There is lots of advice on writing and examples of writing processes available, but they are not always easy to remember. POWER UP is a helpful acronym to remember the advice and steps of the writing process.

This is the process I use which has helped me write regularly for publications such as Better Humans, Start it up, Mind Café, The Ascent and more besides. It has led to 80% of my writing getting accepted for publications and wider distribution over the past two months.

POWER UP stands for:

• Plan
• Organise
• Write
• Edit
• Review
• Up-load
• Publish

Therefore the ‘POWER’ part of the mnemonic is important to any sort of writing and the ‘UP’ is relevant to writing for online publications such as Medium.

How to POWER UP your writing

Here are the stages in turn with the questions you need to be asking yourself within each step:

Plan

The first step is deciding why you want to write. Before you go any further be sure of your motivation. That could be to share knowledge, make money or just get better at writing but be honest with yourself at the beginning as it will shape the whole of the creative process, the product you create and how you view it afterwards.

Once you have answered this question you can start planning when you will write. Time is the most critical aspect (as time is the only truly finite resource) so the most important question to ask yourself at this stage is:

“How long do I have (or want to spend) on writing this piece?”

Once I have worked out how long I am going to give myself, I then plan when I am going to write. I always book the time into my diary to keep myself accountable for my goals and to stop conflicting activities. The morning is my favourite and most productive time to write so I generally plan my time in then.

Organise

After you have planned in your time you can organise your thoughts, notes and research. This will help you to decide exactly what you will write about. Keep in mind the question:

“What is the central idea I want to communicate?”

I tend to keep a long list of article ideas on my phone and then, in this phase, I choose which idea I think is the best post to develop at that given time. Then I decide on a working title for the article and set about adding to my notes and researching the topic in more depth.

Write

With your thoughts, research and notes organised you can now smash out your first draft. As you are doing this you need to keep the following question in mind:

“Who am I writing for and what do they need to know?”

You may just be writing for yourself. If the writing process is primarily just a cathartic process, then that is fine. A lot of blogs follow this approach. But if you are writing for another audience or want to share your wisdom with a specific group of people then they need to be front and centre in your mind as you write. This will help you develop a good first draft and minimise the work in the next two steps.

Edit

The next stage is to make your article good copy. You need to ask yourself:

“What do I need to change?”

I am not great at spotting typos and grammatical errors and therefore even within this phase I use a three-step approach. I write in Microsoft Word first, then paste into my WordPress platform, and then use Grammarly. At each step the inbuilt spelling and grammar software help to tighten my wording.

The Quest

Understand your values, unlock your purpose, set your priorities, achieve success. Click here to sign up and get the 1st stage for free!

Review

The review phase is effectively the 3rd iteration of your draft. At this stage you need to ask:

“What do I need to cut?”

You need to hone the writing to ensure clarity and impact as well as legibility. The key here is to remember back to the previous questions: what is the key message you are trying to convey and who are you writing for?

I try to leave a day between the edit and the review. This helps me to engage with the piece afresh. If I try to review an article too close to the drafting and editing stage my brain sees what it wants to see rather than what is actually written. I often read the article out loud too to see how it flows. I will get a second opinion of my draft when possible at this stage too.

Giving some time after writing the initial draft (and another opinion) allows the distance you need to be ruthless.

“In writing you need to kill all your darlings.”

William Faulkner

There may be some beautifully crafted sentences or well researched paragraphs but if they don’t add to the clarity and impact of the post then you have to put them to the sword. It is painful but necessary.

Upload

The next step, of uploading your article is easy in theory, but rushing this stage can affect the success of your writing. You need to ask:

“How will people find my writing?”

You may have written your ‘bestest ever’ piece, but you also need to craft the right SEO summary, select the write tags, and adding the ‘Alt text’ on your photos. These little things are like sending presents to the algorithms. The algorithms will learn to love you for it.

Now you can see which publications are the most suitable for your work (once again, do your research) and submit your article.

Publish

Once you or the publication has published your work the next stage is to help the process of people finding it. So, the question here is:

“How can I now best share my writing?”

Propagate the channels where people can find your work. Share on social media and create a conversation about your topic. Make sure you respond to comments.

I use my accounts on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to share my posts and I will also write related posts on my website (therightquestions.co). As I gain traction on any of these platforms, I seek to build a conversation with the people who are engaging with the writing.

This last part is often overlooked but is important for two reasons. Firstly, it really helps to expand your potential readership. Second, it is really rewarding. I have found that the feedback I get from people engaging with what I write really inspires me to write more.

Some people do this part really well and I have learned a lot for writers such as Jordan Gross, who is excellent at building conversations about his work and supporting the writing of others. I have also benefitted from other people’s encouragement. The kind words I have received from other writers such as Max Klein, Darren Matthews, Terrie Schweitzer, Tim Rees, Paul Ryburn and others (thank you all!) has inspired me to keep writing on Medium and start drafting a book.

