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MANAGEMENT SOLUTION SERIES:

PURPOSEFUL MEETINGS

WORKSHOP

INTRODUCTIONS

AND EXPECTATIONS

SESSION 1

2

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the completion of this course participants will be able to:

• Recognise different types of meetings, their uses and opportunities

to effectively contribute

• Be able to successfully chair a meeting

• Develop communication skills relevant to various roles

• Implement strategies to manage challenging behaviours of meeting

participants

• Apply project management skills to ensure follow up and evaluation

of meetings

SESSION OUTLINE

TOPIC

Session 1: Introductions and expectations

Session 2: What makes an effective meeting?

Session 3: Types of meetings

Session 4: Preparation and planning

Session 5: Chairing an effective meeting

Session 6: Setting Expectations and managing challenging behaviours of participants

Session 7: Proactive Participants

Session 8: Follow up and evaluation of meetings

Session 9: Action planning and wrap up

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HOUSEKEEPING

• Location of:

- Toilets

- Fire exits

• Timing and duration of breaks

• Use of mobile phones

EXPECTATIONS

At all times managers are expected to display the NSW

Health CORE Values of:

• Collaboration

• Openness

• Respect

• Empowerment

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ACTIVITY: WHO DO WE HAVE IN THE ROOM?

Interview your partner and find out:

• Their name

• Their job role

• What they hope to gain from the course

• How many hours they spend in meetings each week

WHAT MAKES

AN EFFECTIVE

MEETING?

SESSION 2

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ARE THE MEETINGS YOU ATTEND EFFECTIVE?

WHAT IS IT ABOUT MEETINGS?

“Meetings are not work. They are

where you go to talk about work you

are supposed to do later.”

(Jason Fried, 2010)

What are your experiences of effective and ineffective meetings?

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(Retrieved from: http://www.someecards.com/usercards/viewcard/MjAxMi1iNzM4OGFkODEzZWNiZTAw)

IS IT A MEETING THAT IS REQUIRED?

• Weighing up the advantages and disadvantages

• Considering alternatives to meetings

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ADVANTAGES• Sense of involvement and ownership by all

• Shows a democratic style of management

• Improves skills in communication, negotiation, influencing and

decision making

• May improve job satisfaction

• Facilitates good flow of communication

• Keeps staff of different levels in contact

• Allows access to other departments, sections, organisations and

management

• May improve decisions by involving more points of view

• Keeps managers in touch

• Enables regulatory compliance for accreditation purposes

DISADVANTAGES

• Uses staff time and keeps them from work, clients, patients

• Expense. The hourly cost of a number of people is greater than

that of a single decision maker

• Individual responsibility and initiative can be reduced if all work

is collectively controlled

• Poor decisions can be made to get consensus

• Possible delays through attempts to reach agreement

• Not all discussions will be equally important to all participants

• Participants may focus on different outcomes and have various

interpretations of the same result

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EMAIL, LETTER, MEMO

Advantages Disadvantages

• Permanent record

• Consistent message to

all receivers

• Can be read and

responded to when

convenient

• Lack of personal

involvement

• Overload

• Slow response time (or

no response)

• Can be time-consuming

to produce

PHONE CALL, TELECONFERENCEAdvantages Disadvantages

• Can get an immediate

response

• Can be quick –depending

on the person

• Does provide a degree of

personal contact

• Can be time-consuming

(both in reaching each

other and the call itself –

depending on the person)

• No written record

• No visual feedback

• May not provide same level

of reach to larger numbers

of participants

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PERSON TO PERSON

Advantages Disadvantages

• Personal involvement

• Opportunity to check

understanding and

response

• Visual feedback

• Social and relationship

function

• Time consuming

• No written record

• Danger of being diverted

from key tasks

• Challenging

geographically

MEETING AS A HABIT

• Meetings as an expression of organisational culture

• Meetings as an expression of management style

(Next slide: TED Talk – David Grady: ‘How to save the world or at least yourself from bad meetings’)

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DAVID GRADY: HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD OR AT LEAST YOURSELF FROM BAD MEETINGS

PURPOSE OF A MEETING

Some common reasons for

meetings are:

• Share information/update staff

• Utilise a range of knowledge

and experience

• Evaluate current work

• Hand over clinical information

• Explore effects of a proposed

change

• To influence policy or

procedures

• To achieve problem solving

• To develop cooperation and

commitment

• Undertake consultation/get

input

• Decide what future actions are

required, how that action will be

taken, by when, and its

intended outcomes

• Allocate tasks/responsibilities

• Implement a plan

• Review or evaluate a process

or task

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UTOPIA SEASON 1 EPISODE 3

TYPES OF MEETINGS

SESSION 3

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TYPES OF MEETINGSThe type of meeting relates to the purpose or desired outcomes

