## Know why Know exactly why you're meeting, and have a clear objective. Have a clear reason for meeting, its objective(s), and the resulting agenda, for all meetings, no matter if you meet daily or just once. Consider not having the meeting - think "Why not?" and argue against the meeting with yourself. Consider creating or asking for a short, written proposal to be shared before and/or read silently at the beginning of the meeting. ## Decide who Decide who needs to be there to achieve the objective. 1. But beware of too many attendees; You need key decision makers, influencers, and stakeholders. 2. Make non-attendees feel included by asking for their input before the meeting, promising to share that input during the meeting, and keeping them in the loop about the meeting outcome. 3. Possibly have a timed agenda, where people join only certain parts of the meeting, or a split up after determining what sub-groups to form at the beginning. 4. Ask participants for their options and desired outcomes privately, and present them as anonymous suggestions during the meeting. - For conflictive issues, gather concerns before the meeting so you understand all sides ahead of the meeting. 5. If you will send out the invitations: Ask yourself if you are the facilitator or if there is a better option. ## Right time & place Consider the right time and place, and contemplate the necessary meeting length for the agenda and objectives. 1. Experiment with non-traditional blocks (50 min instead of an hour) 2. For small groups, meet walking (coffee run) 3. For larger groups, meet standing, and keep it short (15 minutes) 4. For repeat meetings, break the monotony 1. Change the venue sometimes 2. Pick different hours to add variety 3. Change the seating arrangements 5. For online meetings, take time-zones and physical locations into account ## Pre-mortem assessment Have a "pre-mortem", at the very least for high-stakes meetings.: Imagine ways the meeting might fail, and ascertain why; Then plan the meeting in a way to avoid or mitigate those problems. The goal is **not** to imagine *every* possible way the meeting can go wrong, and prepare a counter for it, like a chess game where you want to win the arguments. This pre-mortem assessment is meant to ensure that you are prepared for all *reasonable* directions the meeting can take. ## Determine relevant information Ask yourself: *"What relevant information do I need to share in the meeting?* This can be informa­tion about current state, known issues and problems, technical or financial information, or anything else. As you open the meeting, sharing this information and inviting the other participants to do the same will ensure everyone is on the same page. ## Identify your own interests Ask yourself: *"What interests do I have?"* Complete the following sentence until you have exhausted all needs: "No matter what solution we will come up with in the meeting, it needs to be one that ..." Once you have your list of interests, you should share those interests in the meeting, and ask the other participants to explain their needs and interests without talking about positions or solutions. This will make for a much more effective meeting than if everyone spams the meeting with a fixed position and tries to convince the others to agree their solution. ## Identify your assumptions and inferences Ask yourself: *"What assumptions and inferences do I need to test?"* Complete the following sentences as many times as necessary: "I am assuming that ..." You might be inferring that other participants aren’t concerned about the problem because it has taken a lot of time for them to meet with you. Or you might be inferring that others have the expertise or authority to implement a solution, but you haven't had that fact confirmed by those people directly. Consider what information and interests the other participants might have, and validate those just like any other assumption you might have. In addition, you can think about the inferences they might be making about the issues or situation. This will give you a list of questions to ask, not to use against the other participants, but to understand how they are seeing things differently from yourself. Because only when you really understand how the other participants think differently from yourself can you work to bridge the gap and find a solution that will work for everyone.