The key element of the POWER UP process

In my experience, it is the triple iteration of the writing process (the initial draft, edit and review), that is the most powerful part of this approach. This refining process really helps to craft the article. Therefore, if you really want to improve the quality as well as the productivity of your writing, I highly recommend you embrace an iterative approach to developing your articles.

More POWER to you all!

What do you most want to achieve in life? Which is your biggest personal goal? Do you know what you need to do in order to succeed? Would you like some good coaching questions to help you?

Don’t worry, help is here! In the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee you can work through the coaching questions in this post and have a much better plan for achieving your life goals.

As a coach, I spend a lot of time helping people think through their life goals and how to achieve them. I ask questions to help them through their decision-making process and then to outline an action plan that they can follow.

Self-coaching using coaching questions

You cannot beat going through this process with a professional coach (yes, I am biased, but evidence supports this claim) but there is a lot you can achieve on your own. I have produced this list of questions so that you can coach yourself through setting and achieving your goals.

The idea of the question process is to capture those big life dreams and break them down until you know exactly what the first step towards success is. To do this the questions are used in order, to explore your desires, delve into the motivations behind them, look at options for achieving your goals and then develop a plan for succeeding in that aim. By the end of the process, the questions lead to working out exactly what needs to be done, when, and who can help with your plan.

Answer the questions in the order they are written down here. You can answer these questions in a journal, on your device or even a scrap of paper, but I recommend you keep your answers. Recording your answers means that you have an action plan that you can refer to and refine.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery

20 self-coaching questions to set and achieve your life goals

What next?

Well done! Even just taking the time to think and work through these questions means that you are closer to achieving your goals. The next thing to do is to commit to that first step. Put it in your diary straight away. It might also help to tell someone else about what you plan to do – it is easier to commit to a plan if you have shared it.

Then, as soon as you have succeeded in that first task, plan for the next one. Then the next. It is those little steps that lead to achieving big goals.

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”

Vincent Van Gogh

Today you will make hundreds, maybe thousands of choices. Some of those judgements will be more important than others, but if there is one thing that I have learned, it is that we can all be better at decision-making.

I have spent years studying and teaching decision-making. This has not been a purely academic exercise either; as a leader and entrepreneur, I have had the opportunity to practice and learn from the practical application of the theory. I have not always got it right or made the best choices, but I have improved through the process.

I started this series on decision-making with a post on the things to do to make effective decisions. You can use these as a blueprint for learning how to make better choices, following each stage in turn. Here are the 10 steps:

How to Make Effective Decisions

1. Take time out
2. Identify the type of problem
3. Apply a decision-making process or model
4. Ask questions
5. Understand what matters
6. Assess factors and constraints
7. Identify assumptions
8. Consider your options
9. Think through the consequences
10. Make your choice and act upon the decision

Here is each step in more detail with the relevant links to previous posts:

Take time out

If you have a big decision to make it is worth taking some time to think about it. If you are facing an important choice, you should invest time and effort proportionate to the scale of the problem. For example, purchasing a house will require more thought than buying a coffee. So be proactive, plan in some thinking time.

My favourite way of getting quality thinking time is taking a walk, preferably in the great outdoors. Walking is not only good for making decisions as you can read about in The Surprising Power of Going for a Walk.

Identify the type of problem

When you start to think about your choice it is worth starting by classifying the sort of challenge you are facing. That is because the solution to the issue is dependent upon the sort of problem that confronts you.

There are two very helpful models to assess the sort of problem and how to deal with them. The first one was developed by Keith Grint and I explain in the post: What Sort of Problem Do I Need to Solve?

The second is the Cynefin framework, which you can read about in, The Four Main Types of Problem You Face and How to Address Them.

Apply a decision-making process or model

Decision-making is a process. Whether or not we are conscious of how we make our choice and whatever the balance of intuition and logic in our decisions, there is always an underlying structure.

One of the simplest ways of expressing this process is the OODA loop, which is explained in Top Gun Pilots and Entrepreneurs Share This Skill.

In terms of mental models to use then check out The 36 Decision-Making Models I Continually Find Most Helpful.

Ask questions

If the choice is not an obvious one, then we need to start asking some questions. Good questions lead us to the data needed to inform our decision. When asking questions, it is good to use a framework to ensure as many bases are covered as possible. One simple approach, using interrogative words, is explained in How to Ask The Right Questions from a Bomb Disposal Officer.

Understand what matters

The more I have worked as a leader and coach, the more I appreciate the importance of values in how we make decisions. Values are the moral compass that guides our choices, as I explain in Unlock Your Values to Make Better Choices.

If you want further help in working out your personal values, then read: What Are Your Personal Values?

Assess factors and constraints

Having asked questions about your situation you will be presented with data to process. These are the factors and constraints that influence your choice. But the way we process data is not necessarily as rational as we might like. Our brains use hacks, and our neurological programming has bugs. These cognitive biases can undermine quality decision-making so you need to be aware of them, as I explain in You are More Biased Than You Think.

