1

A brief introduction to meetings.

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Make your meetings.. ..moreefficient.. ..more fun....

BUT MOST OF ALL..

..just better.

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ContentsFOUNDER'S NOTE 7

PART 1. INTRODUCTION 8 1. The origin of meetings 9 2. Trends 10 3. What kind of meetings are there? 12 4. Whatcangowrong? 15

PART 2. BEFORE A MEETING 18 5. Meeting types 19 6. Meeting rhythms 22 7. Howtoplanameeting 24 8. Culturaldifferences 28

PART 3. DURING A MEETING 34 9. Facilitatingameeting 35 10. Interaction 38 11. Feedback 41 12. Meeting minutes 45 13. Meetingroles 48 14. Meetingpersonalities 50 15. Groupdecisionmaking 56 16. Howtoengageandkeepenergyhigh? 60

PART 4. AFTER A MEETING 62 17. Meetingminutesandfollowup 63 18. When'syourmeetingbeensuccessful? 66

CONCLUSION 68 19. That'sallfolks! 69

APPENDIX 70 Agendatemplate 72 Overviewmeeting types 73 Meeting rhythms 74 Energizers 86

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It’s my mission to save the world from bad meetings so everyone can work better together. GAIKU’s goal is to guide you to more efficient and engaging meetings

that give you better results in less time. Get ready for awesome meetings!

Pleasesendyourfeedbacktojasper@gaiku.io.I’dlovetohearyourcommentsorquestions.P.s. Many thanks to Elise and Hannah for co-writing this book.

The world evolves around the human interaction that meetings provide. We need others to make decisions and move forward. So why is it then that people in business are not giving meetings enough attention? Why don’t we make each and every single one of them count and actually add value to our businesses and potentially also lives? This book will help you improve your meetings and make them more efficient and engaging.

Founder's noteBy Jasper Meerding, Founder & CEO of GAIKU

Iknowfrommypersonalexperiencethatbuildingafastgrowingcompanywithmanydifferentpeoplemeanshavingalotofmeetings.Really.Alot.Ihavealwaysbeen looking for themostefficientway tocommunicatewitheverybodyandgeteveryoneen-gagedintheteam.SometimesIendedupwithmydayfullofonemeetingaftertheother,notknowingwhatIaccomplishedattheendoftheday.

Has anyone ever taught you how to hold an ef-fectivemeeting?Probablynot,becausethis isnotsomethingpeopleusuallygettrainedin.However,meetings are a corepart of life.Weneedhumaninteractiontosolveproblemsandmakedecisions.So,Ibelieveweshouldmakeeverymeetingcountand add value to our businesses and potentiallyalsolives.

When it comes tomeetings, there’s a lot to keepinmind;nowondermostpeopledreadmeetings.Icouldn’tagreemore!ButIalsoknowthatthereisawayout.Letthisbookbeanintroductiontoeffi-cientmeetingsandhelpyougetstartedonimprov-ingthem!

How to use this book Thisbookwillgiveyouanintroductiontomeetingsandpracticaltipsonhowtoimprovethem.It’sdi-videdintofourparts.PartOneisanintroductiontomeetingsandallthethingsthatcangowrong.PartTwoincludesthestepsbeforeameetingstarts,in-cludinghow to plan and think ahead. Part Threeis all aboutduring themeeting itself andhow tofacilitate and engage the team. Finally, Part Fourincludeseverything thathappensafterameetingandhowyoucanmakesurethateverythingisfol-lowed through.Eachpart in themeetingprocessincludesdifferentsubjectsthatwebelievearemostimportantasafacilitator,butalsoasaparticipant.

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PART 1. Introduction

Weall knowwhatmeetings are and they usuallydon’tgiveusanexciting feeling. In fact, it’s rathertheopposite.TheOxforddictionarydescribesitasabove. Soyes,usuallyyouhaveaspecificitemyouwanttodiscuss, or several items, and it’s formal andbusi-nessrelated.

But how far back can we trace meetings? That’suncertain.Somesay itstartedaround1800inEu-ropeandNorth-Americawhentheuniversitieshadagrowingneedtoshare information inacademiccircles.Thisincreasedthenumberofformalgather-ings.Butwhatifwethinkaboutthousandsofyearsagowhenthehuntersandgathererssatarounda

fire anddiscussed their next route to take or thenextday’splan?Thiscouldalsocountasameetingasfarbackastwomillionyearsago.

So,peoplehavebeencoming together to talk formillions of years. Nowadays, office lives are filledwithmeetings,especiallyonmanagementandex-ecutivelevels.Peoplearerunningfrommeetingtomeeting.We’veexperienceditourselveshowtiringthiscanget.Butaswesee,it’saverynaturalprocessforhumanbeings.Weneedotherpeopletohelpuswithacertainproblemortodevelopaconsensus.In the following chapters wewill elaboratemoreon how tomake yourmeetings better andmore engaging.

