Forums

Here's a cool story that has sold me on putting start times in my meeting agendas.

A while back I was responsible to make the agendas for our team meetings. I had never created a MT-style agenda before this time, so I thought I'd give it a go. When I started the meeting, one of the first things one of my directs said was that he didn't like that I had assigned start times for each agenda point. I suggested that we give it a try for two or three weeks, and then, if he still didn't like them, we could discuss it further.

As we reached the start of agenda topic #2, we were ahead by one minute. My direct chimed in fecitiously "Ooh! We have an extra minute to use!" I acknowledged his discovery and continued the meeting.

By the time we reached our last agenda topic, which was a simple hotwash: What went well and What could we do differently next time, that same direct who was fully against using start times at the beginning of our meeting was the first to share a thought, "I really like that we had a time limit on our agenda points. We got so much done. Incredible!

Thank you Mike and Mark for the simple and practical tools you share with us every week. They are making a positive difference every time I use them. Keep them coming.

Regards,

Rob in Sweden

P.S.If you ever come to Gothenburg, I'll buy you each a Swedish coffee (Gevalia) and a real Swedish cinnamon role :-)

430jan's picture

Sometimes just the success of such a simple but effective technique really helps you get through the day, no? We all need to feel like we've moved the discussion along. I love the meeting techniques.

Thanks for sharing your success.

Janet

Mark's picture
Admin Role Badge

GREAT STORY!

Your direct's comment reminds me of my rarely used sardonic reply.  "Hey, thanks for the input."  The second comment deserved some feedback, too, by the way. Cheap shots are, well, CHEAP.  But a little grace is fine until the next one.

And we'll take you up on that when we get there.  ;-)

Mark

chabarang's picture

Very true Janet. glad to share my stories.

chabarang's picture

Thanks for your thoughts Mark :-)

You're welcome to Sweden anytime.