• Briefing meetings

• Business meetings

• Clinical meetings

• Planning meetings and working groups

• Consultation meetings

• Staff meetings

• Review and evaluation meetings

• Governance meetings

• Walking meetings

MORNING TEA

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FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS

• Style

• Length

• Format

• Frequency

• Governance

FORMAL CONTESTED

• Tend to have formal agendas, Terms of Reference, roles such as

Chairs and Secretaries

• Participants often not only read the agenda and paper work, but

study other participants, marshal their arguments and anticipate

and prepare for opposing arguments

• Rely heavily on a skilful and effective Chair and there is often little

space for quieter, less assertive participants

• The mood of the meeting can be aggressive and fast paced, with

minimal time for reflecting on decisions and implications before

moving on to the next item.

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FORMAL CONSENSUAL

• The meeting style of many successful companies.

• The degree of consensus will vary – some will resort to majority agreement (or even voting) quicker than others.

• There is usually some brainstorming of solutions to problems.

• This style is best suited when there is less internal conflict in the work group, with a greater concern for participant and group achievement.

INFORMAL AND CONSENSUAL

• Appropriate for small working groups and planning

meetings

• Chair tends to facilitate rather than arbitrate

• Characterised by openness and honesty, respect and

interest for other points of view and shared

responsibility.

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INFORMAL AND CONTESTED

• Inherently unstable without formal rules to regulate conflict, power elites can emerge and tensions increase.

• If meetings are in this quadrant, work needs to be undertaken to improve the nature of the meeting.

MEETING TYPES

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YOUR STRATEGIES

Share with your group any strategies that you have

when facilitating contested meetings.

PREPARATION

AND PLANNING

SESSION 4

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BEST PRACTICE

DECISION TO HOLD A MEETING

• Why do you need to hold a meeting

• What are the desired outcomes you have in mind

To help you determine what your meeting objective is,

complete this sentence:

At the close of the meeting, I want the group to…

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WHO SHOULD ATTEND YOUR MEETING

Milo Frank, a communications specialist suggests you consider these six

questions:

• Whom must you invite?

• Who can give you what you want?

• Who favours your objective?

• Who will oppose your objective?

• Who is sitting on the fence?

• Who can cause trouble if not invited?

Bring people in when you need them and politely ask them to leave when

their part has finished.

ACTIVITY – PART 1

Decision to hold a meeting

• What is the purpose of a meeting?

• Is a meeting the best or only option?

• What are the alternatives?

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ACTIVITY – PART 2

• Type of meeting? Formal or informal

• Who needs to attend?

• Length, time, location, travel, place, set up

• Who will chair or facilitate?

• Invites – how, when, level of information?

• Who will be invited? What will their role be?

• Is the commitment one off, time-limited or regular?

• Governance requirements

AGENDAS

• Create your agenda early.

• Clearly define your meeting objective.

• Prioritize agenda items.

• Break down agenda topics into key points.

• Allow adequate time for each agenda item.

• Indicate whether agenda items require a decision.

• Inform members on how to prepare for the meeting..

• List who is responsible for presenting a topic.

• Leave time for meeting review.

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ACTIVITY – PART 3Producing an Agenda

• Deciding what is important/urgent and complex

• Written and non-written agenda (the Chair’s ‘script’)

• Complexity

• The ‘slipped in’ at the end agenda item

(Next slide: Utopia – Season 1, Episode 2

MINUTE TAKINGMinutes provide a record of what key corporate meetings discuss and

decide; they’re written for posterity, for the markets, for other

stakeholders, including the regulators and to help people who attended,

remember what they said and what they agreed to do. Minutes are a

practice of good governance and, if you want them to be, an operational

tool. They can set tasks and define strategies for the weeks and years

ahead. For those reasons, they ought to be the clearest, cleanest copy

an organisation writes. They ought to be accurate and limpid and useful.

Usually they are not.

The Little Black Book Of Business Writing, 2010

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MINUTE TAKING

Minutes have an extremely important function as:

• An official record of what took place in a meeting and who was

present

• An aide memoire to participants offering contextualisation of

any action items

• A clear description of events that should be able to be

understood by someone who was not present

MINUTE TAKING

LiaisewiththeChair

Establishanylegalor

organisationalrequirements

Familiariseyourselfwiththeagendaandthe

attendeelist

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Activity – Part 4

• Who will take the minutes?

• How best can the minute taker prepare in order to

ensure the minutes meet the requirements of the

meeting?

• Is there a particular format required?

• Can any challenges be foreseen?

UTOPIA SEASON 1 EPISODE 2

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TECHNOLOGY AND MEETINGS

(Retrieved from: http://www.someecards.com/workplace-cards/my-stategy-for-this-conference-call

TECHNOLOGY AND MEETINGS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYu_bGbZiiQ

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WHAT MAKES EFFECTIVE PARTICIPATION?

