Sections of a Meeting- Introduction

Meetings have sections just like movies have sections. As an introduction to the sections of the meeting, lets look at how a director sets up a movie.

When we sit down to watch a movie we expect to be taken on a journey. We pay close attention to each element introduced as we know they matter. The director selected them with care and an editor cut out anything that confused the test audience. We expect each section of the movie to accomplish different goals. The opening scene will introduce the tone of the movie. We are looking to see if it is a comedy, a tragedy, a romantic, a thriller. The opening should introduce the characters. Who is important in this movie? The first opening shots of our hero let us know a lot about her and help us be willing to go on a journey with her. Then we settle in for the body of the movie. We expect a lot of action to happen in this section if it is an action movie. We get to the third act where we get to big decisions by the hero. Will she shoot the villain or will she turn him over to the police for a trial. Those big decisions need to be made. Finally we wrap up and see the happy ever after.

When a director is careless with any of the segments of a movie, the audience can become confused, bored or even angry. If the opening doesn’t set the tone, then we don’t know what kind of movie we are watching. If the opening doesn’t introduce the characters and why we should care about them, we won’t want to focus on their journey. If the ending doesn’t wrap up every loose end we get angry.

A productive meeting must also follows a structure that keeps the participants on board and focused. In this post I will give the first half of the meeting structure elements and briefly describe them. In the next post I’ll finish up the list.

1. Opening remarks - Should be brief and cover the following: Why is this meeting happening, why are the participants the right ones, why is now the right time for this meeting.

2. Rules of the meeting- These can be shortened depending on the situation. If you are having a 1:1 with your close coworker you don’t need to set the rules up every time, but you should do it the first time. Get agreement up front so everyone follows them later

   1. Common instructions: 

      1. Timing must be respected and followed. 

      2. The agenda is the agreement of what will be covered. 

      3. Topics that come up that aren’t directly related to the agenda can be put into the parking lot for a meeting at another time. 

      4. One person talks at a time

      5. Don’t take anything personally and don’t make personal comments

      6. No side conversations

         Other strong recommendations on rules:

      7. No cell phones

      8. No email

      9. No web browsing

      10. No multitasking

3. Introductions- This is where everyone gets to meet the characters.

   1. Options for Introductions

Have everyone say their name, their team, their role, and what they hope to get out of the meeting.

Have everyone say their name, their team, their role, and what they think will be for lunch.

1. Ice Breaker

   1. Options for Ice Breaker

Depending on the time you have for the meeting, you can either do a shorter or a longer ice breaker. Ice breakers can a have a few purposes. One purpose is just to get everyone comfortable and warmed up. Another purpose is to let people get to know each other a bit more outside of their name and role. Another more advanced reason is to set the stage and tone for the rest of the meeting.  If everyone already knows each other you can play a game like 2 truths and a lie. If everyone knows each other very well, then you can play a more advance ice breaker like a real improv game. 

The reason why improv games are useful is because they set the tone for the meeting. You want the meeting to be full of intent listening and building on what has come before, vs people not listening and forgetting what has been established already.

One simple improv game is Party Planning. Each person adds something that they will bring the launch/celebration party once the project/product is finished. You go around the group in a circle and each person adds something fun to the party. The game strengthens listening skills as people have to pay attention so they don’t bring the same item twice. Extra credit for those who bring something closely related to the person’s before them item. For example I say I am bringing wine, the next person who is listening closely would say, “I'll bring the wine glasses.”

In the next post we will continue reviewing the sections of a meeting.