The origin of meetingsMeeting:

An assembly of people for a particular purpose, especially for formal discussion‘We held an urgent meeting to discuss how to obtain this hamburger’

CHAPTER 1

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Before we start diving into meetings, let’s look at some current workplace trends. In each country, in each city, and in every company things are changing. Trends continually influence the company culture and the workplace in general. Of course, there are many factors and trends which can af-fect your work, but we picked out a few ones we think are important and that can really change a company culture according to Entrepreneur and Forbes.

Trends

Generation ZGenerationZ is joiningtheworkfloor.Bornbe-tween1994-2000,thisgenerationisnowreach-ingtheir20sandenteringcompaniesviaintern-ships and entry-level positions. They are eagertogettoworkandtheyhaveanentrepreneuri-al spirit thatdrives ambition, focuses on careergrowth, and that needs structure and stability.Just like Millennials, members of Generation Zare not planning to stay at their jobs formorethan three years. So a challenge for businessesis to keep young talent in the company. This isdrivingachangeinthecompanyculturetokeepinnovatingandtochallengeemployees.

More performance reviewsPerformance reviews nowadays are consideredineffectivebymanagersandemployees.Manag-erpositionsaremoreandmorefilledbyyoungerpeople.Thisiscausingmanagerstochangetheir

methods of feedback. Today’s employee wantsfrequent feedback, open communication, andmorecollaborationwiththeirco-workers.It’snotasolojobanymore.

The majority of big corporations have a verybureaucratic process when it comes to perfor-mance management, but younger companiesarechangingthewaytheyhandleperformanceevaluations. Employees expect more coachingfrom their managers, therefore annual evalua-tionsdon’t cut it. Checking inmore frequently,say everymonth or even every week, increasesemployee productivity and makes employeesmorelikelytoachievetheirgoals.Fast Company coversmoreinsightsandexamplesofcompanieswhochangedthewaytheydidperformancere-viewsandhere’sanarticlebyLoriGoler,theHeadofPeopleatFacebook,aboutwhyshethinksthatperformancereviewswork.

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Diverse cultureFocushasshiftedtowardbuildingadiverseandinclusiveculture.Companiesstriveforanequalmale-to-female ratio and employees from dif-ferentbackgroundsandcultures.It’snoteasytoachieve, but research has shown that diversitydrives innovation and diverse teams are more engaged in theirwork and their team.What’snottolike?

Artificial Intelligence (AI)With improvements to AI, theway companiesoperatehasdrasticallychanged.Manycompa-niesare trying to incorporateAIandfindsolu-tionsthroughthistechnology.HRmanagersare

findingwaystoautomatetraining,onboarding,retention, and implement digital solutions forrecruitment. Other departments will soon fol-low in findingways to incorporateAI automa-tionintotheirdailylives.

Digitized workforceTechnologyisreinventingjobroles,andcompa-nies have to reconsider how they design theirjobs,organizework,andplanforfuturegrowthusing these technologies. The workplace ischangingallthetimeandpeoplechangealongwithit.It’sachallengeforallcompaniestokeepupwiththechangesandembracethesetech-nologies.

So,whatdothesetrendshaveincommonwithmeetings?Theychangethewayweseeaworkplaceandhowweinteractwithoneanother.Interactionoccursontheworkfloorbutalsoduringmeet-ings.Maybeyouarealreadyusingtechnology, likevideoconferencing,duringyourmeetings,butwealsousetechnologytoschedulemeetingsortodocumentmeetingminutes.Thishasbecomecommonplace,andalsoinfluenceshowweworktogether.20yearsagowehadtosittogetherinthesameroomtohaveaneffectivemeeting,nowyoucanbeontheothersideoftheworld.thismakesitallaloteasier,butpeoplearealsomoreeasilydistracted.Withthis,thereistheneedtobeengagedandfeelvaluable.Optionsforthisarelimitlessandoftenemployeesarelookingforsome-thingbetter.Thismakesithardtokeeptalentworkinginyourcompany.Becausemeetingsaresuchabigpartoftheworkweek,keepingthemlivelyandengaging,byusingdigitaltools,isonewaytoenforceemploymentsatisfaction.

