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Then why do we have so many of them?
And why do we keep having them?
And ...
They waste time
They never accomplish anything
They confuse more than they clarify
They set direction
They answer questions
They brainstorm past obstacles
They help us understand
and don't have bad ones!
What makes a meeting?
Why do we have them?
What alternatives are there?
When do we need to have them?
What makes a meeting bad or good?
How do we have good meetings?
You are a team lead/manager of a team
You "own" meetings (not all of them)
You want your meetings to not suck
... or you are interested in becoming one
You understand the term "psychological safety"
Software development is a team sport
... which means we need to communicate
... or risk all sorts of Bad Things
Developers: meetings are a distraction
They take us out of our flow state
... which is our principal contribution
Managers: meetings are our principal tool
Our performance is that of the team
So we really need to know what's going on
And software development is an abstract activity
Developers: communication is sometimes a distraction
They take us out of our flow state
... which is our principal contribution
Managers: communication is our principal tool
Our performance is that of the team
So we really need to know what's going on
And software development is an abstract activity
Communication is critical to management
Making it effective, therefore, is critical
Because, bluntly, the need for communication is not going to change
which means the meetings need to continue
but not necessarily as often, or in the same manner
So your job (as the meeting owner) is to make them NOT SUCK
If a tree crashes in the forest...
... and no one is around to hear it...
... does it still make noise?
Peter Drucker: "No. There may be sound waves, but unless those waves land in somebody's ears, there is no 'sound'. Sound is created by perception; sound is communication."
It is the recipient who communicates (hears), not the one making noise
Perception is a matter of the brain, not the eyes or ears
One has to talk to people in terms of their own experience; can they receive it?
This means that attempting to communicate "downward" is broken because it focuses on what we want to say
Instead, we have to start "upward", with the recipient
The problem with meetings often isn't the meeting itself
The problem is that the meeting was used instead of other possible communication approaches
"Speed": how long does it take to do a round-trip?
"Senses": how many human senses get involved?
"That patient is dead, doctor." but with different tones
"Presence": the "certain something" to being together
"Time": synchronous vs asynchronous communication
"Persistence": how long does the communication remain?
In-person meeting:
fast, all senses, highly synchronous, high presence, no persistence
Email:
slow, single-sense (words), highly asynchronous, low-presence, somewhat persistent
SMS/Text messages:
fast, single-sense (words), highly asynchronous, low-presence, somewhat persistent
Wiki:
slow, single-sense (words), highly asynchronous, low-presence, highly persistent
"We meet because we need to have a synchronous gathering of two or more people for the purpose of achieving a common goal."
Most meetings fail because they are boring
And they are boring because they lack conflict
(Yes, you heard/read that right)
"How was your day?", he asked.
"Just another disagreement with Accounting. How was yours?"
"The usual."
"How was your day?", he asked.
"Oh my GOD. That jerk Karl from Accounting rejected my expense report today, all because it wasn't submitted in SharePoint instead of in an Excel file. I'm so mad."
"Wow! What did you do next?"
"How was your day?", he asked.
"Cut the crap, Karl. Why did you reject my expense report?"
"Janet, we've been over this. If it's not in SharePoint..."
"You Accounting folks and your 'SharePoint this, SharePoint that.' Can't you just accept that nobody likes using SharePoint?"
Conflict draws us in, engages us
We are more engaged
We are more invested
We want to know the ending!
More importantly
conflict brings an opportunity for resolution
Drama drives purpose
If we need to debate something...
... it's because we disagree! Conflict!
If we are trying to 'align' on a point...
... it's because we have different ideas! Conflict!
Embrace the conflict! Encourage it!
if your team is psych-safe, it's healthy and necessary
if they aren't, you have higher-priority issues
Make sure the conflict is around the decision, not the deciders
Because they are boring, and they are boring because nothing actually changes. No conflicts are even allowed, much less resolved.
A meeting is only effective when its purpose is fulfilled.