• Prioritise any items on the agenda that need to have

focused and productive participation.

• Is there a need for a pre-meeting or staged meeting?

• In what circumstances might this be wise or useful?

• Do any participants need an interpreter?

• Do any participants have hearing issues/need a

hearing loop system?

• Are there physical access issues to consider?

TERMS OF REFERENCE

• All regular formal meetings should have Terms of Reference

• Contain specific rules and procedures:

- Purpose, Governing body, Functions

- Composition: states who can be Chair, Secretariat and

member – which group or organisation can be and must be

represented. Lists each roles responsibilities

- Meeting operating procedures: quorum and frequency of

meetings

- Amendments: how amendments are made and how often the

Terms of Reference should be reviewed.

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CHAIRING AN

EFFECTIVE

MEETING

SESSION 5

THE MEETING

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MEETING SET-UP

Give consideration to:

• Physical space – tables, chairs, lighting

• Technology – teleconference, videoconference

• Access issues – accessibility

• Greetings

• Food, tea and coffee

• Copies of previous minutes and reports

RESPECT? OR LACK OF…If your meeting is scheduled to start at 10:00 and end at 12:00, make

sure you, as the chair, follow the agenda and end on time. By sticking to

the agenda and staying on time, you’re demonstrating respect for their

commitment and contributions to the success of your project. And you’re

recognising that they may have other projects or work that requires their

attention.

Michael Girdler

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UTOPIA SEASON 2 EPISODE 7

TONE OF THE MEETING

• The set up

• Level of formality and control

• Your voice

• Who you privilege or defer to

• Your facial expressions

• Your posture

• Seating

• Reminding people of CORE Values

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ROLE OF THE CHAIRAGENDA SENT OUT:

Meeting to Determine Phase 2 of project

Monday, May 12, 10.00am – 12.30pm

ACTUAL MEETING

10.00 – 10.15 Tom and Cathy show up, chat, have coffee.

10.15 – 10.20 Sue, Greg (Chair), and Jill arrive, discuss the new chairs in the waiting area.

10.20 – 11.05 Jose (Senior Manager) enters and we start (even though Bill, who was invited, hasn’t yet arrived). We discuss four major issues, make decision and begin to generate action steps for the first issue.

11.05 Jose remembers he has another meeting and leaves.

11.07 – 11.10 Bill arrives, leaves to find a cup of coffee and returns.

11.10 – 11.20 Bill, who has not read his agenda or the reports sent since last meeting, listens to a summary of the discussion that went for the previous 45 minutes.

11.20 – 11.30 Bill raises objections to two of the four decisions and reminds us of the project vision. He and Cathy both leave citing competing commitments.

11.32 – 11.40 Sue, Greg, Jill and Tom discuss what to do next.

11.40 – 11.50 Jill and I clean up coffee cups, chat and leave.

THE IDEAL CHAIR HAS THE:• Wisdom of Solomon

• Patience of Job

• Impartiality of a judge

• Eye of an eagle

• Firmness of a rock

• Hide of a rhinoceros

• And therefore may be hard to find!!

T.H Pinder (1980)

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STYLES OF CHAIR

• Directive Chair – directs the issues and participants

have little influence on proceedings: they are told what

to do and when

• Guiding Chair – allows group participation and

thinking, but often only in some matters

• Stimulating Chair – balances and shares control. The

committee are responsible for collective decisions

SESSION OUTLINE

DO DONT

• Remember the reason for your authority

• Prepare thoroughly

• Arrive in good time

• Express your own views

• Welcome newcomers and outsiders

• Cover routine and administrative matters out

at the start

• Shut down tangential discussions

• Stay on the agenda

• Encourage those that are shy to join in and

take part

• Listen carefully to discussion

• Summarise frequently• Watch time

• Try to take notes and chair

• Impose your own views on the meeting

• Allow yourself to be provoked into anger

or emotion

Malcolm Peel (1989)

TIPS FOR CHAIRS

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ENDING ON TIME• Consider asking someone in the group to be the timekeeper

(or offer)

• Re-prioritise agenda items if time is running out

• Ask for agreement to go over time (if the room is available) or

schedule another meeting

• Consider what the impact is on staff if the meeting is extended?

• Watch body language – if people are getting restless or attention is

running low – cut it short or take a break

• Restate and summarise achievements at the end and ensure tasks

and actions are clear, including by who and by when

PRINCIPLES OF AN EFFECTIVE MEETING

• Emotional Intelligence

• Good time management

• Keeping the meeting on point

• Engaging participants to contribute

• Naming hidden agendas and dynamics

• Calling ‘time’ if need be

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LUNCH

SETTING EXPECTATIONS

AND MANAGING

CHALLENGING

BEHAVIOURS OF

PARTICIPANTS

SESSION 6

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ACTIVITY – MANAGING CONFLICT & CORE VALUES

If NSW Health CORE Values are being applied, conflict

should be to a minimum…. However, we know that is not

always the case

Discuss in pairs/small groups when you have seen

effective management of difficult group behaviours that

have been at odds with the CORE Values of NSW Health?

