Five tips for better meetings

Like many people, over the years I’ve been in a lot of meetings. Here are five things that I’ve found tend to make for better meetings.

• 🙋‍♀️ Facilitator. To help us stay on topic and stay on time. (Example: jazz hands to signal off topic)
• 📅 Agenda. So we know why we’re there and what our goal is. (Can be only one thing!)
• 👍 Ground rules. So we know what we can expect from each other. (Examples: the retrospective prime directive, phone use outside the room only)
• 🤫 Silent brainstorming. To let all the ideas surface, and to let everyone have their say. (Usually with sticky notes)
• 🖼 Visual note taking. To record what happened. Visual because images are better for memory and understanding. (Ideas, not art: doesn’t have to be fancy!)

That’s it!

Originally published at https://naga.co.za on October 7, 2020.