Managing meetings
Good meetings come from clear structures, by following below ground rules and choosing the rights format and rules for each type of meetings you can steer the meetings for better success. The below rules apply to each type of meeting:
Create better understanding and trust between participants
Encourages people to be open and authentic
Makes people feel cared for
Select the right format
Invite the right people
Provide enough context either beforehand or in the meeting for anyone being involved to be able to provide the right feedback or decision.
Meetings "over the table"
Many design decisions happen over the table as quick feedback on storytelling, interactions and copy are often refined over multiple iterations and with multiple people however, to make sure it’s fruitful and in respect for everyone's process and time, specific time-slots in the day should be dedicated for such.
Feedback meetings
Feedback meetings or review meetings are not about getting approval from your boss; they are about getting the most helpful feedback to improve your work. A great feedback meeting gets everyone on the same page about the goals of the project, accurately represents the current status of the work, and clearly frames open questions, key decisions, or known concerns. However, make sure to only present the parts you want feedback to make sure you get the most out of your invested time.
Below, steps can help you steer a feedback meeting:
Gets everyone on the same page about what success for the project looks like.
Honestly represents the current status of the work, including an assessment of how things are going, any changes since the last check-in, and what the future plans are.
Clearly frames open questions, key decisions, or known concerns to get the most helpful feedback.
Ends with agreed-upon next steps (including when the next milestone or check-in will be).
Idea generating meeting
This kind of meeting is where a group of people come up with ideas to solve a problem. The goal is to generate as many ideas as possible, without judgment. However, this approach is often ineffective, as people tend to conform to the ideas that have already been shared or offer fewer ideas because they assume others are carrying the load.
The best way to generate ideas is to give people time to think alone, followed by time to discuss their ideas with others. This allows people to come up with more creative ideas and to build on each other's thoughts. Preparation and good facilitation are essential for a successful idea generation meeting.
A great idea generating meeting follows these guidelines:
Has a clear goal. What problem are you trying to solve? What kind of ideas are you looking for?
Creates a safe space. Everyone should feel comfortable sharing their ideas, no matter how crazy they may seem.
Encourages diversity of thought. Invite people from different backgrounds with different perspectives.
Balances individual and group work. Give people time to think alone, and then time to discuss their ideas with others.
Keeps the conversation focused. Don't let the discussion get sidetracked or bogged down in details.
Captures all ideas. Write down all ideas, even the ones that seem silly. You can always evaluate them later.
Decision meetings
It is important to be clear about the purpose of each meeting before you invite anyone or create an agenda. If the meeting is intended for decision-making, then do not try to also use it for generating ideas. This will only lead to confusion and wasted time.
Instead, focus on a single purpose for each meeting and stick to it. If you have too much on your plate, break it down into multiple meetings. This will help you to stay focused and ensure that you have enough time to cover everything.
When you are creating an agenda for a decision-making meeting, be sure to list the specific decisions that need to be made. This will help to keep the meeting on track and prevent people from getting sidetracked.
If someone starts to bring up a topic that is not related to the purpose of the meeting, politely remind them that you will discuss it separately at a later time. Decision meetings are not the best time to generate ideas, as this can lead to groupthink and make it difficult to reach a consensus.
Finally, be sure to invite the right people to your decision-making meetings. Only include people who are essential to achieving the meeting's goal and who have a stake in the outcome. Avoid inviting people who are extraneous or who will not contribute to the discussion.
Below are a few ground rules for great decisions meetings
Invite the right people.
Less is better, have a lot of decisions, setup multiple meetings
Provide material and decisions making questions prior to meeting.
Make sure your format favour participation & equal airtime.
Get feedback about your meetings to constantly improve.