1. Create and Use a Detailed Agenda

Each meeting must have an agenda that's been developed ahead of time and ratified by the members of the team. By having the agenda in advance of the meeting, members can do their homework and come prepared to make decisions.

Agendas should include:

1. ____ the name of each topic, its purpose, and expected outcome
2. ____ time guidelines for each agenda item
3. ____ the name of the person bringing each item forward
4. ____ the details of the process to be used for each discussion

If the agenda can't be designed in advance for whatever reason, then the first order of business at the meeting should be agenda building. In this facilitated discussion, members design the agenda for that day's session.

2. Develop Step-by-Step Process Notes

Most of the books that have been written on meetings do not mention process notes, largely because these books are geared toward meetings that will be chaired rather than facilitated.

When a meeting is facilitated, there must be detailed process notes for each agenda item. These notes specify how the discussion will be facilitated. They specify the tools to be used and how participation will be managed.

In the following sample agenda, we've added process notes to illustrate their important role. While some facilitators keep these design notes to themselves, it's often a good idea to openly share the process notes with the group.

(Examples of detailed process notes can be found in Chapter Ten.)

3. Clarify Roles and Responsibilities

Effective meetings require people to play defined roles, such as those described below.

Chairperson: runs the meeting according to defined rules, but also offers opinions and engages in the discussion if he or she chooses. The chairperson has traditionally not been neutral. Most often, the chairperson of any meeting is the official leader, who plays an active role as both decision-maker and opinion leader.

Facilitator: designs the methodology for the meeting, manages participation, offers useful tools, helps the group determine its needs, keeps things on track, and periodically checks on how things are going. A facilitator doesn't influence what is being discussed, but instead focuses on how issues are being discussed. A facilitator is a procedural expert who is there to help and support the group's effectiveness.

Minute taker: takes brief, accurate notes of what's discussed and the decisions made. Also responsible for incorporating any notes on flip charts. Most often, minute-taking responsibilities are rotated among the regular members of a work group. However, for special meetings or if resources allow, this role can be assigned to a neutral outsider.

Timekeeper: a rotating role in which someone keeps track of the time and reminds the group about milestones periodically. Not a license to be autocratic or shut down important discussions if they're running over. The use of an automatic timer will allow the timekeeper to participate in the discussion.

Scribe: a group member who volunteers to help the facilitator by recording group comments on a flip chart. Some facilitators are more comfortable asking others to make notes on the flip chart while they facilitate. This has the benefit of freeing the facilitator from the distraction of writing, but adds its own complications. The scribe may start facilitating or may not take accurate notes. Since having a scribe takes an additional person out of the discussion, it is an impractical strategy for small groups. It is a standard practice for facilitators to make their own notes. If a scribe is used, clarifying questions should always be channeled through the facilitator, instead of the scribe interacting directly with the members.

Balancing the Roles of Chairperson and Facilitator

Chairing and facilitating are two, distinct meeting-management roles. Each has its purpose and place.

Chairing is most useful at the start of a meeting in order to review past minutes, share information, and manage a round-robin report-back by members.

Chairing traditionally relies on the use of pre-published rules of order.

Since chairs are not neutral, their major drawback is that they tend to influence decisions and concentrate power. It's not uncommon for a strong chairperson to make final decisions on important items.

A consequence of this decision mode is that the chair “owns” the outcome. There's also little emphasis on using process tools by traditional chairpersons.

Facilitating is designed to foster the full and equal participation of all members for items on which their input is needed. Because facilitators are neutral, they empower members. They rely on consensus and collaboration to reach important decisions. This results in decisions for which the whole group feels it has ownership.

Facilitation creates rules from within the group, rather than imposing rules from a book. Facilitation is also associated with a rich array of tools and techniques designed to create synergy and obtain better ideas.

A very common role arrangement is to have a meeting leader who uses a chairperson approach to start the meeting and review the agenda, take care of the housekeeping and information-sharing portions of the session, and then switch to facilitation in order to obtain input on specific topics.

All good facilitators should know when and how to act as effective chairpersons. Conversely, it would be ideal if all chairpersons were also skilled facilitators, who could switch roles whenever it was desirable to get participation and ownership.

With advance planning, these roles don't need to conflict. The keys are to remember that each has its place and to be clear about which approach is being used in which situations.

In Summary

4. Set Clear Meeting Norms

Make sure that the group has clear norms for behavior and that those norms are created by the group. Help the group tailor its norms to meet the demands of particular meetings by engaging members in setting targeted norms if they are needed. (Refer to the conflict management norms on pages 137 and 138.)

5. Manage Participation

Make sure that everyone is part of the discussion, that structure exists for each item, that there's effective use of decision-making tools, and that closure is achieved for all items.

Facilitators are responsible for ensuring that members know and exhibit effective group behaviors. If members lack group skills, facilitators need to conduct simple training exercises, such as those, suggested on pages 92 to 95 in Chapter Six.

6. Make Periodic Process Checks

Process checking is a technique to use during meetings to keep things on track. This involves stopping the discussion periodically to redirect member attention to how the meeting is going. The purpose of this shift in focus is to engage members in a quick review in order to identify needed improvements.

