Planning efficient meetings

Explore the universal stages of a facilitated session, from design and refinement to final preparation and follow-up, to plan efficient meetings.

Articulate the meeting purpose, define the desired and dream outcomes, and design a focused session; assess alternatives to avoid unnecessary meetings.

Plan the opening of your meeting, set the scene, outline goals and outcomes, and use warm ups to break the ice and engage participants.

Plan your core activities by aligning the meeting format and goals, cover information radiation, decision making, innovation and problem solving, and requirements elucidation meetings, while staying engaging and outcome-driven.

Hold decision making meetings to discuss topics, compare options, decide on next steps, agree the decision process, document decisions clearly, and discourage irrelevant conversations.

Establish a social contract to create psychological safety, set norms, and enforce ground rules like one microphone, focusing on problems not people, while clarifying roles and encouraging questions.

Learn to manage conflict with a facilitator approach, distinguishing healthy debate from conflict, listening actively, building empathy, and using structured problem solving and a parking-lot to resolve issues.

Plan your next meeting to shine by applying facilitation skills and managing meetings, and explore recommended books on facilitation and handling difficult people.