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Dear friends,
Hello February! How are those resolutions going? My January was packed with meetings, an experience that you can undoubtedly relate to. While it’s easy to complain about meetings, I also believe that bringing people together is critical for creativity and effectiveness in academia. Here are my five core meeting principles:
Prepare. Decide in advance what you want to accomplish and lay the groundwork.
Send out an agenda. If you don’t “own” the meeting, ask for an agenda from the person who does.
Mind the time. Assume everyone has a hard stop, and if a discussion is fruitful but time-consuming, take a pause to decide whether to continue on a particular topic.
Ensure all voices are heard. Think about who you’ve invited and what you would like to learn from them. Sometimes people benefit from knowing what questions to consider in advance, and all meetings benefit from a no-interruptions policy.
Assign the follow-up. At the end of the meeting, review all the decisions and follow-up actions. If you are relying on others to execute any actions (including me, collaborators), write down and circulate those follow-up assignments.
In the age of video meetings, there are often multiple people in the room, with others on video and some on the phone. I find hybrid in-person/ video meetings to be among the most challenging to run. It can be chaotic and (unintentionally) hilarious, as described in this NY Times article. Here are my tips:
Be specific about how you want people to participate. Let people know in advance whether they need to view a screen. Consider asking that everyone be on video— it’s harder to zone out!
Avoid technical difficulties. Test out your set-up in advance. It’s so frustrating when you’re on the phone straining to hear people talk in a conference room! Give specific instructions. Ask people to call in using their phones and turn off their computer audio to avoid feedback. Let people know which digital functions you’ll be using. I can never tell if chat/ messaging is going to be a part of the conference call or not, and sometimes I’m not sure whether anyone is looking at the chat box or whether I should interrupt verbally when I’m on the phone. Assign a person to be the computer “host.” The host should deal with anyone’s difficulties and ensure that the platform runs smoothly.
Assign a moderator. The moderator will actively control the conversation so that it’s easy to follow without visual cues. They should pause and indicate when people on the phone can / should speak.
Of course, you won’t get better at leading meetings if you don’t evaluate yourself. After running a significant meeting, check-in with a trusted colleague or simply ask yourself:
Did we stray off-topic?
Did people get distracted with their own screens or side conversations?
Did any one or two people dominate the conversation?
Did the group discuss differing views, or march in lockstep?
If any of these happened, think through how you can avoid it next time. It’s a process! Please let me know if any of these tips work for you, and what you do to make meetings less painful. This time of year, with the holidays behind us and many more short and cold days ahead, can feel like a steep uphill climb. Just keep putting one foot in front of the other, and it will be okay. Don’t forget to send me your good news— it always brightens my day!
Warmly,
Urmimala