9. The effect of meeting design on BD Flashcards
21 design characteristics of board meetings can be separated into which 4 categories?
Temporal
Physical
Procedural
Attendee
Surveys have suggested that over what % of meeting time is wasted?
50%
4 common complaints for problems at meetings
- Getting off topic
- Having no goals or agenda
- Poor or adequate preparation
- Being inconclusive
The chair is ultimately accountable for facilitating board meetings, but the CoSec has significant ownership and responsibility through their…
‘Invisible leadership’ influence
Three characteristics which meeting design satisfy
- Under the control of the organiser (often CoSec)
- Related to conduct, composition or setting
- Can be thought through and planned in advance and can affect perceptions of meeting quality
Meeting design - 4 temporal characteristics
- meeting length
- promptness of start and end
- use of breaks
- time of day
Meeting design - 8 physical characteristics
- lighting
- noise
- temperature
- refreshments
- meeting space
- technology use
- seating dynamics
- meeting space arrangement
Meeting design - 7 procedural characteristics
- meeting goals
- agenda use
- pre-meeting talk
- visual displays
- meeting arrangements
- minutes
- meeting recorded
Meeting design - 2 attendee characteristics
- number of attendees
- presence of a meeting facilitator
What does good practice suggest is best in terms of meeting length?
3 to 5 hour range - largely dependent on how much needs to be discussed (which itself is dependent on a number of factors such as how often the board meets).
Fine to go over this range as long as quality of meeting is maintained
Why is the main reason why promptness of start and end of meeting impactful on meeting quality?
Shows good courtesy and avoids frustrating other attendees
Key benefit of use of breaks in board meetings
Ensuring attendees are able to maintain mental performance
Psychological research shows that one’s attention can only be held for how long without breaks?
around 30-40 minutes
What is the ‘Pomodoro Method’ of focused work time-boxing?
25 mins work followed by 5 mins break for 4 cycles, followed by a longer break of half an hour
What does research highlight in terms of general emotions throughout different times of day?
And suggestion over when meetings should be held
Rise through the morning, fall markedly in afternoon, and rise again in the evening
So, best to hold in the morning
Time of meeting - what are chronotypes? & significance
Classification of people based on which part of a day they perform best - if these are known, time of meeting can be based around this
Meeting design - which 4 of the 8 physical characteristics can be considered ‘the basics’ - short point on each
Lighting - not too light or too dark
Noise - limit outside noise
Temperature - not too hot or too cold
Refreshments - food and drink, variety
4 potential considerations re. meeting space
- What will the room look like?
- Where will the room/office be and why? Stakeholder considerations, perhaps
- Off-site?
- Online?
Technology use - 5 considerations if virtual meetings are employed
- Difficulty for personal relationships to be built
- Ideally used as ad hoc addiction built around usual face-to-face meetings
- Include socialisation at the start
- Ensure video use to allow emphasising and humanising with others
- Agree specific ground rules re. adding to points, interrupting, etc.
Seating dynamics (mainly about who sits where, who can have eye contact)… what might boards do re. seating dynamics to emphasise a stakeholders importance?
Keep one or more seats free to symbolise/emphasise them
Meeting space arrangement - all about ensuring comfortability to foster contribution - 2 considerations
- Shape of table
- Ease of which individuals (espec disabled) can navigate room
When is an agenda most useful and positive for a meeting? - what sort of agenda
One which is circulated ahead of time
What will be the benefit of pre-meeting talk?
Certain individuals may be used to meetings being the formal approval of pre-discussed and largely agreed ideas - so a meeting which is very discussive may be disconcerting to them, and it may take them a while to contribute effectively
Key consideration re. virtual displays at board meetings
Some individuals will prefer virtual displays, but other will prefer data heavy appendices. Important to recognise what type of individuals are in the team, and lean one way or the other as appropriate
What is meant by ‘meeting agreements’?
‘Ground rules’ which govern the meeting’s allowable behaviours, types of interactions, topics and how the meeting is conducted.
Key that these rules are mutually agreed to and regularly reviewed
2 key reasons why minutes of meetings should be taken
- May need to rely on minutes as an audit trail
- May be relevant to see which directors dissent to which ideas
3 reasons why meetings may be recorded
- Part of a board evaluation
- Record of information purposes (espec for directors who could not attend)
- Transparency (eg. public sector orgs)
2 methods which can be used to avoid the decrease in board functioning that may come with more attendees
- Be clear when inviting participants as to why they are there
- Have additional attendees only for parts of meetings where they are needed to contribute (expert on specific matter)
Who acts as meeting facilitator, and who is often co-facilitator?
What is other option?
Chair, CoSec
External facilitation - helps ensure focus is solely on process facilitation
Board design checklist (12)
- Set date and create goal, purpose, theme, focus
- Select minimum additional attendees required
- Brief required personnel on required pre-information
- Select appropriate meeting space based on purpose, symbolism, tech requirement, etc.
- Circulate confirmed agenda and timings
- Evaluate and adapt facilities (temp, lighting, etc.)
- Arrange refreshments
- Assign seating if required and set up recording if necessary
- Start of meeting - always start on time
- During meeting - use facilitation or position changes as required, recording thorough minutes
- End before or on time
- After meeting - circulate minutes