Identify assumptions

Another beartrap to be aware of when making decisions is poor assumptions. We frequently don’t have all the information we want when making a judgement and therefore we rely on assumptions. Sometimes these assumptions are reasonable and other times they are harmful fallacies. Learn to work out which is which in How to Identify and Disarm Wrong Assumptions.

Consider your options

Having considered all the factors and avoided the pitfalls of harmful biases and wrong assumptions, the next step is thinking about the different courses of action that you can take. Most choices have multiple options and one of the challenges of decision-making is negotiating these options. There are decision-making models to help do this, but I have found that the most important thing is to first create an environment where people can think to the best of their ability. The critical elements of this thinking environment are laid down in How to Give The Gift of Generative Thinking.

Think through the consequences

Once a preferred option is identified then it is worth considering the consequences of embarking on the course of action. Before fully committing you can try and assess what the obstacles and outcomes are likely to be. Most importantly you can work out whether a decision is reversible and what is the impact of going back once a decision is made. If we fail to do this final check on our decision then we can end up in trouble, as seen in How a Heuristic Nearly Killed Me.

Make your choice and act upon the decision

Finally, we need to act. A decision is only really a decision when we take the first step. That is the first challenge as the first steps are often the hardest. The next issue is keeping going as many choices – such as big life goals or changes – requires determination to see them through. The trick here is to make a discipline of incremental progress. To do this we have to change our behaviours and we do this by building effective habits. One tried and tested way of building habits is explained in How to Build Supreme Habits and Compound Good Decisions.

Putting it all together

So, there you go. You are now equipped with the psychology, steps, and models that you need to make better choices. And as with any other skill, we improve through deliberate practice so apply the knowledge, review what you have learned, and apply those lessons to your next decision.

For reference I have created a list of these and other helpful Medium articles called Effective Decision-Making.

What choices do you need to make today? Pick one and start to work through the steps. Let me know how you do!

This article was first published on Medium.

What is the one thing that wastes most of your time at work?

You might have said ‘emails’, you might even have said ‘that annoying colleague who always hangs around my desk’, but most likely you will have said ‘meetings’.

That is because most employees face meetings overload in their workplace, and arguably it is worst for executives who (according to the Harvard Business Review) spend an average of nearly 23 hours per week in meetings.

But crazy meeting schedules impact everyone in an organisation, and bad meetings are not just wasting people’s time, they are also losing money. Professor Steven Rogelberg conducted research showing that for a company of 5000+ employees, time misspent in meetings equated to around $25,000 per employee annually; that’s over $100 million per year in large companies.

So why do we have so many unproductive and ineffective meetings?

The secret (or common sense) behind running effective meetings

The problem is that most meetings just exist. Someone set them up, way back in the distant past, they entered a schedule and then people just attend them. No one stops to ask the right questions; those that will ensure a good meeting.

I have seen and continue to see this first-hand in the public, private and voluntary sectors. I have worked as a leader, managing things directly for organisations, and as a coach and facilitator, consulting back into these various spheres. Over the years, I have organised and attended countless meetings, from the very good to the very bad, and yes, sometimes I have been guilty of holding unnecessary meetings too.

Whether you are organising, facilitating, or attending a meeting, for it to be productive, you need to know the why, what, where, which, who, how and when of the meeting. Let’s explore that further by expanding these interrogatives and asking the essential questions.

Why do you need the meeting?

The first and most important thing you must ascertain is why you need a meeting.

Think about the meetings you attend. For each one, what is the reason for the meeting? Why does that meeting exist? If you cannot answer that question, I would suggest you either find a ‘why’ for going along, or you should remove yourself from the invitation list.

Every meeting should have a defined purpose. If you are planning a meeting, you must know clearly why the meeting needs to take place and then properly communicate that to the relevant stakeholders.

And that ‘why’ should not just be ‘to get the team together’ or ‘to help communication’. These reasons are too vague. The purpose needs to fulfil some need or solve a problem that you are facing. Don’t move on to the other questions until you have answered this question (or just don’t have the meeting).

What does success look like for the meeting?

Once you know why you want to hold a meeting, the next task is to define what success looks like; in other words, what do you want to achieve by the end of the meeting?

The why and the what are related but subtly different. For example, the reason for the meeting could be that it is a kick-off meeting, the first time everyone is getting together. That is the why. Success in this instance might be that everyone leaves the meeting having met all the team members and understanding everyone’s roles. That is the what.

How you define the outcome of the meeting then shapes the agenda. The agenda can be thought of as a mini action plan with the agenda items being the tasks required to get to the desired end-state.

Where is the best place for the meeting to take place?

Location is important. Where you hold the meeting and how that space is set up will have a large impact on the feel and flow of the gathering.

For example, if you meet in a large boardroom, with someone at the head of a huge table, people will naturally defer to that person. This is good for giving direction, but less good if you are wanting participation and creativity. For the latter, you might want to find a more neutral space with a variety of break-out areas and no imposed feeling of hierarchy.

