edward DeBono
‹ Mindmapping by Joyce Wycoff
‹ How to Make Meetings Work by
Doyle/Strauss
‹ Making Meetings Happen by Robert
Burns
‹ Effective Meeting Skills by Marion
Haynes
‹ We’ve Got to Start Meeting Like This
by Robert Kausen
‹ Making Meetings Work Series by
Career Track
Summary