Meetings Done Right

How to create a safe space for conflict and feedback with Claire Lew Guest Claire Lew (https://twitter.com/clairejlew): CEO of Know Your Team (https://knowyourteam.com/). Inclusion Card: The Whole Deck Summary In this final episode of Meetings Done Right, Noel and Ashley talk to Claire Lew of Know Your Team about creating a safe space for conflict and feedback within your company. Claire talks about how not to be a bad boss, and offers some specific tips on what it takes to be a good meeting facilitator, and suggests how much a good facilitator should speak. Claire also shares her worst and best meeting stories. Notes 01:08 - The Reason for Creating Know Your Team - Basecamp (https://basecamp.com/) 04:37 - Bad Bosses: Are We Someone Else’s Worst Boss?! * The Accidental Bad Manager (https://www.slideshare.net/marklittlewood/claire-lew-ceo-know-your-team-the-accidental-bad-manager) * Gallup Q12 Employee Engagement Survey (https://q12.gallup.com/public/en-us/Features) 09:08 - Being a Good Meeting Facilitator * Going First * Ask Good Questions * Communicating Opinion as Not to Sway Others 17:56 - Remote vs In-Person Meetings 20:32 - Worst Meeting: Letting Someone Go 22:01 - Best Meeting: When Things Get Done 23:20 - Meeting Tip: Defining a Purpose + Ask For Advice Rather Than Asking for Feedback Special Guest: Claire Lew.

How to communicate the uncomfortable with Nancy Pautch Guest Nancy Pautsch (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-pautsch-8873691/): Chief Evangelist of Stakeholder Value (aka President) at Envision IT (https://envisionitllc.com/). Inclusion Card: The Whole Deck Summary Ashley and Noel talk to Nancy Pautsch about conscious capitalism and also about how to have an intentional culture and communicate uncomfortable topics in meetings. We talk about how self-awareness can help build other awareness and improve communication. Nancy also tells us what makes for a great meeting. Notes 00:45 - Building an Intentional Communication Culture 01:55 - Conscious Capitalism (https://www.consciouscapitalism.org/) * Firms of Endearment: How World-Class Companies Profit from Passion and Purpose (https://www.amazon.com/Firms-Endearment-World-Class-Companies-Passion/dp/0133382591/) 03:32 - Conscious Communication 06:12 - Envision IT as a Conscious Capitalism Company 09:04 - Operationalization and Optimization 10:47 - Fostering Good Communication 15:00 - Being Present 16:02 - Good Meetings: Having a Purpose For the Meeting to Foster Innovation Special Guest: Nancy Pautsch.

What can an inclusive culture do for you with Elise Zelechowski Guest Elise Zelechowski (https://twitter.com/EliseZelechowsk): Director of Social Impact for ThoughtWorks (https://www.thoughtworks.com/). Inclusion Card: The Whole Deck Summary Noel and Ashley are joined by Elise Zelechowski, Director of Social Impact from ThoughtWorks do discuss inclusivity. We'll talk about why it's valuable to have an inclusive culture, how to prepare new hires for an inclusive environment, and how to use these principles to run more effective meetings. Also, Elise shares her best and worst meeting stories (hint: close your laptops in meetings...). Notes 00:55 - Having an Inclusive Culture 01:24 - Benefits of Having an Inclusive Culture 02:36 - Preparing New Hires for an Inclusive Culture Environment 03:35 - How an “Officer of Social Impact” Came to be Within ThoughtWorks 05:47 - Facilitating Effective and Smooth Meetings 09:05 - Relationship Building 10:01 - Remote Meetings 13:47 - Worst Meetings: Open Laptops 15:44 - Best Meetings: Being Comfortable and Feeling Safe Challenging Opinions 16:40 - Meeting Tip: Taking Clear Notes + Recording Meetings Special Guest: Elise Zelechowski.

How to facilitate an effective meeting with Ava Butler Guest Ava Butler (https://twitter.com/avasbutler): Organizational Development Consultant, Coach, and Author of Mission Critical Meetings: 81 Practical Facilitation Techniques (https://www.amazon.com/Mission-Critical-Meetings-Facilitation-Techniques/dp/1627870377) Inclusion Card: Parking Lot Summary Noel and Ashley are joined by Ava Butler, author of Mission Critical Meetings: 81 Practical Facilitation Techniques to talk about the Parking Lot card in the Inclusion Deck. Using this card stores an idea for later and tells everybody that the discussion is important but off-topic, and we can come back to it later. Ava explains how having a parking lot helps meetings stay on topic -- assuming you've set a topic in the first place. Ava also shares her worst and best meeting stories. Notes 01:44 - The Genesis of the Parking Lot Technique 03:17 - Judging Whether Things Should Go Into the Parking Lot 05:13 - Laying Meeting Ground Rules Re: the Parking Lot 06:34 - Using the Parking Lot 09:08 - Building For Inclusion 11:01 - Running Remote Meetings Stickies.io (https://stickies.io/) 12:52 - Bad Meetings: When You’re Not Supposed To Be There! 14:10 - Best Meetings: Breakthrough Thinking Special Guest: Ava Butler.