Be creative with your meeting space. Sometimes even changing the location of a regular gathering can help breathe new life into it. I am a great fan of getting outside whenever possible. For example, my favourite one-to-one meetings are walking meetings but I also run workshops and other types of meetings outdoors.

Which type of meeting will create the right outcome?

The idea of a specific type of meeting is linked to the purpose and success of the meeting. Therefore, defining the kind of meeting will refine the why and the what, as well as inform your choice of location. Identifying the nature of the meeting with also help to scope the following questions covering the who, whatand when of the meeting.

There are lots of types of meetings but most fall into the following categories:

• Briefing, information sharing or presenting. This is usually biased towards one-way communication of key data.
• Decision-making. Here the purpose and outcome of the meeting are shaped by a specific decision or set of choices.
• Problem-solving. In this case, it is a problem that is the focus of the meeting.
• Brainstorming, creativity, or innovation. These meetings are all about generating new ideas or approaches.
• Team building. Every team requires proactive effort to build them up, but the approach depends upon where they are in terms of team development.
• Kick-off or project start. Any new initiative should have a proper kick-off.
• Catch-up, check-in or status update. Most teams have these sorts of meetings, but these need to be well-disciplined to be effective.
• Planning, progress, and performance.  This covers many management functions such as event planning meetings, quarterly reports, and project progress updates.
• One-to-one. Person-to-person meetings can include interviews, coaching, mentoring, and performance meetings. These are just as important to plan as a large gathering.

Whom do you need at the meeting?

There is an art to identifying who you need in any given meeting. Too few people and you might not have the cognitive diversity, experience, or decision-making power to achieve your aim. Too many people and meetings can become bloated, over-long, and it will be hard to achieve consensus.

Meetings take up people’s time, their most precious resource, so be ruthless. Only invite the people who really need to be there. And if that means people only attend certain agenda items and then leave, that’s fine. Don’t make people sit through things that are not relevant to them; they will not thank you for it.

A good rule of thumb is the cocktail party rule. If you watch a room at a party, groups will rarely exceed eight people because this becomes a natural limit to inclusive conversations. Therefore meetings, particularly if you want to get a decision, should generally consist of fewer than 8 people.

If you are wanting to brainstorm something you could push attendance closer to twenty people, although you will want chances to work in smaller groups during the workshop. And if you are just communicating information didactically then there is no real limit (it could be thousands). This approach can be remembered as the 8-18-1800 rule. In other words, 8 people for decisions, 18 for brainstorming, and 1800 for one-way communications.

How should you best run the meeting?

Effective meetings require leadership. The management style that you adopt depends upon the type of meeting and what you want to achieve. For example, if the aim is to pass on information, then the leadership style is likely to be more directive, as you tell people what to do. If you want new ideas, then your approach will be more facilitative, ensuring that everyone contributes and has a voice.

How you craft the agenda can also support the leadership approach you adopt, particularly if people see the agenda before the meeting (which should be the case in most instances). For example, if you want contributions from the team you can craft each section of the agenda accordingly. The first item might be a check-in where everyone has a few seconds to say how they are feeling and what they are thinking. The next item might break down the team into smaller discussion groups before bringing back the key points to the full group. The important thing is to consider the best format for achieving each element of the agenda and how it builds towards the aim you set in question two (the what).

When should the meeting take place, and for how long?

The answer to this question very much depends on the type of meeting you are planning and the exact end-state you want to achieve.

In terms of length, think about what you want to achieve. Meetings span everything from the 5-10 minute standing team meeting that might happen at the beginning of a day, to the whole day creative workshop which is designed to come up with new ideas.

The scheduling of the meeting is then largely dependent upon the length. The longer the meeting, the longer the lead time you will need to give. The more people outside your immediate team that you want to have involved, and the more senior those people are, the further into the future you are going to need to plan. Going back to the previous example, you can call a quick stand-up meeting with only a few hours notice (if that), but an all-day workshop happening offsite is likely to need weeks (if not months) to schedule.

Before you have a meeting, ask these essential questions

In our work, we are inevitably going to spend many hours in meetings. Therefore, to ensure these are productive it is worth spending a few minutes answering these questions for each gathering you organise or attend:

• Why do you need the meeting?
• What does success look like for the meeting?
• Where is the best place for the meeting to take place?
• Which type of meeting will create the right outcome?
• Whom do you need at the meeting?
• How should you best run the meeting?
• When should the meeting take place, and for how long?

And don’t stop asking these questions. What is true one week may not be true another week. Do not become a slave to a meeting schedule or make the meeting a habit you forget to challenge.

Leadership is an opportunity to bring positive change, no matter where you are in an organisation. So, how can you improve your meeting culture today? This might require challenging the status quo – which can be difficult – but if you can find more effective, productive and time-efficient ways to meet, you will win friends in the end!

Which meetings do you have coming up? How will you ensure that your next meeting is a success?

Most of us have a love-hate relationship with meetings. We get frustrated with how much time they take up but also appreciate that meetings, at some level, are important. So, if we are going to commit time to them, what are the parameters that will make the meeting productive?

