Fair meetings
A fair meeting is efficient and productive, and everyone gets to speak and dares to give their input. Here are some advice on how to start implementing a meeting culture of fairness at your workplace.
Do the following
Start by looking over your practices.
Talk about and decide together what applies before, during, and after the meetings. After some time, check to see that you follow what you agreed on.
Think about the opening.
Create security and a common understanding by presenting the agenda, the purpose, and the goal of the meeting. Tell the participants about the expectations you have on their contribution during the meeting, and ask them questions about their own expectations.
Do not forget the preparations.
All participants prepare what is necessary before the meeting. Think about what you want to get out of the meeting and what you can contribute with.
Make notes of what is being said.
If relevant, make notes in the form of a memorandum or a protocol. Make sure that you take turn making notes, so that everyone in the group do it at least once.
Be attentive.
Let everyone in the group talk. Listen actively by asking questions and encourage each other. Try to select a person, who accords the right to speak and makes sure that everyone can express their views.
Everyone can do their part.
Everyone is important, and every person can contribute with their unique perspective. It brings energy to the group and the opportunity to meet problems and find new solutions in the organisation.
Give everyone the chance.
A round means that the participants are called upon to speak, one at a time. Let a person begin and then continue on clockwise. The person speaking gets to have their say before the next person follows. The others listen.
Tips!
A short round is suitable to open a meeting. Ask a question like: What are you happy about right now? With what feeling are you coming to this meeting? A round can also end a meeting with a question like: What do you take with you from this meeting? What do you look forward to, and what is the challenge of this week or today?
Think about the grouping.
Create a new dynamic in the room by rearranging the furniture. Let the participants get other seats than they usually do to create new conversations. Try arranging the tables as islands or make a seating arrangement with the name tags of the participants beforehand.
Tips!
You can also divide the groups by drawing lots or ask the participants to divide into groups of something unexpected, like which month they were born or what colour their shoes are. You can also ask them to find three people they have not worked as much with before.
What differs digital from physical?
Practise on creating participation even in digital rooms. Here are some advice:
- Prepare digital rooms for conversations in smaller groups. Ask someone in each group to make notes to share with the larger group afterwards.
- Use the chat and a moderator for discussions, and then summarize for the whole group.
- Try digital tools like Menti or Kahoot to create votes and quizzes or to ask questions and get answers.
- Have more short meetings than a few long ones. It will make it easier for the participants to focus.
Plan how to round off.
Make sure to spend a few minutes on the end of the meeting. Summarize what has been said, and make it clear if something should be done and by whom before the next meeting.
Remember to address the efforts and contributions of others. Thank everyone for taking their time to participate. Be open to receiving feedback if there is anything about the arrangement of the meeting than can be improved.
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