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Information sharing meetings areallaboutsharinginformation.Mostofthetimetheyareeducational,suchaswithseminarsandlectures,andothertimesthe presenter is sharing information to persuade the group.Besidesbeingeducationalmostofthetime,informationsharingmeetingscanalsobe focusedonreportingresultsanddiscussingKPI’s.Thechal-lenge with thesemeetings is that they can easily becomeboringandfilledwithtoomuch informa-tion, so it’s important to keepattendeesengaged.We’ll discuss different participation and engage-mentstrategiesinchapter16ofthisbook.

Decision-making meetings are an important part of everycompany.Thesemeetingsarealwayscenteredoncomingtoaconsensus.However,makinggroupdecisionscanbechallenging. Incompleteinforma-tionandnarrowperspectivescanstandinyourwayofcomingtooptimaldecisions.Chapter15willdis-cusstechniquesyoucanuseimmediatelytoaidyouinmakingpainlessgroupdecisions.

Problem-solving meetings. Theoutcomeisoftenabig, important decision. However, the difficulty ofidentifyingtherealproblem,intragroupconflict,de-fensiveness,andtimerestraintsareoftenchallengesthatbringmoreproblems.Tocometothebestsolu-tion, youfirst shouldclearlydefinewhat theprob-lemis,aswellastoagreeoncriteriaforthesolution.So,goodpreparationiskey.Inchapter7wediscusshowtoprepareameeting.

Innovation meetings are some of the most impor-tantmeetings.Innovationisthekeytosuccessfulor-ganizations.The focusof innovationmeetings is tocomeupwithnewideas,todesignorredesignprod-ucts, or develop entirely new approaches for yourbusiness, like free-flowing creative meetings andbrainstorm sessions. Attendees will build on eachother’s ideas, creatingaproductof their collectiveintelligence. Innovation meetings often start withthinkingoutsidethebox:brainstorming,associating,andsharingideasinabroadscope.Inchapter15wediscusstipsforfacilitatingabrainstormsession.

What kind of meetingsare there?Nowadays we have different kinds of meetings. Why? Because we have different goals. And with dif-ferent goals come different kinds of meetings. Below we discuss five common meeting goals.

CHAPTER 3

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$37 billion

There are a lot of things going wrong when it comes to meetings. An average employee attends 62

meetings per month, but did you know that 50% of all meetings are seen as time wasted?

That's $37 billion salary cost of unnecessary meetings for U.S. businesses! 47% of employees

think that meetings are the #1 time waster at work

Poor or inadequate preparationSometimespeoplegotoameetingbecauseitwasscheduled in their agenda, without knowing thepurpose of the meeting. They arrive unprepared. What’stobedone?Makesurethateveryoneknowswhy you aremeeting. It all startswith the invita-tion:includeacleargoal,agendaitems,andwhatneedstobeprepared.Wewilldiscussmoreofthisinchapter7.

Can’t make decisionsWeallbeenthere:ourmeetingsseemtodragonasgroupmembersstruggle to reachaconsensusandmakedecisions.Theresponsibility forcomingtodecisionslieswiththeleader.Theoneinchargeofthemeetingoragendamustconsiderhowde-cisions will bemade to avoid endless discussion.Checkoutchapter15tolearnaboutdecision-mak-ing strategies.

Can’t finish on timeMeetings often run over time and some agenda pointsdon’tevengetcovered.Whydoesthishap-pen so often? Well, meetings don’t always starton time in thefirstplace.Second, themeeting isnot plannedwell. And third,meeting time is notmanagedwell.Whatcanhelpyoufinishontime?Startontime!Planyourmeetingandmakesureto assigndifferentmeetingroles(seechapter13).

DominatorsThisone isarealproductivitykiller.Thesametwoorthreepeopleseemtotalkallthetime.Itmightbebecausetheythinktheyknowbestandwanttopushtheirideas,ortheywanttoscorecomplimentsfromtheirleadersbytalkingallthetimeandincor-poratingahiddenagenda.Theresult?Otherpeoplestart to feel unsafe and are unable to share theiropinion. That doesn’t sound like a productive >>

What can go wrong?We attend a lot of meetings, but what’s going wrong? Why do we feel like we’re wasting so much time? Many things go wrong and everyone experiences different meetings in their com-pany. Below we discuss some of the most common meeting problems.

CHAPTER 4

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meetingatall.Fortunately,youcandosomethingaboutit.Again:agoodleaderiskey.Whatcantheleaderdo?Chapter14willgiveyoueffectivetipsonhowtohandlethisandotherdifferentpersonalitiesin your meetings.

People are not engagedWhenpeoplearenotengaged,decisionsmaybemade that are later questioned and not imple-mented as hoped.Without some regular interac-tion,officeanddepartmentmembersbecomeiso-lated,makingcollaborationandcooperationmoredifficult.Chapter16willgiveyouparticipationstrat-egies.