If you want a meeting to go well it is vital to prepare effectively. As illustrated in my last post, by answering 7 simple questions you can plan for success. To build on these questions, this post explores the main types of meetings and the subtle differences between them. This is knowledge that has been won through years of not only running gatherings but also through coaching other facilitators and teaching about meetings on leadership courses.

There are lots of types of meetings but most fall into the following categories:

1. Briefing
2. Teaching
3. Decision-making
4. Problem-solving
5. Brainstorming
6. Team building
7. Kick-off
8. Progress
9. Planning
10. One-to-one

Each of these will be considered in more detail but I appreciate it is a long read so you may want to bookmark this article, focus on the section relating to your next meeting, and then come back for reference.

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Briefing

These are short meetings to convey important information.

Why have this meeting?

These meetings take place when critical information needs to be communicated.

What does success look like?

Success is that the people that attend the meeting receive and understand the critical information.

Where should it take place?

The venue should have minimal distractions. Find a place that helps people focus.

Who should be invited?

Be specific. Ensure you target the people who need to hear and understand the content.

When and how long?

If a briefing is of a critical nature, then the timeline is likely to be a short one. This sort of meeting should be brief – as the title implies – and the content should just cover the essentials.  In my experience, these sorts of briefs can be less than 20 minutes, including questions.

How should it be run?

These didactic meetings are generally one-way, followed by questions. Preparation is key if the meeting is to be concise. Using a single visual aid –  such as a single slide, plan or map – can aid focus.

Which options should I consider?

Online is an option for briefings, especially if timelines are tight and teams are dispersed. But remember, people often find it harder to focus online so reinforce the critical points.

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Teaching Forums

These are meetings to disseminate useful information and ideas.

Why have this meeting?

To share learning and educate people.

What does success look like?

Attendees should feel they have learned something important and worthwhile.

Where should it take place?

The venue is driven by the size of the audience; therefore, it could be anything from a small meeting room to a huge auditorium. Holding this sort of meeting online is a good option as this allows maximum attendance (and makes the gathering easy to record).

Who should be invited?

Make sure you target people you need to attend but beyond that education meetings can have a more open invitation.

When and how long?

Teaching sessions can be programmed far in advance to maximise attendance. In terms of length, aim for less than 40 minutes. People’s ability to maintain their attention and retain knowledge goes down sharply beyond this.

How should it be run?

Success is dependent upon the quality of the presenter’s preparation and delivery. For example, if I am preparing new material to deliver to a large audience (and want to do this without reading from notes on stage) then I will plan for an hour of preparation for every one minute of delivery time. This may sound extreme but looking effortless takes a lot of effort.

Which options should I consider?

Consider ways to make things as interactive as possible. With smaller groups, they can be made more interactive, with questions being fired both ways during the session. This is harder with audience sizes beyond around thirty, so for larger audiences consider online tools such as apps for questions or quick polls such as Slido.

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Decision-making Meetings

Here the purpose and outcome of the meeting are shaped by a specific decision or set of choices.

Why have this meeting?

Because a choice needs to be made to allow progress.

What does success look like?

A decision is made and recorded.

Where should it take place?

The venue could take various forms, but as with briefings, ensure that potential distractions are reduced to keep people focussed.

Who should be invited?

Invite only the minimum number possible to ensure a decision can be made. The more people, the harder to make a choice but, if you don’t have the right people (i.e., those with the right authority) then the choice won’t be official.

When and how long?

There is no hard and fast rule here, but it is worth setting boundaries as a deadline will help ensure a decision. The deliberation will generally take as long as you give people so don’t leave it open-ended. In my experience, if you have not achieved consensus in an hour then you either have the wrong people present, the wrong information or the wrong motivation in the team.

How should it be run?

This requires careful facilitation. The facilitator may not be the person of authority, and it often helps if they aren’t, as they can remain impartial and focused on the process. Whoever leads needs to ensure that the critical information is shared (as per a brief) and then that everyone has a chance to contribute and comment.

Which options should I consider?

Get people to engage with the pertinent information before the meeting. This will speed up the process of getting to a decision when people gather. If you want to influence a decision, meet up with individuals before the meeting and set the conditions.

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Problem-solving Gatherings

In this case, it is a problem that is the focus of the meeting.

Why have this meeting?

Because there is an issue that needs to be resolved in a timely manner.

What does success look like?

Coming up with a decision, strategy, or plan to address the problem.

Where should it take place?

Pick a space which allows movement, breakouts and access to whiteboards, flipcharts and other aids.

Who should be invited?

Think about gathering the best minds to help solve the issue. This could well be people outside your team. The number is a balance between focus (better with fewer than 10) and diversity of thought (which might require more). My advice is to keep numbers below 20.

When and how long?

This depends upon the problem. Therefore, I generally do an initial meeting for problem analysis, with the expectation there will be a follow-up session to think about actually planning a solution.

How should it be run?

The most important thing is to start with proper problem analysis. If you start trying to sort the problem without identifying the nature of the problem, you are likely to come up with the wrong solution.

