Running Effective Meetings

Introduction to Meetings


A meeting can be defined as when two or more people get together to discuss one or more topics. Often, meetings are held in formal or business settings, but meetings are also held in various other settings and environments. Meetings are an exchange of information used to discuss and solve problems. There are different sets of rules pertaining to the different types of meetings. Meetings also have different agendas, the key factor in all of them being that meetings are used for communication.


Importance of Running an Effective Meeting

Well-run meetings can be a way to build a team and increase expectations, roles, relationships, and commitments to a project. However, poorly managed meetings can have a negative impact on your project. A truly effective meeting also allows for further growth and connections between the team members which is especially crucial in agile projects as developing the team and letting the team grow allows for better communication and working within the group to develop the project/product. Having a poorly run meeting leads people to believe it was a waste of time to attend the meeting and complain. To run an effective meeting there are certain steps and guidelines that must be followed.


Guidelines to Improve Time Spent on Meetings

There are certain guidelines as depicted below to utilize and run an efficient meeting:

  • Determine if a meeting can be avoided

    • Avoid holding meetings if there is a more efficient way to achieve that communication. For example, maybe instead send an email or phone call to achieve that same goal.

  • Define the purpose and intended outcome of the meeting

    • Be specific of the overall purpose and intended goal of the meeting. This allows for focus on the intended goal and keeps discussions on track.

  • Determine who should attend the meeting

    • Determine who needs to be at the meeting. As a project manager or scrum master you will be leading the meeting, what stakeholders need to attend the meeting, does the developer need to be there?

  • Provide an agenda to participants before the meeting

    • Having participants prepared beforehand allows for the meeting to be quick, efficient and on track. This can be done if a meeting agenda is provided.

  • Prepare handouts and visual aids, and make logistical arrangements ahead of time

    • As the project lead having visual aids and logistics arranged ahead of time allows you to be well versed in all the information and lead the meeting efficiently

  • Run the meeting professionally

    • At the beginning of the meetings going though introductions, going over the agenda and stating the purpose and goal of the meeting allows for a good environment for the meeting

  • Set the ground rules for the meeting

    • This allows for clear communication and expectations of the meeting

  • Build relationships

    • This might allow for further connections between people and keep the company growing and your team stronger


The People Involved in Agile Meetings

In agile scrum meetings there are 4 categories of people involved:

  • Development team: Consists of the developers doing the work and implementing the product

  • Scrum master: The Scrum Master is a team leader who helps teams adhere to Scrum theory and practice and improve the interaction of team members.

  • Product owner: The product owner is the person who is responsible for the work of the Scrum team and oversees the outcome of the product or team.

  • Stakeholders: People who are interested in what the Scrum team creates but are not directly involved in the creation process.


What are Agile Meetings?

According to Scrum's methodology, there are four main types of agile meetings that can be held. These meetings are for team members to collaborate and work together to deliver a successful product. These different agile meetings are focused on sharing valuable project information, like customer feedback, test results, project updates, etc. Each of the four different meetings have different agenda, different time lengths and different frequencies at which they occur. Each four of these meetings are instrumental to the success and smooth running of the agile methodology. Most of these meetings apply to Kanban and the Scrum Framework. On the top of the page is an image of a brief overview of the steps that are involved in agile meetings.


The Four types of Agile Meetings

  • Sprint Planning Meetings: The purpose of the Sprint Planning session is for the Scrum team to meet, discuss what they want to achieve in the next sprint, prioritize each task and assign it to each sprint member. The sprint planning meetings are typically attended by the product owner, scrum master and the developers.

  • Scrum Meetings: Scrum meetings, also known as daily stand-ups, are short check-ins with the team. They are done once a day each day of the sprint, usually within 15 minutes in the morning. The following are questions that are typically asked during a daily check in:

    • What did you accomplish?

    • Do you need anything from the team that could support you?

    • What is on your to do list for the day?

    • Is there anything hindering your progress?

  • Backlog Grooming Meetings: This meeting is used to go over and review the items in the backlog. A backlog is a list of tasks that need to be completed by the team. These meetings typically take place at the end of each sprint and are attended by the product owner, scrum master and developers. Some questions that can be asked are:

    • What couldn't you do in the last sprint you still have to do?

    • What are the top priorities that need to be made to ensure that we are successful?

  • Sprint Retrospective Meeting: At the Sprint Retrospective, the developers, scrum master, and product owners discuss what worked, what didn't, and what they did differently. Finally, they discuss a list of action points that need to be implemented the next time to improve collaboration and increase the chances of success. Some questions that can be asked are:

    • What prevented you from achieving your goals or doing your best job?

    • What methods should be removed and kept?

    • What would you do differently?


Sources

Textbook: Chapter 10: Project Communications Management

https://fellow.app/blog/meetings/agile-meetings-comprehensive-guide-for-leaders/

https://www.wrike.com/blog/agile-meetings-guide/

Image:https://www.beesapps.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Scrum-process-for-agile-meetings.png