How to make your meetings more inclusive with Michael Donnelly Guest Michael Donnelly (https://twitter.com/realmdonnelly): Founder and CEO of FWD Collective (https://fwdcollective.io/). Inclusion Card: Opinion Summary Today Ashley and Noel are joined by Michael Donnelly of the FWD collective to discuss the Opinion card, which limits the number of times a leader in the meeting can express an opinion, as opposed to facilitating or asking questions. Michael talks about how a facilitator can manage a meeting and shares her best and worst meeting stories (the best story involves politeness). Notes 02:58 - Problems with Offering Opinions as You Have Them 06:29 - Controlling Meetings From a Facilitator Standpoint 10:00 - The Purpose of Opinion Cards 12:03 - Worst Meeting Story: When You Can’t Get a Word in Edgewise 13:23 - Best Meeting Story: Diverse and Polite Meeting Attendees 14:55 - Being a Scribe 18:00 - Meeting Tip: Set Expectations (PBC: Purpose Benefit Check) Special Guest: Michael Donnelly.

How to be present and encourage mindfulness with Annette Jennsen Guest Annette Jensen: (https://www.linkedin.com/in/annettekayjensen/): Director of Global Strategy and Organization Development at Widen Enterprises (https://www.widen.com/). Inclusion Card: Side Chatter Summary In this episode, Ashley and Noel talk to Annette Jensen about the Side Chatter card, which is played when people are having side conversations that not everyone in the meeting can hear. Annette talks about how much time her company spends in meetings, how leaving on time can help a meeting to have better focus, turning video on in remote meetings, making meetings interesting and shares her worst meeting story (it involves a real wastepaper basket and fake paper). Notes 02:44 - Being a “Freedom-Centered Workplace” 04:43 - Problems With and the Cost of Side Chatter 07:06 - Encouraging Focus During Meetings 14:37 - Avoiding Boring Meetings 15:49 - Bringing Widen’s Culture to the European Headquarters 18:36 - Meeting Trick: Stop Talking + Create An Agenda - Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking (https://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Power-Introverts-World-Talking/dp/0307352153) 21:17 - Worst Meeting Story: Be Honest About the Topic! Special Guest: Annette Jensen.

How to deliver a clear and concise message With Joe McCormack Guest Joe McCormack (https://twitter.com/Joe__McCormack): Host of the a podcast series "Just Saying" (https://podcast.thebrieflab.com/). Author of BRIEF: Make a Bigger Impact by Saying Less (https://www.amazon.com/Brief-Make-Bigger-Impact-Saying/dp/1118704967). Founder/Managing Director of The Brief Lab (https://thebrieflab.com/). Inclusion Card: Beating a dead horse Summary In this episode, Ashley and Noel discuss the Beating A Dead Horse inclusion card with Joe McCormack, founder of The Brief Lab, and host of the podcast series "Just Saying". We talk about the importance of making your point briefly. Notes 02:00 - Facilitating Brief Meetings 03:13 - The Importance of Creating a Meeting Agenda 04:52 - Organizing Effective Meetings 09:14 - Discussion vs Brainstorming Meetings 10:39 - Joe’s Podcast: "Just Saying" (https://podcast.thebrieflab.com/) - Episode 70 – Meeting agenda design (https://podcast.thebrieflab.com/episode-70-meeting-agenda-design/) 12:21 - Recognizing Good vs Bad Meetings 13:16 - Communicating Remotely Zoom (https://zoom.com) 15:41 - Good Meeting Story: Superb Agenda and Tracking Time Special Guest: Joe McCormack.

How to use Improv to boost creativity at work with Jessie Shternshus Guest Jessie Shternshus (https://twitter.com/TheImprovEffect): Founder and Owner of the Improv Effect (https://improveffect.com/). Summary In the Inclusion Meeting Card deck, the Angel's Advocate card is a role that is given to a person who uses it to encourage other ideas in the meeting. In the spirit of "Yes, And", we have Jessie Shternshus of The Improv Effect to talk to us about how to encourage brainstorming in your meetings and how to build a group that's comfortable together. Jessie also shares her worst meeting story, which involves a chair. Inclusion Card: Angels Advocate Notes 00:45 - How to Use The Angel’s Advocate Card (Yes, And?) 02:22 - Replacing “Yes” with “No” 03:41 - Jessie’s Upcoming Book: No More **ings 04:53 - Supporting and Encouraging Brainstorming * Commonality Boggle * Uniqueness 08:16 - Can the Angel’s Advocate card derail a meeting? 11:22 - Angel Advocacy When Remote * Stickies.io (https://stickies.io/) 13:56 - Meeting Story: Chair Height Embarrassment Icebreaker 17:09 - Meeting Tip: Just Listen Special Guest: Jessie Shternshus.