Which options should I consider?

Consider using the Grint or Cynefin problem typologies to identify the type of issue.

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Brainstorming Workshops

These meetings are all about generating new ideas or approaches.

Why have this meeting?

Because you want to foster innovation and creativity.

What does success look like?

A list of novel ideas that can be explored further and new mindsets within the team.

Where should it take place?

Find an environment that is inspiring and challenges people’s normal frame of reference (this is generally not in your normal office space). You will want space that allows you to bring everyone together as well as break out space and as many means as possible for capturing ideas (flipcharts, post-its etc)

Who should be invited?

10-20 people is a good number for brainstorming. Ensure that there is cognitive diversity in the group. It is good to have some outsiders (or mavericks) to challenge assumptions and help avoid groupthink.

When and how long?

Creative sessions generally need more time and I often run them over the course of a day. But the day then needs careful planning, so each session is focussed on a specific outcome and people maintain their energy and focus.

How should it be run?

Have a facilitator who is just focused on running the meeting, not on the ideas. Keep individual sessions below 90 minutes and keep gathering people together to cross-fertilise ideas.

Which options should I consider?

If you have never facilitated this type of meeting before you can try the World Café workshop approach.

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Team Building Events

Every team requires proactive effort to build them up, but the approach depends upon where they are in terms of team development.

Why have this meeting?

To help the team progress in terms of cohesion and performance.

What does success look like?

That the team has moved or made significant progress towards, the next stage of their team development.

Where should it take place?

This also depends on the development stage. For example, if they are forming you might want them in the new place where they will work together. If they are storming you might want a neutral space, removed from the normal workspace.

Who should be invited?

It is self-explanatory that you need all the members of the team. The challenge is getting all of the team members there as people often see team-building sessions as of lesser importance.

When and how long?

These sorts of meetings usually need to be planned with plenty of lead time, as they are often longer in length. Most team-building sessions I have been involved with are at least a half-day and often run for several days.

How should it be run?

There is flexibility here but ensure that every section or session has a defined purpose. Whether you are throwing around ideas or throwing axes, make sure everyone knows why. And ensure maximum engagement and contribution from all team members.

Which options should I consider?

Use the Drexler-Sibbet team performance model to identify the most important question that your team needs to answer at that point in time. Use that to focus your agenda.

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Kick-off Meetings

Any new initiative should have a proper kick-off.

Why have this meeting?

Because a new team or project is being initiated.

What does success look like?

That the team understand the new task and their role in achieving it.

Where should it take place?

Try to pick somewhere that helps people envisage or focus on the project.

Who should be invited?

This should be for core team members primarily and, as with team building, the challenge is making sure the whole team is there.

When and how long?

These meetings don’t need to be as long as team-building sessions. For a simple project, this could be less than an hour. For something larger, a half or full day is worth considering so you can combine some team-building elements in too.

How should it be run?

Start with the overall vision. In other words, start with the why, getting their buy-in, before exploring the whoand the how.

Which options should I consider?

Take people on a visit relevant to the task. For example, if you are a construction manager, gather the team on the construction site. If it is a community project, walk the team around the local environment. If it’s a new product, take them to the factory. Help them see the vision.

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Progress Updates

Most teams have these sorts of meetings, but these need to be well-disciplined to be effective.

Why have this meeting?

To report back on progress (for example on a project, for an operation or given budget)

What does success look like?

That the leader or manager understands the situation and any relevant implications (e.g. things relating to time, quality or budget).

Where should it take place?

These meetings are routine and usual office meeting spaces are therefore suitable.

Who should be invited?

Only the people who need to know (primarily the supervisor) and the key contributors. It does not need the whole team and other stakeholders unless this adds specific value.

When and how long?

These meetings should be planned in as part of the operational routine or to reflect key milestones in a project. Keep them as short as possible; the key danger with these meetings is the feeling that people need to say something (just to sound important or busy).

How should it be run?

Share the critical information first, then give the detail as needed. This is often referred to as giving the BLUF (the Bottom-Line Up Front). As with the brief, keep things punchy then leave time for questions and discussion.

Which options should I consider?

Keep the update concise but hold other detail in reserve. For example, if I am presenting slides, I will create a small number of briefing slides (we are talking single figures) but have the extra data on slides at the end of the pack that I can refer to if needed when addressing questions. I will also have people on standby. They don’t have to be in the meeting necessarily but can be called in as needed to answer specific inquiries.

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Planning Meetings

This covers meetings that are future focused (compared to progress which is usually looking back).

Why have this meeting?

When you need a plan! This is obvious but planning meetings provide an opportunity for a leader. You can just direct a team but involving them in planning creates ownership and deeper commitment.

What does success look like?

To have a credible action plan. Something that can be communicated and executed.

Where should it take place?

As with brainstorming meetings, it is good to have a flexible space where you can have breakouts, move around and use whichever aids necessary for effective planning.

Who should be invited?

