Using a template for the meeting minutes makes them fast to prepare, easy to read, and assures that nothing is forgotten. Exhibit 1 presents a template for status meeting minutes.
Exhibit 1. Template for Status Meeting Minutes Who attended?
General Information:
Issues and Decisions:
Issue
Action Plan
Owner
Due Date
Comments
Summary of accomplishments and outlook for each area
There are additional work products, depending on the particular purpose of a meeting. Information exchange meetings usually have a list of action items as a result.
The work products of decision- making meetings are the alternatives that have been evaluated, the decisions made, and their supporting reasons. The resulting decisions are recorded in a permanent repository, preferably accessible to all team members now and in the future.
The work product of a problem-solving meeting varies and depends on the problem.
It can be a design document, a project schedule, or a budget. Just as with the meeting minutes, it is important to assign ownership to a partic ipant who is responsible for recording the work product and for distributing it to all participants.
For example, the purpose of a meeting may be to define a documentation plan consisting of templates for all internal documentation. The recorder/owner is responsible for creating the final electronic form of the templates and for sharing them with all interested parties.
Create an Atmosphere for Success
The atmosphere or context of a meeting is an important factor that allows people to share information, make decisions, and solve problems jointly. Knowing the purpose and work products of a meeting are necessary, but if meeting participants do not feel comfortable enough to share information or opinions, the meeting will not achieve its objective. People need to feel comfortable so they can focus on the task at hand.
Participants need to feel and know that they can communicate openly, that their perspectives are respected, and that they can express their creativity.
HOW TO MAKE PEOPLE FEEL COMFORTABLE
Meeting participants will feel more comfortable, if:
§ A meeting adheres to a common format.
§ The facilitator provides guidance.
§ The facilitator uses context-free questions to solicit needs and feelings.
People feel comfortable if they know what they can expect. Think of that recent Sunday church meeting. How is it different from the one before? It is the content that is different, but not the format. A common format makes people feel comfortable that they can participate and that they know how. This is also the secret formula of toastmaster’
s meetings. Every meeting has the same format, an
invocation, a joke, two speeches, and table topics followed by evaluations. The content is what is different. One can think of the familiar format as a ritual that makes participants feel at ease.
A standard format for the different types of meetings will provide comfort, as people know what to expect and how to participate. Exhibit 2 presents formats that may serve as suggestions for particular meetings.
Exhibit 2. Suggested Meeting Formats
Information Exchange Meeting
Share general information
Follow up on decisions and action items from previous status meetings Summary of accomplishments
Outlook of upcoming work and decisions in the different functional areas Summary of action items
Decision- Making Meetings
Presentation of facts
Input and comments from stakeholders
Discussion and evaluation
Decision making
Summary of decisions made and postponed
Problem-Solving Meeting
Share problem perception
Joint problem definition
Joint problem analysis
Joint development of alternative solutions
Evaluation of solution
Decision making
Summary of solution
Even if meeting participants are familiar with the format of the meeting, they still appreciate some guidance through the meeting. Just as written overviews, summaries, and transitions are included to help a reader understand the written word better, spoken transitions, summaries and overviews help meeting participants to follow along better. By suggesting an agenda, the facilitator can provide an overview of the meeting. Articulating a transition will remind participants to move on to the next topic. The facilitator can bring closure to a discussion by summarizing the items of agreement.
Gerald Weinberg and Donald Gause in Exploring Requirements — Quality before Design[2] point out the importance of context-free questions in requirements gathering. There is also a place for context -free questions in meetings. The purpose of context-free questions is to clarify and define the process. Example questions are:
§ How much time should be spent discussing a particular item?
§ How should decisions made in meetings be documented?
§ How should decisions be made?
The facilitator can use context-free questions to solicit and comment on the perceived mood, to verify a common understanding, and to inquire whether or not the needs of individual participants are met. Example questions are:
§ Did people get all the information they needed?
§ Is the meeting moving too slowly?
§ Does this summary express it clearly?
[2 ]Donald C. Gause and Gerald M. Weinberg, Exploring Requirements — Quality before Design, Dorset House, ISBN 0-9322633-13-7.
OPEN COMMUNICATION ALLOWS INFORMATION
EXCHANGE
Making participants feel comfortable is the first step to open communication. Open communication is based on trust and trust can be earned by maintaining neutrality in all work products that result from meetings, especially the meeting minutes. For meeting minutes that means no editing, no omissions, and no additions to what was said and decided in the meeting. Open communication means not holding back information, not judging information or opinions, and includes respectful listening.
Open communication is absolutely essential in status meetings, because without quality data, the wrong picture is painted.
ADVOCACY AND INQUIRY IMPROVE DECISION MAKING
When it comes to decision making, it is important to hear all sides that have a stake in the decision. Project scope meetings that discuss changes in the product requirements depend on input from all stakeholders, especially those that are not
present, such as the customer. The technical architect needs to advocate the integrity of the product, technical support may represent the customer’
s view, and
marketing may argue the position of the company compared with the competition.
As much as each view needs to be communicated assertively, there also needs to be inquiry to learn more about the different perspectives. As the different views are presented, the assumptions, reasons, and facts behind them need to be questioned.
A balance between advocacy and inquiry will contribute to better decisions.
CREATIVITY AND PROBLEM SOLVING
Meeting participants need to be ready to solve problems jointly. Creating a comfortable environment goes a long way toward making participants ready. It is true for training that more learning happens if people take ownership in the learning process. It is also true for meetings that participants need to have ownership in the problem to be solved. People feel ownership if they receive confirmation that their contributions are appreciated and important. The facilitator can emphasize the ownership by acknowledging each contribution.
Brainstorming is still the best-known and best-understood technique for stimulating creativity. Its ground rule is — no judgment of the different contributions. To make sure everyone gets a chance to contribute, the facilitator can give each person the floor by going around the room and asking each person for his or her input.
USING PROJECT MEETINGS AS SUCCESSFUL
COORDINATION TOOLS
For project meetings to serve as communication and coordination tools they have to achieve the following goals:
§ Inform project members
§ Provide opportunities to contribute expertise and knowledge
§ Achieve agreement and support for the outcome
To attain these goals this chapter has focused on three aspects of meetings: 1. A well-defined purpose
2. A tangible outcome
3. A comfortable and supportive atmosphere
All three are important for successful and effective communication. Defining the purpose of a meeting and the work products that result from it will sharpen the content. Creating the right atmosphere for the meeting helps participants to focus their attention. No matter whether the purpose of the meeting is to exchange information, make decisions, or solve a problem, people need to feel comfortable to participate.
Once the purpose of the meeting has been identified, the deliverables have been defined, and the atmosphere for getting work done in meetings has been created, one can watch for indicators that signify it is happening. One can look for tangible evidence that work is coordinated, decisions are carried out, and solutions are implemented. It will also be noticed that people are on time for meetings, that they are fully engaged during meetings, and that they ask to hold meetings to get their work done.
REFERENCES
1. Robert E. Kraut and Lynn A. Streeter, “Coordination in Software Development,” Communication of the ACM, Vol. 38, No. 3, March 1995.
2. Donald C. Gause and Gerald M. Weinberg, Exploring Requirements — Quality before Design, Dorset House, ISBN 0-9322633-13-7.
3. Larry L. Constantine, “Work Organization: Paradigms for Project Managment and Organization,” Communications of the ACM, Vol. 36, No. 10, October 1993.
4. Michael Doyle and David Straus, How to Make Meetings Work, Jove Books, ISBN 0-515- 09048-4.
5. Peter Senge et al., The Fifth Discipline Field Book, Currency Book, ISBN 0-385-47256-0.