Keep It Simple and Short

Do an internet search for “effective meetings” and you will find a few suggestions. About 185 million.

Is there a “secret sauce” for an effective meeting? A few questions to consider as you plan your next gathering:

1. Is a physical meeting necessary—or can it be done virtually?
2. Why are you meeting?
3. Are the right people invited?
4. What makes these the right people?
5. Do the attendees know what is expected of them in the meeting? (See #2.)
6. Is there a stated and respected start and end time?
7. Will you stand or sit?
8. How will you keep the meeting moving and focused?
9. Who will oversee the meeting? (Is it always the same person?)
10. Will there be structured and unstructured time?
11. How often will you meet? Suggestion: Don’t equate number of meetings with effectiveness of meetings.  Focus on results. More meetings or the number of meetings or the frequency of meetings should not be the target. With social media tools you might be able to meet less frequently and be more effective.  It’s what you do between the meetings that counts.
12. Have you considered background music as people enter the room? It could establish a more energetic atmosphere.

Keep the agenda straightforward and simple. Something like this might work for you:

• What DID WE DO since the last meeting regarding our mission?
  *Group members can share things like research, contacts, follow-through on previous meeting items?
• What DO WE DO today?
  *Members bring items to the table.
  *Members inform the organizer prior to the meeting—unless your group is comfortable with surprise items. Who will keep “pop-up” items from sabotaging the meeting’s purpose? How will you keep members on topic and what will you do if they drift into a “stream of consciousness” that fails to advance the purpose of the gathering?
• What WILL WE DO for the next meeting?
  *Assignments going forward.

Video Recommendation of the Week:

Meeting about meetings? Hmm.

For more about community building and sustainability,
look for my new book, Community as a Safe Place to Land, due out the beginning of 2019. More information to come.

Make it an inspiring and grateful week and H.T.R.B. as needed.

For information about and to order my most recent book, Stories about Teaching, Learning, and Resilience: No Need to be an Island, click here. A few colleges and one state-wide agency have adopted it for training and coaching purposes. Contact me if you and your team are interested in doing the same.

The paperback price on Amazon is now $14.99 and the Kindle version stands at $5.99. Consider it for a faculty orientation or a mentoring program. The accompanying videos would serve to stimulate community-building conversations at the beginning of a meeting.

My podcasts: The Growth and Resilience Network® (http://stevepiscitelli.com/media-broadcast/podcast).

My programs and webinars: website (http://stevepiscitelli.com/programs/what-i-do) and (http://stevepiscitelli.com/programs/webinars).

Pearson Education publishes my student textbooks for life success—Choices for College Success (3^rd edition) and Study Skills: Do I Really Need This Stuff? (3^rd edition).

(c) 2018. Steve Piscitelli. All rights reserved.