In the 8-18-1800 rule, planning tends to fall between the 8 (best for decision-making) and the 18 (for brainstorming). My advice is, if you have more than 8 people, divide the planning up and have small groups working on different elements.

When and how long?

This depends on the criticality of the issue (how urgent it is) and the complexity of the task. Commonly, these can be anything from 1 hour to 1 day, therefore do a time appreciation before you start. In other words, the planning meeting needs a good plan to get the result!

How should it be run?

Run the meeting like a project. Have specific tasks and deadlines. As with brainstorming, set regular milestones for sharing progress and ideas.

Which options should I consider?

Consider, has there been a problem-solving meeting beforehand? As noted previously, make sure the issue has been properly analysed before rushing into planning.

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One-to-one Meetings

Although simple in theory, due to being two people, these are just as important to plan as a large gathering.

Why have this meeting?

Person-to-person meetings can include interviews, coaching, mentoring, and performance meetings.

What does success look like?

This depends upon the type of one-to-one meeting, but the important part is to define what success is. Many people forget to define this when just meeting another person.

Where should it take place?

This is also dependent upon the nature of the meeting. For example, if it is a formal meeting such as an interview you may prefer an office meeting room. If it is a less formal mentoring session you might choose to get away from the office. As with other meetings, think about how the environment will help or hinder your stated outcome.

Who should be invited?

Obvious in this case, being just one other person, but consider how you invite them. The level of formality and detail of the invitation will set the expectation for the content of the meeting.

When and how long?

Again, there are no hard and fast rules but, in my experience, a formal meeting – such as challenging someone over discipline – should be short and concise, a matter of minutes. Coaching and development meetings can be more relaxed and longer. I tend to plan 60-90 mins in these cases which allows for some preparation beforehand and noting taking afterwards.

How should it be run?

Have a plan. If it is a formal meeting, pre-prepare what you are going to say (see how to manage difficult conversations) and if you are going to do a coaching style session, adopt an approach (such as the GROW model) to structure the meeting.

Which options should I consider?

If the meeting is less formal, consider going for a walk. There are many benefits to walking meetings and it is my preferred method for coaching, mentoring and other discursive one-to-one interactions.

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The Art and Science of Meetings

There are few hard and fast rules for meetings. It is a mixture of science and art. Even the typology used here, identifying the most common sort of meetings, is just a rule of thumb. You will find plenty of alternative lists and there is little academic work on the classification of meetings.

There are overlaps between types of meetings, and situations vary, therefore it is a matter of judgement as to how you approach them. But I hope that my experience – gained over many years – will be helpful as a guide as you start your planning.

And if you disagree with some of the classification or advice on meetings then that is fine! It just means that you are thinking critically about the sort of gathering you want to have. And that is vital, as the worst get-togethers are not the ones that don’t follow these guidelines, they are the ones that people have not thought about, the sort that people just attend. We all have a responsibility to eradicate these!

What is the best advice you have for running meetings?

The best guidance I have ever received for facilitating meetings comes from acclaimed author and coach Nancy Kline. Nancy Kline gives nine steps for effective meetings in her book Time to Think, to allow gatherings to be conducted according to the principles of the Thinking Environment. The nine precepts are:

1. Give everyone a turn

2. Begin with a positive reality

3. Let them finish

4. Identify assumptions and ask incisive questions

5. Divide into thinking pairs

6. Go round again

7. Give permission to tell the truth

8. Allow people’s feelings

9. End with a positive turn

Let’s expand on what each of these means with some extra advice from my own experience as a leader and professional facilitator.

1. Give everyone a turn

When you are leading a meeting give everyone an opportunity to contribute. The easiest way to achieve this is to ‘do a round’. This is initiated by the chair or facilitator asking a question and then everyone takes a turn to answer. This is very important psychologically as it ensures that everyone has a voice at the table and this balances contributions from the more extroverted (louder) people with the more introverted (quieter) folk within a group.

2. Begin the meeting with a positive reality

Kick off the meeting with something positive. This shouldn’t be something insincere or contrived, just a positive statement. This will help to frame the meeting positively, and – through understanding cognitive bias– will help keep people in a problem-solving mindset.

One way to achieve this is to do an upbeat round starting with something like, “Please can everyone share a success from this past week.” In this way you can achieve the first two points on this list and set a positive tone before doing a second round with the first agenda point.

3. Let them finish

Probably the most important thing in conversations – be that one-to-one or in large meetings – is ensuring that people are not interrupted. It is a sure sign that people are not listening properly.  If people are not allowed to finish, their train of thought will be broken, ideas will be lost, and psychological safety will be undermined. If people are continually interrupted, they will simply stop contributing and you will be left with the loudest (and rudest) people dominating and lose the cognitive diversity of the group.

To achieve this, set the ground rules before you start, so that everyone will have a turn to speak, and no one will be interrupted. Part of this accord is that those speaking will be concise and not go on for too long (no filibustering!)

If you are leading the meeting, you may need to gently remind people of this agreement if interruptions or long monologues take place. Persevere! Many people are not used to this way of working but hold the line and it will pay dividends in productivity.

