A Gallup article about productive meetings outlined participants said that 67% of meetings they attended were “failures”. I can only imagine the negative conversations participants must have when leaving a “failed” meeting and how this must impact on productivity. Why is this information important for educators? Because the negative talk effects the educator being their best self in front of the students they impact. Part of the workload problem for educators is the non- contact time with students which includes meetings. Staff meetings, committee meetings, special event meetings, collaboration meetings, parent meetings, professional learning meetings, etc. One must ask ourselves, “How productive and effective are these meetings?” An effective meeting is led by a Courageous Leader. A Courageous leader who understands that peoples time is valuable and for a meeting to be productive, the measure of success is that participants leave more knowledgeable, secure, inspired, focused and committed than when they entered. And for the above to happen, the meeting purpose and content needs to be relevant. The agenda items will make a difference to the participants outcomes. The participants will understand the relevance of the content. The presenter will deliver the message in an engaging manner that connects content to change. To achieve an effective, productive meeting, ask yourself the following questions under the five steps to an effective meeting: Purpose – Why are we getting together? How will this help progress student performance? People – Who needs to be there? Will everyone benefit from the content? Preparation – What information do they need beforehand? Process – How is the information going to be presented? Pay-off – What are the take-aways for the participants? After a quick conversation with yourself, it may turn out that:
the meeting is not necessary for everyone.
people need to have time to digest information prior to the meeting.
a conversation with some key people will get the same results.
the take-aways need to be stronger.
Courageous Leaders understand the value of people’s time and supports them to utilize their time so they can be the best version of themselves more often. Do we really need that many meetings? Do they make a difference to student progress?
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