Articles from SynTactSolutions, Inc.




		Shifting Gears From Meetings.... to Work Sessions By Marcia Potter, President, SynTactSolutions, Inc. Time is precious. If you're like most of our clients, your faced with an endless cycle of meetings. Your calendar management has been elevated to a science and you wonder what progress, if any, you are making. More and more business is conducted by teams and most team communication occurs during meetings. But the meetings we often observe are not as productive as they could be. We're finding that business as usual in the traditional form of meeting management is yielding less than maximum output. People are generally worn down and they are having a hard time shifting gears as they hopscotch from one meeting to the next. Before you launch a new work effort and schedule a start-up meeting ask yourself the following questions: Will this effort take more than one meeting of multiple people? What kind of discussions will this work effort require? How long will this effort take (weeks/months)? How will decision making be conducted to create the work product? If your answers to these questions conjure up the picture of a group effort that: engages people creates a specific type of output is heavily dependent on diverse resources making decisions together... ....you may want to consider a work session format instead of a traditional meeting format. Shift gears. Work sessions are different from traditional meetings. The table below provides a framework to help you consider the differences.

TRADITIONAL MEETING MANAGEMENT	WORK SESSION MANAGEMENT
Typically has a Chairperson or Co-Chairpersons - there is a hierarchy	Emphasis is on as much work getting done at the meeting as possible
Chairperson runs the meetings and manages the agenda	Sessions are goal driven
Not all members present will speak or participate	Boundaries are set for what gets discussed at the session
Members often give "status" on an action item or have been tasked to do research on an issue	Expectation that decisions are made at each session
Often operates by "Rules of Order" (most commonly a modified Rober's Rules")	Work plan defined during first session; work plan becomes the agenda for each successive work session
Progress is not always clear to members	Members are expected to explore options, give ideas, offer information
The only goal may be to complete the proscribed agenda	Linkage to the business is clear
There may be minimal linkage of meeting content from one meeting to the nex	Work plan is time driven and output is expected
Linkage to the business may become fuzzy	Power is shared - the playing field is level
More work is done outside of the meeting	Members balance the responsibility of running the sessions
Few decisions made in allotted meeting time	Dialogue, debate, and closure is critical at each session


	Notice that work sessions create the "climate" to get work done within the context of the work session. In contrast, a traditional meeting format leans more toward issue and report status. In summary, if you are seeking to improve productivity and organizational effectiveness, consider shifting away from group dynamics that resemble traditional meeting management. Focus on goals, the involvement of members present at the sessions, and zero in on how to make measurable progress at each work session. As you move forward, communicate why you are shifting gears and involve members in creating the change that brings about the type of group interaction that gives people a sense of accomplishment for the time spent.
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