Managing Meetings   Thinkerer Melville
Managing Meetings

How to get into Second Life without really trying

Selby Evans is Thinkerer Melville in Second Life


Common resources and suggestions for managing meetings
Calendar.  Be sure everybody has the time and place info. Time announcements should include start and end times. Start on time. Quit on time. Major agenda items probably need their own start and stop times. 

How do you make things fit into a fixed time? See action items, TBD and Time Control
 
Action items. An action item is something somebody has to do. Set it concretely. Who is going to do it? How will people know when it is adequately done? If it is to find out something, specify the questions to be answered. If it is to decide something, specify the criteria.  
TBD. "To Be Done." Used as a place holder for things you are not ready to do. Often tied to action items -- such as figuring out how to do the TBD  
Agenda.  A list of action items for a meeting. They are probably grouped into topics and may need to have set times in meeting schedule. Continuing topics will often open with reports on previous action items and end with a review of new and continuing action items. It is often useful to review the action items in a topic before moving on to another topic  
Time Control
1. Check the objective of the current discussion.  That should be in the agenda.  If you don't know or don't understand the objective, your objective is to get the group to explain it to you.
 
2.  Check whether the current discussion is moving toward the objective.  If you don't see the discussion moving in that direction, your objective is to get the group to explain what you don't see or redirect the discussion.  
3.  Ask whether the current discussion is the best way to meet the objective.  Often a better path is for someone to take an action item such as researching the issue, writing a list of concrete options, or specifying the issue more concretely.  Or the issue may be deferred with a TBD.  

 

 
   
   
The Thinkerer 09/09/2009
Copyright (c) D. F. Dansereau & S. H. Evans

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