Lack of follow through on tasksThere’snothingthatcanmeasuretheeffectivenessof yourmeetingbetter thanwhat happens after-wards. Yourmeeting has been awaste of time ifpeopledon’tfollowthroughonactionplans,tasks,anddecisions.Chapter17willgiveyoualltheinfor-mation you need to make sure your meeting has beenworthitstime.

No meeting skillsLikewesaidbefore,meetingsareacorepartoflifebutnooneseemstobeeducatedonhowtoholdthemeffectively.Nogoal,noagenda,notimelimit,nocommunicationskills,etc.Thislackofskillscouldbeoneof the reasonsmeetingsareunproductiveand not engaging.

Don’t feel confident and safeSpeaking inpublic isahugetriggerofanxiety forsome people. They experience their mind goingblank and feeling stupid because they think itmakesthemlookliketheydon’tknowtheir job. Ifpeopledon’t feel confident speakingup, itmightcauseyourmeetingstolackinformationorexper-tise,anddiscussionsmightnotrunverysmoothly.Chapter 14will teachyouhowtohandledifferentmeetingpersonalities.

Cultural differencesAnother aspect that’s causingmeeting problemsnowadays, is cultural differences. The way time isperceived, rules on how to behave, how to greetsomeone, body language, etc can differ a lot be-tween countries. These aspects can causemisun-derstanding and canmake communicating a lotmoredifficult.Chapter8willelaboratemoreonthistopic.

62 meetings a month

50% is seen as time wasted

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PART 2. Before a meeting

Daily meetingsAdailymeetingisashort,fast-pacedmeetingthatisheldeveryday,ideallyduringthestartoftheworkingday,for5-15minutes.

How does it work?During thismeeting, each teammember answersthefollowingthreequestionsoravariationonthat:· What did I do yesterday?·WhatwillIdotoday?·Arethereanyimpedimentsinmyway?

Why hold a daily meeting? Think about trans-parency, engagement, and commitment. It’s not astatusupdatemeetinginwhicheveryoneletstheboss ormanager knowwhat tasks they’ve accom-plished.Rather,thefocusisoneachother’saccom-plishmentsandremainingworkinordertoachieve commitmentandtransparencyinyourteam.

Meeting types

I once worked for a big corporate in the Netherlands and they tried to discuss everything in one meeting so that sometimes we ended up sitting

in a meeting room for more than five hours. They didn’t distinguish agenda points for different meeting types and that’s crucial to have effective

meetings. It was the worst!

Daniel Fernandes | Backend developer at GAIKU

“

Once there is more than one person in a company, structured communication must be a priority. This communication needs focus and alignment to make sure that problems are spotted and solved quickly. We’ll first outlay the four recurring meeting types and their purposes: daily, weekly, monthly and quar-terly. Then we will show how you can implement these types in a certain meeting rhythm: Scrum, Rock-efeller Habits, Holacracy, and Kanban.

CHAPTER 5

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Weekly meetingThepurposeofthismeetingistodiscusstacticalis-suesthatcomeyourwayeachweekandreviewthegoals you set for yourself and your team.How faralongareyouandwhatarethenextsteps?

It’s important to prepare for this meeting and think aboutissuesbeforehand,butalwayskeepinmindthatitshouldberelevantforthewholeteam(ifnot,meetingscouldcontinuefordays).

A rough planning of a weekly meeting: 1. Startwithgoodnewsfor5minutes.2. Numbers (KPI’s) are shared very briefly and reviewedfortenminutes.3. For 20 minutes the team synchronizes on customers,employees,andpartners.4. You finish talking about subjects that need further discussion. This could be anything and cantakefrom10to30minutes.

Monthly meetingsMonthlymeetingsaretypicallyonetothreehourslong andbest held in themorningwhenpeoplehavethemostenergy.Thismeetingisusedtosolvestrategicissuesrelatingtothewholecompany.

Sticktotwoorthreeissuesinameetingandmakesure you schedule at least one hour per topic sothat the team can dive into a topic without thedistractionofdeadlinesandtimemanagement.Attheendofthemeeting,setnewgoalsforthenextmonthandmakethemmeasurable.

Thebiggestchallengeinimplementingthismeet-ing is failing to schedule enough time for themor putting too many items on the agenda. When you’re scheduling amonthlymeeting,make surethatmorethanenoughtimeisscheduledforeachtopic. If itmeansclearingeveryone’scalendars foranentireday,sobeit.

