Meeting Management
This Meeting Management webpage has been developed by the Office of Process Improvement to help everyone on Team CDOT to decide if a meeting is needed, understand the planning process for a meeting, facilitate a purposeful, efficient and effective meeting and not to forget the process of following up on meetings to ensure that the planned benefits of the meeting are realized. Calling on all Team CDOT'ers to respond to the challenge of reducing the number of meetings and ensuring that the meetings we do have are valuable for everyone.
Meeting Management Guru Contest!
Meeting Management Guru Contest! A contest? YES! We want to hear about how you have improved your meeting management skills. If you Lean up one or more of your meetings, let us know to be entered for a chance to win! Improve your meetings and fill out the survey! The Meeting Management Guru Survey is LIVE now!
Meeting Management Video (1).mp4Before the Meeting
"Can this meeting be an email?"
Productive emails utilize BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) and include:
Appropriate subject line, background/context (what groups will this touch)
Concise/direct body of email, action items, any impact on others
Further communication out to others at CDOT if necessary
Calendar Invites
Are the appropriate people invited to the meeting? Are there people that are missing, or should be added as optional?
Is the meeting size appropriate for the meeting type?
The time frame needs to be appropriate (not too short, not too long).
Description needs to include all important/necessary information.
Any meeting agendas should be attached to the invite.
Does the agenda act as a roadmap or is it too rigid?
Can this meeting be an email flow chart (1).pdfFlowchart explaining if a meeting can or cannot be an email.
During the Meeting
Surveying the Environment
Survey the environment:
Is there meeting fatigue?
Should timing be adjusted?
Are cameras on?
What is the tone of the meeting?
Establish proper meeting cadence:
Do people greet at the personal level or get straight to business?
Take notes!
Send out notes to invitees that were unable to attend.
Send out reports to the team on high level items of interest.
Emphasize key takeaways (action items).
Monitoring Participation
When monitoring participation, consider these key elements:
Tell-to-Ask Ratio:
Is there a dominant speaker in the meeting that does the talking or is there an even split between telling and asking?
Respect and distribution of participation:
Are there patterns of participation that correlate to status and rank, or is there a democratized pattern of participation that ignores power and includes everyone?
Challenge and dissent:
Do people defer to positional power and chain of command, creating an echo chamber, or do they challenge the status quo and offer dissenting opinions?
Acknowledgements and Recognition:
Do people call attention to each other’s contributions during the meeting?
Are there spontaneous expressions of appreciation and kudos?
More Resources
How to Host Accessible and Inclusive Online Meetings - Google Meet and Zoom
You must be logged into SOC Learns to access this course.
Contact Gary Vansuch (gary.vansuch@state.co.us) or Michelle Malloy (michelle.malloy@state.co.us) if you have any questions!
After the Meeting
Action Items
An action item is a clearly-defined task that needs to be done. Each action item needs to have an owner and a deadline.
Example: By August 25, 2025, John will complete a rough draft of the speaker agreement.
Assigning action items at the end of a meeting ensures that said meeting was productive and that things can continue to move forward with your given project.
Necessary Adjustments
Following a meeting, ask yourself these questions:
Is there an appropriate date set for the next meeting?
Does anything need to be adjusted (size, length, agenda, etc.) for the next meeting to be more successful or productive?
This will help you improve future meetings so they can be as successful as possible.