I know this will come as a huge shock, but most people despise meetings. When I ask staff about things that are holding them back, almost to a person they have said, “Too many meetings.”
When it comes right down to it, though, these are rituals that are deeply ingrained in the culture of our school. Most schools have a similar situation.
Long, low-energy meetings tend to distract and mute the day. – Martin Fowler
The trouble with throwing out meetings completely is that they do have some value. According to a few papers summarized here, meetings can help achieve the following:
- Shared commitment
- Communicate daily status, progress, and plans to the team and any observers
- Identify obstacles so that the team can take steps to remove them
- Set direction and focus
- Build a team
Being a new leader and getting to know my staff, I’m not willing to cut out all meetings. But what I am committed to doing is making sure that every minute we spend in some kind of meeting serves to move forward the school’s mission and agenda.
Zero-Based Meeting Budgeting We’re going to get back to basics. At the first regular, monthly meeting of our leadership team, we will remove every meeting from our calendars and begin adding back in those meetings that make sense and will move us toward our goals. We will no longer meet four times per month if we can accomplish the same objective in two highly-productive, focused meetings.
Less meeting time focused on dissemination of information Since my first day on the job, I’ve made some changes that I hope will whittle down the sheer volume of meeting time. Depending on the sensitivity, items that are “information only” in nature go into an email to team leaders or onto our school blog or wiki. Weening people off email has gone well so far, in no small part thanks to my very flexible group of teacher leaders who have been willing to jump into some new ways of doing business.
Two things I’ve learned in trying to bring this level of change to the day-to-day business of an organization are (1) stop trying to use the “inducement” approach to improving processes and systems (see letter B of Scott’s post on RSS for PD), and (2) stop asking questions like “Do you use Google Docs?” in favor of questions like, “To which email address should I send the invite for this document we’re working on?” It’s all about positive presuppositions. Of course we’re using Google Docs! I mean, who isn’t?
I’ll let you know how it goes, but it’s a start! Look for an upcoming post with more detail on the process of paper-reduction in a 40-year-old middle school.
Interesting reads I plan to share with the team:
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In my experience, the goals and decisions of the agenda are the key to a productive meeting.
Good luck, Ryan
Thanks, Ryan.
What strategies do you use to focus the agenda? Do you have any forms you use regularly?
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I’m also going to try the staff blog for our school this year. I’m told by my Principal that it will be a significant departure from previous experiences there but she’s very supportive of the move.
Not exactly sure if I’ll utilize a wiki at this point.
Good luck to us both,
Hugo
I think that most educators would value meetings where there is a clear purpose. I think we’ve all seen the every-Thursday-morning-whether-we-need-one-or-not meetings go nowhere and, more importantly, not get buy-in from staff.
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Hi Scott. My name is Brittany Schneider and I am a student at the University of South Alabama. Our class blog is http://www.edm310.blogspot.com/. I will be reading and commenting on your blog every 2 weeks. I will also be posting a copy of your blog post, along with my summary on September 12.
I believe you are right on target on the idea of meetings. Long, boring meetings do not promote productivity. Having less meetings that give good information keeps things fresh and keeps people interested.
Hi Scott. My name is Kristie Mcnair and I will be following your blog for my EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. I will be commenting on your blog as well as posting a copy of your blog with my thoughts. The class blog is http://www.edm310.blogspot.com/ .
I think that meetings can be effective if they have a purpose. I agree with you that having meetings out of habit is a waste. I think it also makes your team members feel as if you don’t respect their time. If you can accomplish what you need to in fewer meetings, your team will probably be more productive and feel as if you value their time as well.
Hi there Scott! My name is Christina Sobolewski. I am also a student from the University of South Alabama. I will be doing the same thing as Brittany will be doing. I completely agree with you. Having “meetings for meetings sake” can wear thin on most people nowadays. As does having meetings that have one person is droning on while the others are “paying attention” (but mostly just trying to stay awake). As you mentioned above, meetings can achieve a lot if they are done correctly. They help educators establish goals and solve dilemmas. Meetings, if done the right way at school, can make educators have sense of purpose and a unitized goal of educating students properly, instead of just feeling like any other job, on any other day, just making another dollar. *P.S. I really can’t believe the steps that technology has made in education in recent years. It’s been a couple of years since I’ve been in school and it is just astounding me that you have a blog for school and use wiki.
