1. Meetings: Leadership and Productivity
Lectures Based on
Leadership Communication, 4th edition
By Deborah J. Barrett, Ph.D.
Copyright © 2014 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.

2. Discussion Topics Deciding when a meeting is the best forum
Planning a meeting
Conducting a productive meeting
Reviewing purpose, end products, and agenda
Establishing roles and ground rules
Using common problem-solving methods
Managing meeting problems and conflict
Ensuring meetings lead to action
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3. Deciding When a Meeting is the Best Forum
To determine if a meeting is the best forum, ask yourself the following questions:
What is the purpose? What do I hope to accomplish?
Will a meeting accomplish that purpose most efficiently? Most effectively?
Can I describe exactly the outcome I am seeking from the meeting?
Is our group more productive when we meet?
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4. Planning a Meeting Clarify purpose, objectives, and end products
Decide on the following:
Attendees
Location, equipment, and room layout
Materials needed before and during
Meeting timing
Decision-making approach
Create the agenda
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5. Clarifying the Purpose and End Products
Before the meeting or at the beginning, write out and agree on your purpose and objectives.
Align those objectives with the expected end-products.
For example -
Objective
Identify major issues in the case
Determine possible approaches to issues
Assign tasks
End products
List of five issues
Written approaches or actions to find approaches
Action items with responsibility assigned
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6. Conducting a Productive Meeting
To conduct a productive meeting, you will need to do the following:
Review your purpose, end products, and agenda
Establish roles and ground rules
Use common problem-solving methods
Manage meeting problems and conflict
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7. Establishing Roles and Ground Rules
Leader
Facilitator
Note taker
Timekeeper
Sample Ground Rules
Discussions are to be informal and interactive
Our goal is to have open, nonjudgmental exchange of ideas
No idea is a bad idea
All participants are equal
No sidebars are allowed
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8. Using Common Problem-Solving Methods*
Brainstorming
Ranking or rating
Sorting by category (logical grouping)
Edward DeBono’s Six Thinking Hats
Opposition analysis (is/is not, pro/con)
Decision trees
From/to
Force field analysis
The matrix
10. Frameworks
*See appendix for discussions of some of the methods.
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9. Managing Meeting Problems
Confused objectives and expectations
Unclear roles/ responsibilities
Approach
Create agenda that includes objectives and end products
Send agenda out ahead of time
Review agenda at the beginning of meeting
Communicate roles and responsibilities before or at the beginning of the meeting
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10. Managing Meeting Problems (continued)
Confusion between process and content
Drifting off topic
Approach
Separate leader and facilitator
Call time outs for process checks
Stop and review objectives
If digression continues, suggest
Continuing after meeting
Placing topic on agenda for next meeting or in “parking lot”
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11. Managing Meeting Problems (continued)
Data confusion or overload
6. Repetition/ wheel spinning
7. Time violations
Approach
Control versions of handouts
Create simplified data packs
Exclude data not relevant to objectives
Control the discussion by reminding attendees of objectives
Always start on time
Have a time keeper
Re-evaluate agenda topics/time limits and build in cushion time
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12. Managing Conflict Level of assertiveness Level of cooperation High Low
Competing
Compromising
Collaborating
Avoiding
Accommodating
Source: Adapted from Blake and Mouton, in Deborah Borisoff and David Victor, Conflict Management: A Communication Skills Approach, p. 6.
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13. Ensuring Meeting Follow-up Occurs
Assign specific tasks to specific people
Review all actions and responsibilities at the end of the meeting
Provide a meeting summary with assigned deliverables included
Follow-up on action items in a reasonable time
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14. Discussion Summary
Unproductive meetings may occur if a meeting is not the best forum to accomplish the tasks
Ensuring productive meetings means you need to plan the meeting carefully and conduct it with skilled facilitation
Meeting problems and conflict need to be managed immediately and not allowed to linger
To ensure needed actions occur following the meeting may require some micro-managing
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15. Appendix: Some Problem-Solving Methods
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16. Traditional Brainstorming
Purpose: To generate a lot of ideas
Characteristics:
Each person is expected to contribute an idea
Ideas are not to be evaluated or judged
Ideas must be captured just as they are
Quantity is what is important, not quality
A facilitator’s role is to keep things moving and make sure the scribe captures all ideas
Brainstorming ends when the ideas stop coming or when time runs out
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17. DeBono’s Six Thinking Hats
Purpose: To encourage open and complete thinking about a problem (parallel thinking)
Characteristics:
Each person figuratively wears a hat of the same color and assumes the characteristics assigned to the color
The colors are as follows:
Red = Emotions
White = Facts
Yellow = Possibilities
Black = Devil’s advocate
Green = Creative solutions
Blue = Evaluation of ideas
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18. The Matrix
Purpose: To evaluate or diagnose problems, establish positioning or approach, or determine level of difficulty in making changes
Characteristics:
The matrix is usually a four box configuration with each axis assigned an evaluative label
An example would
be the skill/will matrix:
High will
Low will
Low skill
High skill
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19. Force-Field Analysis
Purpose: To explore problems and develop strategies for change
Characteristics:
First, the problem is described, and then the situation as you would want it to be is described.
What emerges are two sets of forces, one driving towards the desired goal and the other pushing in the opposite direction.
When the forces are found to be in equilibrium, no change can occur.
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20. From/To
Purpose: To establish accurate description of a current situation with a matching list of desired changes
Characteristics:
Particularly useful in a change situation
Helps uncover problems and improvements
Very useful in a team situation or idea generating workshop
From To
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21. Frameworks
Purpose: To simplify or make a complex idea more manageable, to capture visually the elements of a complex problem, or to force greater analysis
Characteristics:
Can be original (the best usually are since then they are tailored to the problem)
However, numerous frameworks exist, which can save valuable time and ensure comprehensiveness; thus, they should be part of every facilitator’s tool kit.
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