It begins with some preparation
around Before the meeting
for During the meeting
and After the meeting
It requires some "runtime" presence
It requires some post-meeting activity
It requires some post-mortem reflection
Purpose: what needs discussing/deciding/etc?
single-threaded
clear
concrete
Participants:
who needs to be there?
who will want to be there?
consider the 8-18-1800 Rule
decisions/solutions: no more than 8
brainstorming: no more than 18
one-way: up to 1800 (or more)
the more participants, the less participation
Roles: Facilitator, Timekeeper, Scribe, SME, Historian, Rep, Decision-Maker, Voter
"The Script": how will you structure this meeting? who speaks when? when do you want questions? do you need introductions?
this is where an agenda fits
Failing to plan is planning to fail.
Outcome: what is/are the desired outcome(s) of the meeting? what form will it take? who is responsible (if any) for that outcome?
Any meeting that doesn't know its intended outcome is guaranteed to fail its purpose.
Capture: how are we capturing the decision and discussion for later examination or distribution?
It's vastly preferable to only have a given meeting once.
Facilitation: The facilitator's job is to make sure the meeting runs smoothly and achieves its goals.
starting on time
ending on time
breaks!
keeping the conversation flowing and psych-safe
logistics details
Ground Rules: Make explicit the expectations how the meeting will run.
"One conversation at a time"
"One topic at a time"
"Land the plane" - be succinct and to the point
"Share the air" - make sure everyone gets equal "air time"
"Silence denotes agreement"
Distractions:
distractions can ruin a meeting
do not assume intent
listen, validate, probe, redirect
(make sure the ground rules cover this)
consider the Jellyfish Technique
Achieve the Outcome:
make sure you achieve the desired outcome
this is the Facilitator's biggest responsibility
Declare the Outcome:
at the end of the meeting, repeat the outcome out loud
humans like ceremonies
Distribution:
send out whatever the Scribe was capturing
ideally within 24 (business) hours of the meeting's end
keep in mind the notes will probably require some "cleanup"
Follow-up on the follow-ups:
touch base with each person who had an action item
people forget things
make sure expectations are aligned and agreed
Retro:
what went well?
what could be improved?
what went poorly?
Goal: take the team's pulse
Participants: you, your team
Mechanism: varies; most prefer fast, high-sync, high-presence
Conduct: short, focused
Goal: take the direct's pulse
Participants: you, your direct (never more than that)
Mechanism: always needs to be high presence
Conduct: this is not a status report
Some interesting prompts:
"What 3 words describe the atmosphere here lately?"
"What keeps you up at night?"
"Who's the most stressed person on the team right now?"
"Tell me a skill you want to level-up"
Goal: depends on the meeting
Participants: you, your team, possibly others
retros should never include outsiders though
Mechanism: varies, depending on participant flexibility
Conduct: put together a strong agenda, and stick to it
Goal(s):
dispense "news from above"
team news and/or topics
open-floor discussions
often, socialize
Participants: you, your team, possibly others
Mechanism: fast, high-presence
Conduct: get the necessary stuff done up front, then relax
Goal: team-wide "big picture" planning
Participants: you, your team, your boss, your skip
Mechanism: this is usually a brainstorming meeting
Conduct: set some topics, focus on the highest-priority
1:1s w/peers
1:1s w/partners
Vendor briefings
Budget discussions
... the list is endless
know what your goals are
know what your options are
choose your approach appropriately
Meeting Design, by Hoffman
Death by Meeting, by Lencioni
Making Every Meeting Matter, HBR Guide
The Surprising Science of Meetings, by Rogelberg
Who is this guy?
Architect, Engineering Manager/Leader, "force multiplier"
Principal -- Neward & Associates
http://www.newardassociates.com
Educative (http://educative.io) Author
Performance Management for Engineering Managers
Author
Professional F# 2.0 (w/Erickson, et al; Wrox, 2010)
Effective Enterprise Java (Addison-Wesley, 2004)
SSCLI Essentials (w/Stutz, et al; OReilly, 2003)
Server-Based Java Programming (Manning, 2000)