I think it is wonderful that you are teaching yourself to make meetings more purposeful, yet shorter at the same time. Yes, meetings are very important, but time with one’s family is even more important. People like to know that they are going into a meeting with set goals and purposes and that those will be accomplished by the end of the meeting. I have been in several meetings that continued much longer than they should have, yet we all left feeling as if nothing was accomplished. I also like the idea of having meetings face-to-face rather than telling them to read the e-mails only. I have learned that creativity seems to flow better when a group is present in the same room together rather than putting input in separately via e-mail. Meetings allow a designated place and time to put the thinking caps on and run with it!
Oh yes, and I am also a student from University of South Alabama and in the EDM 310 class.
Hi Mr. Elias, I am a student at the University of South Alabama in Dr. Strange’s EDM class. I will be following your blog and commenting on a few of your posts. There will be additional comments on my blog: http://inscorejenniferedm310.com. I like you taking notice in things that can be improved where meetings are concerned. My experience with meetings is a lot of talking off subject, repeating the same things that were said in the meetings before and basically people not paying attention. I like a meeting that gets to the point and I do enjoy them when there is something new brought to the table. The 22 minute meeting is a wonderful idea and I love the fact that the meeting information is sent ahead of time. That to me is the primary reason a meeting can be so successful and quick – being prepared. Organization is the key and honestly most meetings are not organized. I am sure your teachers will appreciate the meetings you will be holding. Jennifer Inscore
Hi Mr. Elias,
I am from Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class, where we are learning how to integrate technology into our teaching methods. I will be reflecting on your posts in my blog http://bryantpaigeedm310.blogspot.com/ by 10-10-10. I have honestly never had the opportunity to be involved in a staff meeting, but I have been involved in many clubs and organizations in which meetings were held. In my experience, we usually met for weekly meetings whether we had something to discuss or not. Let’s just say they were unproductive to say the least. I wish we would have sent out topics that needed to be read before the meeting so by the time we arrived to the meeting ideas and solutions could be discussed rather than facts. I am also impressed that you have almost “weened” your teachers off of email and onto the school blog. It’s amazing to think of how much people were dependent on email when it first came out, but now I hardly ever look at mine. I check the class blog everyday. Soon your teachers will be able to use this to their advantage in their own classrooms (if they haven’t already).
Hi Scott. My name is Callie Ramsey and I will be following your blog for my EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. I will be commenting on your blog as well as posting a copy of your blog with my thoughts. The class blog is http://www.edm310.blogspot.com if you would like to see more about our class.
Hi Mr. Elias,
My name is Callie a student at the University of South Alabama. I think your blog post on the meeting was very informative. I have attended staff meetings for various jobs that I have had throughout the years I have been working, I have also been involved in many clubs and organizations in which meetings were held. I believe that if we would have used some of your ideas and techniques they would have been a lot more productive, especially the meetings for clubs and organizations I was in during my high school years. Thank you for sharing your ideas with us. My blog is http://ramseycallie.edm310.blogspot.com/ if you wish to see more of my thoughts on your blog
Hi Scott. My name is Amberli Chastang and I am visiting your blog for my EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. I will be commenting on your blog as well as posting a copy of your blog with my comment on my blog.I think that meetings can be effective if they have specific purposes. I agree with your resource that standing up will make the meeting more effective and more focused on the main purposes.If you can accomplish what you need to in fewer meetings, then your team will probably be more appreciative of the content shared. Check out my blog at: http://chastangamberliedm310.blogspot.com/
Hi my name is Sherrie Spence, I am a student at the University of South Alabama. You can visit our class blog or my personal blog I will be reading and commenting on your blog every 2 weeks. I will also be posting a copy of your blog post, along with my summary on on November 7. I agree that meetings should not be held unless there is something important to discuss as a group. There are plenty of ways to get information out without wasting time on a meeting. Meetings are important to have to have everyone together to learn to work as a team. Thank you for the great post!
I am glad to find someone who agrees with me (not that I had to look to hard). In my experience meetings tend to waste a lot of time. As we all know the first ten minutes are always pleasantries and stories.
Hi! My name is William “Prent” Davis and just like many of the other recent commenters, I am a student at the University of South Alabama in Mobile, Alabama. If you are interested, a summary of my comments to your blog from this week and the week after next will be posted to my blog. Anyway, I really like this blog post! And, yes, I can completely identify with where you’re coming from here! Before coming back to school again for a second degree in secondary education, I worked for several years as an environmental consultant and I can say that meetings were among the things that I hated about the job. I really like what you have to say here and I hope that if I am ever in a position of authority (department head, for instance), that I will be able to implement the things that you have mentioned here.