Running Great Collaborative Meetings (4 hour)
Exercise!
What's in it for you?
Choose a facilitator
S/he reads through the very scripted exercise for a minute
Begin!
-
Purpose/Agenda
-
Techniques for engagement
-
Retrospectives
The world is changing
Collaboration isn't always easy
To be on a great team, you need to have great collaboration
Aligned, engaged, happier teams
Why do we run collaborative meetings?
How do we open a collaborative meeting?
Opening
- Purpose
- Agenda
- Facilitation tools
- Parking lot
- Meeting intentions
- Action and Communication plans
- Decision board
- Definition of consensus
- Other
- Scope of Authority
- WIIFM (the group)
- Other announcements
What collaboration challenges do we face?
Facilitator Characteristics
How we create
Purpose
A high-level statement of what you'll have accomplished at the end of a meeting
What you're asking your audience to do
Action and decision-oriented
Once met, the meeting is done
*use action verbs, like to decide, to choose, to plan, to adjust, etc.
Example:
Annual strategy discussion
vs.
To draft a one-page annual strategy statement that will guide our teams over the next year by reviewing last year's financials, customer trends and upcoming market opportunities.
Create your purpose
Choose a meeting you attend or run frequently that doesn't have a clear purpose.
Reminder:
A high-level statement of what you'll have accomplished at the end of a meeting
What you're asking your audience to do
Action and decision-oriented (to + verb)
Once met, the meeting is done
Agenda
What are the background questions the team must answer to create decisions and outputs?
What is the logical order for answering these questions to drive to the purpose?
Pro-tips:
Write as questions
Brainstorm questions to be answered, then order
Create your agenda
Use the same meeting as your purpose statement. Create the agenda.
Pro-tips:
Write as questions
Brainstorm questions to be answered, then order
Decide on your facilitation tools
Plan for a Collaborative Meeting
My prep:
- Owner
- What's the desired outcome (purpose)?
- Who's coming? Where are they?
- What information is needed before or during the meeting to achieve its purpose?
- What do attendees think about the topic?
- What questions do we need to answer in what order?
- What space do we need to collaborate?
- What tools will help us be more productive?
- What "bombs need to be pre-detonated"?
Life in the Groan Zone
Safe ways to address facilitation challenges?
Prepare
Prompt
Gather
Process
Sources of Conflict
Christopher Moore’s “The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict”
Dysfunctional behavior
- Someone leaves the room
- Dominates the conversation
- Doesn't speak up in discussions
- Negative about the topic
- Side conversations
- Asleep
- Two people locking horns
- Personal attacks
- Attacks you as the facilitator!
How do we deal with it?
Lean Coffee
Partner up!
Share what you've learned
Closing a Meeting
Exercise: Retrospective
Great teams require great collaboration
Take one technique back with you this week
Each small act of constructive collaboration, strengthens teams,
company culture
Practice, partner, persevere