BEHAVIOURS IN MEETINGS –FORMS OF POWER

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EVERY MEETING EVER

ACTIVITY – EVERY MEETING EVER

• The time keeper

• Get here when you can guy

• The negator (can find a hole in anything)

• Ol’ thin skin (perpetually offended)

• The rambler (turns a sentence into 14 paragraphs)

• The dominator (no ideas better than their own)

• Social networker (not present)

• Poor scribe

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OPTIONS

• If it becomes serious, you have a few courses of action:

• Call for silence and wait until everyone has stopped speaking.

• Let members know it is OK to be passionate, but remind all of

CORE values.

• Remind members to keep contributions positive, constructive and

not directed at individuals.

• Adjourn the meeting for a break

• As a last resort, ask an individual to stop speaking or leave a

meeting; you can end the meeting.

PROACTIVE

PARTICIPATION

SESSION 7

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ROLE OF ATTENDEES

• Before accepting a meeting invitation, ask first

- time goals

- who will be there

- time allocated

- preparation

• Meetings expand to take the time allocated

Parkinson’s Law: “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”

YOUR ROLE IN THE MEETING

Consider why you are taking part and what role you are

being asked to play:

• Have you been asked to take part because you bring

some particular expertise or competence?

• Are you there as a representative of other?

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PARTICIPATION STYLES

• Open: Descriptive; solution orientated; honest;

caring; forgiving; take on feedback

• Closed: Judgemental; controlling; deceptive;

superior; dogmatic; hostile

• Group Think: Reaching consensus too quickly

without really considering the complexity of issues

SIX DEADLY SINS• Unnecessary attendance

• Lack of preparation

• Poor tactics: Using aggression, threats or sulking to push your point is

not appropriate.

• Ineffective communication

• Personality challenges

• Procedural errors: Know whether it is a formal meeting with rules and

familiarise yourself with the procedures.

Referring to the list above, how are the meetings you attend ineffective??

How might you be able to work with the group to control this?

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YOUR ROLE AS AN ATTENDEE• Prepared

• Thinking

• Speaking

• Listening

• Supporting the Chair

Think about the way you participate in meetings. What contribution do

you tend to make? What are your strengths and weaknesses?

What would you like to change about the way you behave in meetings?

What would help you make these changes? Or does the meeting itself

need to change?

FOLLOW UP AND

EVALUATION OF

MEETINGS

SESSION 8

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FOLLOW UP

CHECKING IN AFTER

• There may be questions and concerns

• Do all attendees understand the post meeting actions

and requirements?

• Who is to communicate any decisions to those not

present?

• What are your tasks?

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REVIEW

EVALUATING SUCCESS

Judge by the results:

• Purpose and outcomes against achievements

• Cost vs. value

• Too much information or too little

• Level of creativity or innovation the meeting allowed

• Were the right people there?

• Did people participate and work effectively together?

• Were there other ways of achieving the same outcomes/

• Were the CORE values displayed or not?

Overall was the meeting a success?

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COST EFFECTIVENESS

Meetings are very expensive. A one hour meeting is not a one hour use of work time. If there are 10 people, it is actually a 10 hour meeting.

Jason Fried (2010)

ENDINGS

Meetings often have a life span – stop them when they no longer have a purpose

Meetings tend to procreate more meetings – stop and check

Jason Fried (2010)

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(Retrieved from: http://www.someecards.com/usercards/viewcard/MjAxMi02ZjE0MTFmYWZkMTlmODgz)

BREAK (15 MINUTES)

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ACTION

PLANNING AND

WRAP UP

SESSION 9

EVALUATION OF KEY MEETINGS

Recall two or three meetings that you are involved with

and evaluate these meetings using the table on the back

of Handout 1 - Meetings.

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PERSONAL REFLECTION AND ACTION PLAN

• My key learnings from this course are…………

• As a result of today I want to…………….

MEETINGS

• Initially meetings may seem attractive as they are seen as

a quicker way to get everyone on the same page.

• Today will have debunked any notion of meetings being a

quick fix, but will hopefully have shown that when well

planned they are effective.

• Meetings are a great option for true collaboration,

openness and empowerment – when managed well.

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FURTHER INFORMATION AND SUPPORT

• Locally – each other, your manager, mentor, workforce, peers

• Health Education and Training Institute

Management Development Team:

Phone: 02 9844 6136

Email: HETI-Management@health.nsw.gov.au

Website: www.heti.nsw.gov.au

Thank you for attending

Management Solution Series:

Purposeful Meetings

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