GROUND RULES

Hi Nasrullah: I like stand up meetings as well. How often do you have stand up meetings vs. sit down meetings?

Hi Naomi: Having a designated timekeeper and note taker are both very important. I am usually doing both of those and leading the meetings. Does that happen to as well? It is hard to do all three well at the same time.

Hi Ed;

You are exactly right! How often have you been in a meeting and thought - this whole meeting is a waste of time! The information could have been shared in a quick visual or an e-mail! Especially when you calculate the cost of a meeting - our hospital leadership is asking that we all check the cost of a meeting before scheduling it to be sure our time is worth the cost. What is your favorite method of checking to be sure a meeting is worth it before even scheduling it? I like to only have meetings that deal with the present or the future - if it was in the past, then I think it is a status report and the information should be shared in another way. What are your thoughts on this?

Vincent - you are exactly right. My personal pet peeve is when meetings do not start and do not end on time. We need to be respectful of the attendees time and their schedules!

You're right. Meeting agenda should be communicated before meetings held. My point is that memebers should actively participate in discussion. Well knowing agenda is the first step to lead active and effective discussion.

Lori - The whole team meets every day for a quick status update limited to between five and fifteen minutes and we call it the daily huddle. Each member answers the following three questions:
1) What did you do yesterday?
2) What will you do today?
3) Are there any impediments in your way?
The stand-up is not meant to be a place to solve problems, but rather to make the team aware of current status. If discussion is needed, a longer meeting with appropriate parties can be arranged.

Lori:
There are so many ways to lead effective meetings and streamline your processes.
You will be more effective facilitator of your meetings when you set ground rules like assigning meeting and time keeper. This is a great role for a PC coordinator and your team members. Also, many team members like to disrupt your meetings; give them something to do by assigning these roles.

I think status reports are best left to e-mails or UNLESS it's an active status report. For example, working on a task or tasks the project or team lead needs to know how everyone is doing do they need help etc. But once a task is completed, that report can be sent out to the pertinent people.
I think if there are less than 10 people for a meeting, it probably isn't worth it. And of those 10, all of them have to have some influence or impact on the project and or task. Also, look at the information. All of it. Can it be given out some other way or is face to face the best way?