What makes a meeting successful? A team I'm a member of kicked off a project a few weeks ago, and before the first meeting the team leader asked everyone to come with two "ground rules" that would govern how we work together.
I've been through similar exercises before, but I was struck by the usefulness of this particular list, which I've reproduced below. I've fleshed it out a bit to make it more self-explanatory, but this is basically what we came up with:
GROUND RULES
- Be clear about how decisions will be made.
- If one person (particularly the team leader) owns a decision, make that clear from the outset.
- If the group is going to make the decision, specify the process to be used (consensus, majority, etc.)
- Use good brainstorming practices; specifically, don't criticize suggestions when we're in idea-generating mode.
- Begin each meeting by checking in.
- End each meeting by reviewing what went well and what could have been done better (and don't allow other work to bump this review off the agenda.)
- Rotate facilitating and note-taking roles.
- Raise any concerns as thoroughly as possible. If a discussion has to be taken offline, update the rest of the team at the next meeting.
- Everyone's free to challenge the productivity of the meeting.
- Distinguish clearly between "thinking" mode and "doing" mode.
- Two key words to bear in mind: "realistic" and "sustainable."
- Load-balancing is encouraged, and we'll revise assignments as needed.
- Bring your calendar with you so we can schedule future meetings efficiently.
Unfortunately, conflicts with other projects have kept some us–particularly myself–from attending many of this group's meetings! But the culture we established at the outset with these ground rules seems to have helped the group stay focused and productive despite the disruptions.
Photo by Michael Sypniewski of the Asbury Park Press, from A Day at Bangs Avenue School.