There are four elements in process checking:

1. Check the purpose: Ask members whether they're still clear about the focus of the meeting, to make sure everyone is still on the same page.
   1. When to check the purpose: If the conversation seems to be stuck, or if people seem to be confused; at least once per session.
2. Check the process: Ask members whether the tool or approach being used is working or needs to be changed. “Is progress being made?” Ask for or offer suggestions for another approach.
   1. When to check the process: When the process tool being used isn't yielding results, or it's evident that the process isn't being followed as originally designed.
3. Check the pace: Ask whether things are moving too quickly or too slowly. Implement suggestions for improving the pace.
   1. When to check the pace: When things seem to be dragging or moving too fast; any time people look frustrated; at least once per session/meeting.
4. Check the people: Ask members how they're feeling. Are they energized? Tired? Do they feel satisfied or frustrated? Ask for their suggestions about how to change energy levels.
   1. When to check the people: Any time people look distracted, frustrated, or tired; at least once during each session.

One of the most common challenges in meetings is when the wheels start spinning and the discussion gets stuck. Getting stuck is a cue to conduct a process check. This intervention goes something like this:

• “I'm noticing that points are being repeated but nothing is being decided.”
• “Are you stuck? Why is this happening?”
• “Is anyone confused about the topic under discussion?”
• “Is the approach being used working or do we need to try something else?”
• “Are we moving too fast, too slow?”
• “How are people feeling? What can we do to start moving again?”

Although process checks are usually done verbally, they can also be conducted in the form of a survey posted on a flip chart. Members are invited to anonymously rate how the meeting is going, usually as they leave the room for a break. When members return, they are asked to interpret the survey results and brainstorm ideas for improving the remainder of the session. All practical suggestions are implemented.

7. Determine Next Steps

Never let a group leave a meeting without clear next steps in place. This means defining what will be done, by whom, and when. These action plans need to be brought forward at all subsequent meetings to make sure that the group is following through on commitments.

8. Evaluate the Meeting

Effective groups make it a habit of routinely evaluating meeting effectiveness.

There are three basic ways to evaluate a meeting:

1. Conduct a Force-Field Analysis—this involves asking:
   1. “What were the strengths of today's meeting?” (+)
   2. “What were the weaknesses?” (−)
   3. “What should we do to correct the weaknesses?” (Rx)
2. Post an Exit Survey—three to four questions are written on a sheet of flip-chart paper and posted near an exit. Members fill it out upon leaving the meeting. The results are brought forward and discussed at the start of the next meeting. On the next page you'll find a sample of exit survey elements.
3. Implement a Written Survey—create a survey and distribute it to members to complete anonymously. After tabulation, the results are discussed at a subsequent meeting. This is an appropriate exercise to be done three or four times a year for any ongoing group or team. A sample written Meeting Effectiveness Survey is provided on page 172 of this chapter. The survey feedback process is described on pages 213 and 214 of Chapter Ten of this book.

Before the Meeting

• Contact participants by phone or email to seek their input to the agenda.
• Create a detailed agenda, with process notes, that identifies the various types of conversations that will be held (information sharing, planning, problem solving, relationship building).
• Identify who needs to be involved and for which segments of the call, plus the information that each participant needs to prepare.
• Distribute the agenda to the participants so they can do their homework and dial in to the call at the time they'll be needed.

At the Start of the Virtual Meeting

• Conduct a roll call to establish that people are engaged and ready to proceed. If applicable, invite each person to state what he or she wants to get out of the meeting. Record these personal goals and refer to them throughout the meeting to help keep people engaged and let them know you have them in mind.
• Create a name map on a blank sheet of paper in front of you. Beside each name, write down the person's stated goal for the session. As the meeting progresses, make a check mark beside people's names every time they speak. This will remind you of who is on the line and what each of them needs from the session. It will also help you identify the people who need to be brought into the conversation.
• Review the agenda to clarify the overall purpose of the call, the purpose and process for individual segments, and the time associated with each segment. Also be clear about who needs to be part of which conversations.
• Clarify the rules of the meeting. This can be a facilitated conversation, or you can propose a core set of rules that participants can amend and ratify. The following rules are provided as an example of norms that will help improve the quality of any virtual meeting.

During the Virtual Meeting

• At the start of each topic, review the purpose, process, and time frame for each item.
• Call on people by name, both to present and to comment on what others have said. Keep track of who is getting airtime.
• Periodically make process checks to ensure that things are still on track.
• To bring closure to a topic, offer a summary of the key points that were made. If it was a decision-making discussion, turn the summary into a decision statement, then conduct a roll call to ask them to accept the final decision.
• Help the group create action plans for any topics that need them. Encourage people to take responsibility for follow-through.

At the End of the Virtual Meeting

• Review the summaries for each topic and the action steps that have been identified.
• Invite each person to say whether his or her goal for the meeting has been achieved or to make a statement of what he or she takes from the meeting.
• Conduct a brief post-meeting evaluation by asking people to identify what worked or did not work and ideas to improve future sessions. If this is impractical, create an evaluation form online and deploy it through email.
• Share details about when and how the minutes will be shared.
• Identify any future teleconferences.
• Express thanks for everyone's participation and sign off.

To help you have more effective virtual meetings, refer to the virtual agendas that are part of each structured conversation in Chapter Eleven.