Planning and Managing Meetings 🌎
Languages: English, French
Media Editing: This subject does not contain any editable media.
Description: In this subject, you will learn the importance and impact of using a meeting plan to help you organize an effective meeting, how to properly structure your meeting agenda, and what steps you can take to keep everything, and everyone, on track during the meeting. You will also learn strategies to keep challengers and interrupters focused during your discussions, what you can do to avoid disruptions, and how you should handle a situation where you are challenged or interrupted.
Languages: English, French
Media Editing: This subject does not contain any editable media.
Description: In this subject, you will learn the importance and impact of using a meeting plan to help you organize an effective meeting, how to properly structure your meeting agenda, and what steps you can take to keep everything, and everyone, on track during the meeting. You will also learn strategies to keep challengers and interrupters focused during your discussions, what you can do to avoid disruptions, and how you should handle a situation where you are challenged or interrupted.
Languages: English, French
Media Editing: This subject does not contain any editable media.
Description: In this subject, you will learn the importance and impact of using a meeting plan to help you organize an effective meeting, how to properly structure your meeting agenda, and what steps you can take to keep everything, and everyone, on track during the meeting. You will also learn strategies to keep challengers and interrupters focused during your discussions, what you can do to avoid disruptions, and how you should handle a situation where you are challenged or interrupted.
Topics
Planning Effective Meetings
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In this topic, the audience will learn the importance and impact of using a meeting plan to help them prepare and plan an effective meeting. This topic covers the components of a meeting plan and the audience will learn how to help the attendees of their meeting come prepared and ready to contribute, simply by sharing the purpose of the meeting and creating an agenda.
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Questions (level 1, 2, 3)
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Translated content is typically AI-generated, and in some instances, it's been human-reviewed. Review the list below for translation details within this topic.
English
French
Questions = human-translated
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There are three main components to planning a meeting: the meeting plan, the agenda, and the invitation.
A meeting plan is a guide that helps keep you focused by making sure you cover several key items that make a successful meeting.
A meeting plan includes:
The purpose of your meeting
What you want the group to accomplish
The attendees
A meeting plan includes:
The meeting agenda
The resources required
The invitation
The meeting purpose needs to be specific, so attendees know why the meeting is important.
Meeting attendees should include the people that make the decisions and those who will get the work done.
Meeting agendas include the topics that your meeting will address, so your attendees can come prepared to contribute.
In the meeting agenda, include a timeline, indicating the time allocated to each item to keep the meeting on track.
In the meeting agenda, indicate who will be presenting each topic. This helps everyone come prepared and know what is expected of them.
Once you have established the framework for your meeting, you will know what kind of space you need for your meeting and the equipment that is required.
The invitation should include a brief paragraph on the meeting purpose, any prework instructions, and the agenda, so attendees know why the meeting is important.
Before your meeting begins, make sure you have all the required resources and that the equipment in the room works as expected.
Book your meeting room for 15 minutes to 1 hour before your meeting starts to allow yourself adequate time to set up.
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Managing an Effective Meeting
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In this topic, the audience will learn strategies to keep a meeting on track and on schedule, how to manage attendees that dominate the meeting and how to use a “parking lot” for items that aren’t on the agenda, but relevant to the meeting topic.
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Questions (level 1, 2, 3)
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Translated content is typically AI-generated, and in some instances, it's been human-reviewed. Review the list below for translation details within this topic.
English
French
Questions = human-translated
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In your meeting, display the agenda, so everyone can see it.
Stick to the schedule set in the meeting agenda, making sure to start and end on time. If time isn’t managed, it’s easy for the meeting to become unfocused.
If your meeting has a lot of attendees or has a large agenda, ask a colleague to act as a timekeeper to help the meeting stay on track.
Ask the group to focus discussions on agenda items, to keep the meeting productive, and so it ends on time.
If someone gets off topic or is dominating the discussion, steer them back to the meeting agenda to re-focus the meeting.
If something interesting comes up that isn’t tied to the agenda, use a 'parking lot' to 'park' items you’d like to discuss at the end of the meeting (if there is time) or to include in the meeting summary as a reminder to follow up on.
Document any assignments or questions that have been directed to you or the attendees. Write down any delegated tasks, any 'parked' items, and any assigned deadlines. Include these in the meeting summary.
To make sure everyone is in agreement after the meeting, send a summary of the meeting to attendees. This should be done within 24 hours.
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Managing Challengers and Interrupters
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When leading a meeting, or even if you’re simply trying to share an idea, it’s important to be able to effectively communicate with your team. However, good communication is hopeless if you’re constantly being challenged or interrupted. Fortunately, there are strategies for dealing with these issues. In this topic, you will learn strategies to keep challengers and interrupters focused during your discussions, what you can do to avoid disruptions, and how you should handle a situation where you are challenged or interrupted.
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Questions (level 1, 2, 3)
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Translated content is typically AI-generated, and in some instances, it's been human-reviewed. Review the list below for translation details within this topic.
English
French
Questions = human-translated
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Set a good example and avoid being an interrupter yourself. When running a meeting, people will look up to you to model good behavior. Be respectful at all times, and don’t interrupt others while they are speaking.
Establish the purpose of the meeting and agenda of your discussion at the very beginning. This will keep challengers and interrupters focused and engaged during the discussion and will help reduce the number of disruptions.
To avoid interruptions while you are speaking, encourage collaboration during designated times. This maintains an open and inviting conversation, but also reasserts your priorities as the speaker.
Set firm, but respectful expectations upfront so that people are aware that interrupting you will not be tolerated. Having clear and mutual expectations will prevent any misunderstandings and will create a more respectful and pleasant work environment.
If someone interrupts you while you are speaking, address the issue politely. For example, saying “please let me speak” is clear and firm without embarrassing the person. This is important to demonstrate that you are in charge and that interruptions are unacceptable.
Recognize the value of a challenger’s contributions. Ask a couple of questions to explore their ideas but offer to discuss the ideas further in a private meeting. This will reassure the challenger and show them that you are interested in their ideas, but it will also keep the initial discussion as the priority.
Prevent opportunities for challengers and interrupters to intervene by keeping your discussion interesting and concise. This will discourage people from getting bored and/or distracted.
Preview of topic image for “Managing Challengers and Interrupters” as this topic is questions only.