Quarterly meetingsThefinalmeetingtypewe’rediscussingisthequar-terly. Plan thismeeting for half a day, where theonlyfocusistodefinethenewquarterlygoals.Thismeeting is typicallyoff-site,providinganopportu-nitytostepawayfromthedailyandweeklyissues.Duringthismeetingthebusinesscanbereviewedinamoreholistic,long-termmanner. The meeting agenda should be:• ComprehensiveStrategyReview. Industriesand competitivethreatschange,soit’simportantto reviewstrategyaboutfourtimesayear.• Teamreview.• Quarterly goal reviews and next quarter goals. How you divide these goals depends on your teamandcompany.Youmayalsodividethem further into three parts so you have your monthlygoalsaswellorleavethattotheperson responsibleforit.

Oneofthechallengesyoumightfaceisthetenden-cy tooverburdenandover-structure themeeting.Themeeting shouldn’t feel like a presentation toexecutivesbutshouldbefocusedonreflectionanddiscussingthestateoftheorganization.

Don’t forget to also celebrate the achieved quar-terly goals from the past quarter. We make suretocelebratesuccesseseachquarteratGAIKU.Thewholeteammaynotbedirectlyworkingonquar-terlygoals,butwemakesurethateveryonegetstocelebrate theachievements sinceweareworkingtowardsthesameendgoal.

Lookatchapter5foranoverviewofthesefourtypes.

“ Elise Veerman | Content creator at GAIKU

I actually enjoy the quarterly meetings where different departments come together and give a status update about their goals. It might not always be

relevant for everyone directly, so you shouldn’t go into discussion too much. But in the end, we’re all working towards the same goals so it’s good to see

where everyone is standing. It reminds you that you’re in it together.

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Meeting rhythms

ScrumScrumworksreallywellfordevelopmentteamsbe-causeititeratescontinuouslyontheworkflowandthework thatneeds tobedone. Ithas very shorttimeplanning,whichmakesitaflexibleframeworkandadaptable.

KanbanKanbanisaframeworkthathasacontinuousworkprocesswithout having a fixed ‘sprint’ like Scrumhas. It has a constant delivery flow that doesn’tget interruptedandcanbe changedat all times.Kanbanisusedwidelyincompaniesthatproduceproductsinfactoriesbutalsoworkswellfordevel-opment teams.

You probably know what a rhythm is, but what does it have to do with meetings? A rhythm is defined as “timed movement through space”. The presence of rhythm creates predictability and order in a compo-sition. Using a rhythm, meetings will happen regularly to maintain strategic momentum of your practice. You and your team should frequently discuss goals, KPI’s, status and everything else that will keep you on track to hit your strategic goals.

CHAPTER 6

Rockefeller HabitsThis meeting rhythm brings you guidance andstructure inhowtoplanyourmeetingswithclearboundaries. The frequencyofmeetingsanddeliv-erables are fixedandassures a constant focusonmonthly,quarterlyandyearlygoals.Thismakessureyourteamisalignedonwhattodeliverduringthesemeetingsandmakesitmoreproductive.

Holacracy Holacracyfocusesonself-managingteamstoem-poweremployees to take responsibilityandmakedecisions. It removes themanagement level thatmost companies have by implementing ‘cycles’that can be changed every month according totheworkflow.Theyreasonfromtheideathatpeo-plewhomaketheproductknowwhatneedstobedoneandareabletomakedecisionsbasedonthisinstead of the manager on top.

Concluded,thebestapproachistolookatwhatyourcompanyorteamneedsandtheproblemthatyouwanttosolve.Then,findaviablesolutionthatreallybenefitsyourteamandenablesyoutogrow.

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How to plan a meetingOrganizing a meeting is just as important as the meeting itself. However, meetings are often unorganized, without purpose or agenda, and they go off-topic. Because of this, meetings are the number one time waster in the workplace. We know you probably attend and organize a lot of meetings, so we’ve listed seven steps that will help you plan a successful meeting.

Step 1. Decide if you really need to hold this meetingFirstofall,doyoureallyneedthismeeting?Veryoftenmeetingsarescheduledunnecessarily.“Let’sscheduleameeting”hasbecomethedefaultre-sponsetoalotofbusinessissues.Haveafewide-astoshare?Let’sscheduleameeting.Strugglingwith completing your tasks? Let’s schedule ameeting.Wanttokeepyourco-workerinformed?Let’sscheduleameeting.

Ofcourse,ameetingcanbetherightsolutioninmanycases,but it’snotalways the rightanswer.When you’re building the strategic plan for theyearahead,it’sclearyouneedtomeet.Takesometimetofigureoutwhyyouneedthismeeting.Askyourselfquestionslike“DoIneedoutsideinputtomakeprogress?”,“Doesmovingforwardrequireareal-time,face-to-facemeeting?”.Maybeanemail,quickcall,aSlackmessage,orevenjustaconver-

sationbyyourdeskwilldothejob.

