The 4 reasons to have a meeting

I really like the way that Caterina Kostoula describes the 4 reasons to hold a meeting in her book, Hold Successful Meetings

She describes a 4D Meeting Framework which aligns the members on what they are aiming to achieve in every stage of a meeting. Successful meetings achieve one or more of four key outcomes:

Define (a problem or a goal)

Develop (ideas)

Decide 

Do

You can have a meeting to achieve only one of the 4Ds. Or, if you want to achieve more than one in your meeting, you should do it in clearly defined stages.

Define the problem or goal. In a Define meeting, your purpose is to get to the heart of a problem or issue. You might ask, What is going on now? What should we try to achieve? What is the key obstacle? What is the problem we are trying to solve here?

I can't tell you how many times meeting fail because people have a different idea about what problem they are trying to solve or wrongly assumes everyone understands the goal. You don’t want to waste time trying to solve the wrong problem. Start the meeting with a topic or question on the agenda. You are not in solutions mode yet. All you are doing is enduring that everyone has clarity around what you are trying to achieve.

For example. The meeting might be about an increase in complaints. If you don't define the problem, you might go into solution mode and end up fixing the wrong thing. So asking, "What is the problem we are trying to solve?" or "How might we identify the reason for an increased complaint rate?". These questions make sure everyone is clear on what the problem is and what the goal is to achieve.

Develop meetings.  This is a common meeting  - the solutions meeting. Many meetings, whether coaching, conflicts, product development or even strategy meetings, this is what they are. The purpose is to find a solution that will take your from the what (problem) to outcome (goal). However, in my experience, too many meetings choose to seek closure rather than remain open. Whether it is due to the need to get to decision mode, fixing or time parameters set by the meeting agenda, too few meetings spend enough time exploring options and hanging out in alternative solutions. These meetings should be grounded in curiosity, brainstorming, and possibilities.

Create an environment for playful thinking. Make the space less formal, get people moving around and mixing groups up. You want to create new perspectives, divergent thinking and playfulness. Eliminate judgement, sarcasm and closed mindedness, and prime for discovery, appreciation and openness. You can even ban the NO's and replace with YES ANDs...

Each idea builds upon another. It might feel like you are dancing around the floor but this messiness is essential. Yes there needs to be structure - pinning back to the Define statements, but keep as loose and informal as possible. The location, the clothes that people wear, the music playing in the background - all add to more creative thinking.

The prediction is that work spaces will be designed for this kind of meeting. As Hybrid and remote working becomes more prevalent, coming together for collaboration and creativity will need spaces that enhance, rather than detract from the activity.

Decisions. You do not need a meeting for every decision, but you will most probably need a meeting for the important decisions. Now, you must be clear on how the decision making process will go. The leader maybe appointed key decision maker or you might prefer to reach a consensus, democratic voting system or consultative approach. All have benefits and drawbacks, but pick an approach and stick to it.

Avoid group think or even group polarisation. Group think is when everyone thinks the same, not realising they have been influenced. Group polarisation is when the group becomes fractured. If you engage in healthy conflict, even if you disagreed with the decision initially, you emotionally and wholeheartedly commit to the decision and support it. Through the process, together, you build rationale and can communicate your decision in a structured way - together.

Do meetings. You create change and make a difference. Unless you get people to implement your ideas and decisions, nothing changes. There are three types of Do meetings:

• working sessions
• action-planning sessions
• inspire-action meetings.

In working sessions you actively work on activity. The most common type is two or three people in front of a computer or screen working on some type of product, campaign, task or presentation. You get the best people together to deliver an outcome. In action-planning session you are creating a strategy or milestones. You are creating a structure for the wider project, assigning roles and responsibilities and allocating resources. In inspire meetings, you are creating inspiration, momentum and possibly feedback and praise.