Mastering meetings

Why am I here?

Can you think of a recent meeting you’ve been part of that was less than perfect? Not sure why you were there? Disappointed that some voices were more evident than others? Unclear on action points?

There are many factors that lead to ineffective meetings. Some are very common like those above, others less so (as Bruce Daisley often reveals in his brilliant Eat Sleep Work Repeat podcast series).

The point is, we waste a lot of our time and energy with badly designed and poorly facilitated meetings — missing out on all the ideas and togetherness within our grasp.

Steve Rogelberg has thought more about these opportunities than most. In his enlightening book, The Surprising Science of Meetings, Steve argues that meetings should be about creating energy, including everyone, collaborating, developing ideas and committing to action together. About positively and purposefully learning from each other.

Change awaits

That’s where we’ll be pointing our guns in this practical and collaborative session — the fundamental science, strategies; tried and tested tips and techniques to maximise the impact of your own meetings — virtual, in-person or hybrid). Together we'll introduce, test and explore ideas you can share with your teams and start experimenting with right away.

And the good news is lots of what we cover will be relevant to broader challenges at work too, like decision making, having difficult conversations and feeling more productive.

We’d love to have you along.

What we’ll cover:

• Defining and communicating a purpose
• Priming for participation
• Making ‘hybrid’ meetings work (it can be done!)
• Beginning well
• Digression Vs Decision
• Tools for collaboration and inclusion
• Dealing with difficult participants

How the session will be structured:

We’ll collaboratively work through a series of principles and practices, trying things out together, sharing our own challenges and experiences and getting clear on the experiments we’ll be running in our own teams off the back of the session.

Who the session is for:

Anyone keen to bring more purpose, focus and effectiveness to the meetings they’re part of.