Step 2. Start planning simple detailsSo, you’vedecided youneed thismeeting. Startplanningyourmeetingwithsimpledetails:• Whoshouldbeattending?• Whereshouldthemeetingbeheld?Choosea locationwithhealthyworkingconditions.Make it easy for people to hear, see, interact, and movearound.Step6willgiveyoualistofthings toconsiderforyourmeetingroom.• Whattimeshouldthemeetingstart?• Howlongshouldthemeetinglast?• Whattoolsdoyouneedduringthemeeting? Step 3. Have a clear goalDeterminethegoalofyourmeeting.Areyougoingtobrainstorm?Isitascrumsession?Areyouhav-ing a gathering to share important information? Askyourself,beforeyoustartwritingtheagenda:

CHAPTER 7

whatisthegoalofthismeeting?Whatarethere-sultsyourgroupneedstoachievebytheendofit?Knowwhyyoucalledthemeeting,whatyouhopetoaccomplishasaresult,andwhatactionyouex-pectfromit.Writeitdown.Theseobjectivesgiveyouareasontomeetandwillkeepyoufocusedduring the meeting.

Step 4. Set an agendaThe meeting agenda is very important. It out-linestheplanandsetsboundariesforthemeet-ing.Withtheagenda,youprovideafocusforthemeeting.Prioritizethelistofagendapointsfrommostimportanttoleastimportant.Thiswayyou’llmakesurethemostimportanttopicsarehandledfirst.Preparinganagendadoesn’thavetobeadifficulttask.Useadigital tool towritedownallagendaitems. Send the agenda to the attendees before-handandaskthemiftheywanttoaddanything.

What to prepare beforehand:• Date,time,andlocationofthemeeting• The purpose and expected outcome of the meeting• Invitees• Agendaitems.Createanoutline(ortemplate) basedontheagenda.Thiswillmakeiteasyfor youtosimplywritedownnotesanddecisions undereachagendapointasyougoalong.• Anestimatedtimeframeforeachagendaitem• Thepersonresponsibleforeachagendaitem. Thiscouldbetheonethatproposedtheitem or theonewith themost informationon the subject

See chapter5 for more information on meeting types and their agendas.

I used to call them meta-meetings: meetings where you discuss a next meeting. I mean, what’s the point? People get so caught up in talking

about a next meeting for two hours long and no one was really engaged. This could’ve been done on the mail or only by the heads of the

departments maybe. They had no idea how much time, and indirectly money, they were wasting.

Yosh Talwar | Frontend developer at GAIKU

“

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Step 5. Send an inviteSend an invite to every attendee stating that there willbeameeting,thegoalsofthemeeting,andthemeetingagendadetailssuchasdate,time,andlo-cation.Also, sendrelevantdocumentsor informa-tion if peopleneed toprepare something for themeeting and make sure they have enough time todoso.Askthoseinvitedtoacceptordeclinethemeeting.

Step 6. The meeting roomWhen you’re organizing ameeting, you’llwant toconsider more than just chairs, a projector, and microphones. You’ll want to create the right en-vironment for yourmeeting, from lighting to theseating.Ameetingareathat’scomfortable,stylish,andfullyequippedwillhelpyoucommunicatebet-terandcaneffectively leadtoattractingclientsorfinalizingimportantdeals.

Let’s take a look at different aspects of meeting rooms that can contribute to a successful meeting.

Lighting.Howbrightistheroom?Lightingplaysanimportant role in the meeting room experience.Soft lightingmay be good for reading and view-ingofscreens,butontheotherhand,itmightalsocauseparticipants todozeoff.Boardroomsmightrequiremorebrightness,androomswithprojectorsmightrequiredimminglights.Makesuretheroomisbrightenough!

Technology. Before you start yourmeeting,makesure to test your technology. Is theWifiworking?Isyourmeetingsoftwareworking?Howaboutthespeakers, projector, and lighting? You want yourmeetingtogosmoothly,sotestthesethingsbeforethemeetingstarts!

Heating and cooling. One of every event and meet-ingorganizer’sbiggestnightmaresistryingtocon-trol the heating, ventilating, and air conditioningsystemofaroom.It’softenimpossibletofindatem-peraturethateveryoneintheroomlikes.It’sbesttostartwithacoolerenvironmentatthebeginningof

Themeetingroom!portal

themeetingbecauseit’sonlygoingtogetwarmerwithextrapeopleintheroom.Also,peoplearelesslikelytodozeoffwhenthey’refeelingslightlycool.

Accessories.Lastbutnotleast,whatareaccessoriesyou might need during your meeting? Make sure there are good markers and something to writeon,forexample:awhiteboard,aglasswall,oraflipchart.

