Comments on: Great Results, One Great Meeting At a Time

By: Dorothy Grannell

Dorothy Grannell — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 00:59:40 +0000

Respect is a key aspect of Dee Kelsey’s
approach to meetings and most of what she does in life. Dee is a personal friend of mine so I tend to be a bit prejudiced in her favor. That being said I think the essence of the question “Do we need a meeting?” is basic respect for the people involved, for the problem before us, the process and the desired result. Knowing the goal is important and sharing information and team building can be done in better ways than in a meeting. Having a clear agenda and expectations for results from a meeting are critical. So if you respect the people with whom you are working ask Dee’s question, “Do we need a meeting?”

By: Meredith Eaton

Meredith Eaton — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:39:24 +0000

I agree with Christy that one of the “a-ha” moments of the workshop was the first, simplest question: do we need to have a meeting? It’s up to the facilitator to make this decision, and then to decide who should be included. I’m sure we’ve all left a meeting or two feeling that it was a huge waste of our valuable time. As facilitators, we can lessen this risk by planning the meeting design effectively, starting with defining the purpose and desired outcomes, creating and sharing an agenda, and choosing the most appropriate tools for the audience. As participants, we can influence the process and outcome as well. This workshop truly changed the way that I think about meetings.

By: Wendy Cattell

Wendy Cattell — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:16:31 +0000

I enjoyed the portion of the day that discussed various types of people attending a meeting and how best to handle them. How to make the quiet ones speak up, and how best to handle those that dominate the topics were particularly interesting to me.