4. Identify assumptions and ask incisive questions

Everyone needs to be listening carefully (and not interrupting) if they are going to identify assumptions that come up in the conversation. We need to make assumptions when making decisions because we never have all the facts. This being the case, we need to examine our assumptions and make sure they are reasonable. Questions can help do this, and this sort of questioning is at the heart of Socratic dialogue.

Many decisions are made on false assumptions and these need to be identified and explored using incisive questions. For example, you might hear an assumption (stated as a fact) in a meeting such as “it would be impossible to do that.” When you hear that sort of statement you can use incisive questions to gain a deeper understanding of people’s thoughts. In this case, I might ask questions such as “That’s interesting; what makes you say that it is impossible?” or “Could you explain your thoughts around what makes that impossible?”

These questions will help separate fact from assumption and will also allow for new insights to emerge. For example, the answer to the question above might be “It is impossible on this budget” and then you could explore questions such as “What budget would be enough” or “If budget wasn’t an issue, how would we address this issue?”

5. Divide into thinking pairs (or small groups)

Sometimes, to get people engaged, to get out of a thinking rut, or just to be more productive, it can be helpful to break down the meeting into smaller thinking units. Frequently, when facilitating, I will ask people to take a pause and think individually (often noting ideas down for another round) or to break down into pairs or small groups to tackle a specific agenda item.

With small groups, you may need to move around and even use other break-out spaces, so pairs have the advantage of being quick and easy to organise. There are times when you do want to break the flow and use discussion groups of more than two, but it takes time to re-group so do it sparingly.

6. Go round again

If in doubt, do another round. Set another question and let everyone contribute. The whole agenda can be achieved in this way, but you need to think about your questions first. This should be part of your preparation for the meeting. Alongside the agenda, have some questions to help illuminate each point.

For example, you don’t simply want to say, “Can you give us an update?” For starters, this is a closed question, and people might just say “No” or “Not at the moment”. The question is also too broad and likely to lead to some people taking too long. So, keep things specific. Ask something like, “Please give an update on the progress of X relating to X” or “What is the one most important issue relating to X right now?” If someone raises a tricky problem you can then do another round to invite thoughts and solutions relating to that issue.

7. Give permission to tell the truth

Psychological safety is critical to the success of a meeting. Good leaders create an environment where the team can the truth, not just say what they think the boss wants to hear. This sort of atmosphere, where people are not allowed to tell the truth, is an indication of toxic leadership.

If you are the leader, set an example and don’t avoid the brutal realities of your situation. Share the hard facts, admit mistakes, but maintain a positive attitude. As a facilitator, create an environment where people feel safe. Give encouragement to people who share difficult subjects, acknowledging their honesty and their trust in the group.

8. Allow people’s feelings at the meeting

Many people get uncomfortable with the idea of feelings in the workplace. This is largely due to cultural norms (often patriarchal ones) and the philosophical notion that we are (or should be) purely rational. Modern psychology, such as the work by Daniel Kahneman, has debunked this theory. Our brains are not purely logical by design so don’t expect people to be entirely rational at work (or anywhere else for that matter).

Expect emotion. Give space for people to share how they are feeling. That does not mean that a meeting should be a free-for-all of shouting and crying! But allow people to share the good and the bad of what is going on in their work and personal lives.

Many times, I have been facilitating, and dealing with someone who is undermining the meeting, only to find out they had some hidden work frustration or problem at home. Once this was aired, they started to contribute constructively again. Yes, this can be risky, but in my experience, if these instances are handled well, they build deeper trust and cohesion in a team.

You cannot avoid emotions, but you can regulate them and learn from them. How we feel – the fight or flight mechanism that is triggered in social interactions – can indicate issues that need to be resolved. My favourite tools for exploring feelings and their related meanings are The Iceberg Model and the SCARF model. I recommend reading up on these if you are not familiar with them.

And if you can, get people laughing! It does wonders for rapport, creativity and general well-being.

9. End the meeting with a positive turn

You may have had to deal with a lot of challenging material in your meeting, but always try to end on a high. Start positive and end positive. That does not mean that you need to pretend that everything is rosy when it is not. You can be honest but employ a growth mindset and look at everything through the lens of being a learning opportunity.

Lastly, give appreciation. As the leader or facilitator, thank people for their attendance and contributions. Even better, do a final round and get everyone to give a word of thanks or personal comment of appreciation for other members of the team.

Now to prepare for your next meeting

So, as you look to your next meeting, bear these nine ideas in mind. These guidelines work for in-person and virtual meetings, for small or large gatherings.

And don’t worry if you don’t manage to achieve all these elements in one go. Meeting cultures within organisations run deep. They can be very hard to change. But my advice is to persevere with these ideas; if you do you will find meetings less problematic and more productive, less combative and more creative, less frustrating and more fun.

Yes, meetings can be effective and enjoyable, it is possible! And if you would like more help in your meeting preparation and delivery take a look at How to Plan and Run Effective Meetings (In 7 Questions).

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