Step 7. Remote teamsPlanning ameeting can be challenging.Workingwitharemoteteammakesitevenmorechalleng-ing.Coordinatingbetweenmultipleschedulesandtimezonescanmakeitdifficulttoplanameeting.Every team has its ownmeeting flow, and whatworksforoneteamdoesn’tnecessarilyworkforan-

other.Ithelpstoplanadailystandup,especiallyforremoteworkerswho you don’t talk to that often.Dailystandupshelpateamsyncupandtheytakeaway impediments faster. Additionally, it’s nice toheareveryone’svoiceseveryday.Moreonthedailystandupinchapter5.

Themost important thing is to apply structure inyour company, so every team member has thesameexpectationsofwhatneedstobediscussedinthemeeting.Clarityandstructuresavetime,anditallcomesdowntothepreparationforthemeet-ing.Beclearaboutwhat isgoingtobediscussedinthemeeting,whatthegoalis,andwhattheout-comeshouldbe.

Planningandorganizingameetingshouldn’tbedifficult.Thischaptergaveyouseveneasystepstoplanasuccessfulmeeting.It’simportanttoconsiderifyoureallyneedameeting,andwhenyoudo,makesuretohaveacleargoalandagenda.You’llhaveanefficientmeetingupandrunninginnotime!

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Cultural differencesInternational companies have employees all over the world. Working with multicultural teams offers a lot of advantages, like deep knowledge of different product markets, culturally sensitive decisions and strategies, and 24-hour work rotations. However, besides these advantages, there are also problems that come with working in a multicultural team and company. In this chap-ter, we’ll discuss what the differences are and how you can cope with culture-based challenges.

What are some differences People are different andmeetingswithmulticul-tural employees and/or clients require a uniqueapproach.ThewayyouholdameetinginJapanisdifferentthaninBrazil.Thismakeshavingcross-cul-turalmeetings difficult but could also give you abroader perspective of the company or situation.Toanticipateandrespectotherculturesthatmightenterthemeeting,bepreparedanddoyourhome-workonthissubject.

Are you working with people from different cul-tures?Belowyouwillfindthemostcommondiffer-encesfromdifferentpartsintheworld.

Wecan see that there aredifferentways of start-ingameeting,holdingameeting,communicatingwith one another, and having different opinionsaboutwhatispolite.We’lldiscussthisfurtherinthenextparagraphs.

Differences in how time is viewedTimeisthesameeverywhere,butit’snotviewedthesamearoundtheworld.Imaginehavingameetingwithsomeoneandtheperson ismultitaskingbe-tweenphonecalls,andpeoplearewalkinginandoutoftheroom.Wouldyouthinkthisis‘awasteoftime’oranefficientwayofworking?Overall therearetwowaystolookatsituationslikethis:thepoly-chronicwayorthemonochronicway.

CHAPTER 8

Chit-chat Agenda Communication

Brazil Chit-chat No agenda Direct

USA Minimal chit-chat Yes Direct

Northern Europe Minimal chit-chat Sticking to it firmly Indirect

UAE Chit-chat Agenda but very relaxed Indirect

Hong Kong Chit-chat Sticking to it Indirect and Japan

New Zealand Minimal chit-chat Sticking to it Direct and Australia

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Monochronic: In this type of culture people arevery aware of time. There aremany expressionsin English-speaking countries and Northern Eu-ropeancountrieslike‘wastingtime’or‘losetime’.Thereisagrandawarenessoftheconceptoftimeandturninguplateforanappointmentormeet-ing is seenas rudeanddisrespectful.Everyone’stimeisconsideredvaluableandshouldbespentusefully. People in amonochronic culture focusononethingatthetime,plancarefully,andareconcernedwithcompleting tasks ina systemat-icway.That’swhymeetingsinthiscultureusuallysticktotheagenda,startontimeanddon’tallowinterruptionsduringthemeeting.Going‘offtrack’isnotsomethingthat isconsideredpositiveandshouldbeavoided.Efficiencyisanimportantas-pect that is valued throughout companies and theJapanesetakethisespeciallyseriously.Sticking

to the agenda and to the time set for a meeting isveryimportant.Ifameetinggoesovertime,thatreflectson thepeople in themeeting.They seeminefficient andunclear in communication or theydidn’tpreparewellenoughtoendthemeetingontimebecauseofthat.Therefore it isutterly impor-tanttoendthemeetingwithintheallocatedtimetonot‘loseface’andsaveyourdignity.

