I previously wrote a series of articles titled “Successful Meetings in High Performing Organisations” on how to run extremely efficient and effective meetings. In the series I deep dive on a set of practices and actions to have successful and satisfying meetings. More important than the practices are the core principles behind them and the mindset required to build up a disciplined approach to meetings. Think of them as a flexible set of golden rules to have quality time while producing value at work.
Here are the links to read the full series:
Successful Meetings in High Performing Organisations — Part 1: Before the meeting
Successful Meetings in High Performing Organisations — Part 2: During the meeting
Successful Meetings in High Performing Organisations — Part 3: After the meeting
Whilst it is everyone’s responsibility to collaborate efficiently and effectively, especially during meetings, there are different actions that can be taken at turn by organizers and participants. Collecting notes from various training, books, courses, experiences during over 15 years of my career, I am going to share with you two checklists.
You can read the meeting participant checklist at this link.
Below the handy checklist for facilitators.
Before the meeting
Is this meeting necessary?
Are you clear if you need a purpose or process meeting?
Is the meeting goal clear?
Have you listed the required and the optional attendees?
If you hypothetically need more than two pizzas to feed the whole audience, can you reduce the scope of the meeting?
Have you checked attendees availability?
Have you included a date, time and venue?
Have you separated mission and process agenda items?
Have you estimated time frames for the agenda items?
Have you clarified and stated the required outcomes for each agenda item?
Have you assigned owners to each agenda item?
Have you attached any required documentation?
Have you issued an effective agenda?
Have you completed your deliverables?
Have you published the agenda in advance?
Did you ensure the room and equipment are booked and ready prior to the meeting?
During the meeting
Have you started the meeting on time?
Have you reviewed the meeting purpose with the participants?
Have you agreed and shared the ground rules?
Have you assigned appropriate roles to the attendees?
Do you have an inclusion activity to create an equity norm state? (for purpose meetings)
Do you ensure that the meeting had a group memory, if applicable?
Did you prepare and explain activities, methods, formats to be used?
Do you brainstorm?
Do you stick to the ground rules?
Are other roles (time keeper, note keeper, presenter) participating effectively?
Is anyone deviating from the agenda?
Do you agree and utilise a decision-making method?
Are you listening actively?
Do you use constructive confrontation techniques?
Are you contributing to the meeting?
Do you ensure that the participants stick to the meeting process?
Does everyone have the chance to speak and to be listened to?
Do you record outcomes, actions and deliverables?
Are you using the SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound) goal format?
Do record action owners and due dates?
Have you noted the attendees at the meeting?
Have you closed the meeting effectively?
Have you ended the meeting on time?
After the meeting
Did you summarise key decisions?
Did you summarise key outcomes?
Did you note all the deliverables, owners and due dates? (preferably in SMART format)
Did you publish or send out concise notes within 24 hours?
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I write about organizational patterns, transformational leadership, healthy businesses, high-performing teams, future of workplace, culture, mindset, biases and more. My focus is in leading, training, and coaching teams and organizations in improving their agile adoption. Articles are the result of my ideas, studies, reading, research, courses, and learning. The postings on this site and any social profile are my own and do not represent or relate to the postings, strategies, opinions, events, situations of any current or former employer.
This article has been published for the first time on danieledavi.com by the author Daniele Davi’.
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