How to be a Devil's Advocate without being Evil with Rachael O'Meara Guest Rachael O'Meara (https://twitter.com/romeara1): Transformation leadership and executive coach who empowers professionals to learn and build the emotional intelligence skills to thrive at work and beyond. Author of Pause: Harnessing the Life Changing Power of Giving Yourself a Break (https://www.rachaelomeara.com/book). More from Rachael at rachaelomeara.com (https://www.rachaelomeara.com/). Inclusion Card: The Devil's Advocate Summary In the Inclusion Meeting Cards, the Devil's Advocate is a role potentially given to a more junior member of the team in the hopes of giving them permission to voice their critiques. For a discussion of why that's useful, we have Rachael O'Meara, author of the book Pause: Harnessing the Life Changing Power of Giving Yourself a Break. Rachel suggests we see this role as the critic with immense ability to change the course of the decision process. Without being a meanie. And Rachael shares her best and worst meeting stories. Notes 02:22 - What the Devil’s Advocate Card Means 03:38 - Encouraging People Who Don’t Feel Empowered to Speak Up 06:00 - The Role of a Critic 10:11 - Building Cultures of Feedback 13:25 - Advice for Remote Meetings 16:12 - Taking a Pause 19:47 - Good Meeting Story: Speaking Freely 21:23 - Bad Meeting Story: Discussing Burnout Special Guest: Rachael O'Meara.

Storytelling and How to know your audience With Audrey Boyle Guest Audrey Boyle (https://twitter.com/notaudreyboyle): Comedian: Mom Funnies (https://www.facebook.com/momfunnies) and college professor who teaches “Personal Branding and Social Media Marketing” at Forbes Business School (https://www.ashford.edu/online-degrees/forbes-school-of-business-and-technology). Inclusion Card: Rabbit Hole, Tangent Summary In this episode of Meetings Done Right, Audrey Boyle helps us discuss tangents. Sometimes tangents are helpful, because they help teams form connections, but often they prevent important topics from being discusses. How can you tell the difference? We'll talk about techniques for managing tangents both with and without the Inclusion Meeting Cards, and Audrey tells a somewhat cringe-inducing worst meeting story. Notes 02:13 - How to Tell Whether Someone is on a Good or Bad Tangent 05:16 - Brainstorming and Retrospectives 09:39 - Tangents and Remote Meetings 13:47 - Meeting Tip: Ask Open-Ended Questions and Setting the Foundation for “No Bad Answers” 14:49 - Good Meetings: Walking Meetings 15:24 - Bad Meetings: Not Setting an Agenda Special Guest: Audrey Boyle.

How to Control Your Voice with Katie Gore Guest Katie Gore (https://twitter.com/speechIRL): Founder and Director of speech IRL (https://www.speechirl.com/). Inclusion Card: Speak Up Summary In the second episode of Meetings Done Right, we discuss the Speak Up card with Katie Gore of Speech IRL. Katie talks to us about speaking up, both in terms of what you can do physically to make your voice stand out and what you can do as a meeting leader to make sure that everybody is heard. Katie also shares her best and worst meeting stories and has a great tip for meeting facilitation. Notes 00:14 - The Speak Up Card 01:25 - People Who Have Trouble Being Heard 04:16 - Advice to Improve Vocal Quality 06:07 - Making Sure Everyone is Heard as a Leader 08:36 - Remote Meeting and Setup Tips 11:58 - Being on the Receiving End of the Speak Up Card 14:14 - The Worst Meeting: Nobody Paid Attention to the Agenda 16:03 - The Best Meeting: Long Pauses In-Between Turns to Give Others a Chance to Speak 18:23 - Meeting Tip: Using Metacommentary Special Guest: Katie Gore.

How to Make Your Meetings More Inclusive with Tarsha McCormick Guest Tarsha McCormick (https://twitter.com/Tarsha_McC): Head of Diversity and Inclusion at ThoughtWorks (https://www.thoughtworks.com/). Inclusion Cards: Hepeating, Interrupted Summary In the first episode of Meetings Done Right, we discuss the Interrupted card and the Hepeating card with Tarsha McCormick. Tarsha tells us how to make sure ideas are attributed correctly, how to correct misattributions, and how to run a meeting that minimizes interruptors. Also, Tarsha shares her worst meeting experience, which she calls "The Pineapple Meeting". Notes 01:13 - Hepeating * What is 'hepeating?' - Business Insider (https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-hepeating-2017-9) 02:14 - Making Sure Ideas Are Attributed Correctly * Conversation and Training * Encouraging Feedback 04:21 - When Misattributions Happen 07:37 - Preventing Interruption * Setting Guidelines Pre-Meeting * Baking in Time to Get Opinions From Everyone * Using Sticky Notes 13:19 - Making Meetings Efficient and Inclusive for Remote Workers * Utilize Video * Daily/Weekly Standups 14:09 - Worst Meeting Experience: “The Pineapple Meeting” 18:34 - Meeting Tip: Provide an Agenda in Advance Special Guest: Tarsha McCormick.

Welcome to Meetings Done Right, a 12 episode podcast about meetings inspired by the Table XI Inclusion Meeting Cards. In this introduction, hosts Ashley Quinto Powell and Noel Rappin explain the series and talk about their best and worst meeting experiences.