Polychronic: thepolychronic culture in, for exam-ple,LatinAmerica,SouthernEurope,andtheMid-dleEast,hasaverydifferenttakeontime.Theymul-titask andbelieve that timecannotbe controlledand is flexible. A company where this culture isdominantwon’tnecessarilysticktotheagendaofthemeetingandinsteadmeetingattendeescouldbeexpectedtodomultipletasksduringthemeet-ing,walkoutofthemeeting,ortakecalls.

Differences in communicationIntheNetherlands,thecultureisdowntoearthanddirect.Communicationshouldbeclearandit’snotaboutreadingbetweenthelines,whichwouldbeinefficient.MostNorthern European countries arelikethisjustlikesomeotherEnglish-speakingcoun-trieslikeAustralia.

Thewaypeople in theNetherlandscommunicatesays a lot about a culture. Because monochron-icculturesaretryingtobeasefficientaspossible,toomuchchit-chatbeforeameetingandindirectcommunication is not always acceptable. Directcommunication is honest and straightforward.Whenyouthinksomethingisnotrightorshouldbeslightlydifferent,thiswillbesaidduringthemeet-ing.On the other hand, inmany countries in theworldwhere a polychronic culture rules commu-nication iscarefulandrelatedtosaving face.Theywanttoprotectanother’sesteemandhonor.

If you’d like amore in-depth researchon specificcountries,checkoutthiswebsite.

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Tips on how to manageOfcourse,youdon’twanttoclashduringmeetingswith clients or colleagues. So how can youmakesureyourmulticulturalmeetingsrunsmoothly?

The Harvard Business Review writes about this subject. They identify four problem categories that can create barriers to a team’s success:1. Direct versus indirect communication (like we sawinthetable)2. Troublewithaccentsandlevelsoffluency3. Different ways of looking at hierarchy and authority 4. Conflictingnormsfordecisionmaking

Makesure,asthefacilitator,thatyouknowtherootoftheproblemsoyoucanfindanappropriatesolu-tion.

ExpectationsBe specificbefore themeeting starts aboutwhatyouexpectfrompeopleinthemeeting.Youwanttobeclearabouthowyouwillrunthemeetingandestablishthe‘norms’atthebeginning.

Be clearDon’tleaveanythingtotheimagination.Peopleal-wayshaveadifferentviewonthingsif it’snotlaidout clearly. Confusion is even more likely whenthereisaculturaldifference.Whenyousay,forex-ample,themeetingstarts‘ontime’,peoplecanstillinterpret this asmore or less within tenminutesfromthestart.Beclearaboutwhatyoumeananddon’t assume that people understand it immedi-ately. Thiswayeveryonehas the same ideaand ithelps toavoid irritation.Asa facilitator, it’s impor-tanttoinvolveeverymemberandatthesametimerespecteveryone’sculturalassumptions.

Taking all this into consideration, our last advicewould be to do your homework before meetingwithanyculture.Thiswayeveryonewillfeelrespect-edandyoucantrulyenjoyadiverseteam.

I’ve been to meetings where the hierarchy was very different than what I was used to. Luckily we were quickly used to each other at that moment so

that was good. But I can imagine that when I would have a meeting in Japan, our very different cultures would really clash in a way. My advice would be

to read about cultural differences before entering the meeting. You’ll know what to expect or how to behave, and you would better understand other

people’s behavior.

Arjen Halma | CPO at GAIKU

“

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PART 3. During a meeting

Facilitating a meetingBy definition, facilitating means “to make easier or less difficult; help forward.” Every meeting usually needs a meeting facilitator, someone to help participants stay involved, to lead discus-sions, and to identify and solve problems. Teams will almost always develop better, more crea-tive solutions when the meeting has good facilitation and will be more likely to support the im-plementation of the solutions. So, it’s the meeting facilitator’s role to guide the group through an effective process, without influencing the decisions.

Start with good newsStarting a meeting positive is something that helpstodevelopapositivemindsetandanopenenvironment in that meeting. There’s an opportu-nityforeveryonetosharetheirthoughtsonwhat’shappening and levelwith each other.What didyouthinkwassomethingpositiveforyouperson-ally,orregardingyourjob,orthecompanyingen-eral?Sharing thiswillgiveyouaneasy startandachancetoconnectwitheachotherthatexaltsbusiness.

Practice leadershipThink about ageneralmeeting youhaveduringtheweekandcountthehourlyratesofeveryonein that room. It’sprobablyquitea lot.On topofthat, factor in the cost of things a person could actuallybeachievinginsteadofsittinginameet-ing.Thatevendoublestheamountoflostmoney.

That’swhere leadershipscomes in.Good leader-shipiskeyduringameetingtoensureitseffective-ness. Inchapter 14we’ll lookmore intomeetingpersonalitiesandhowtodealwiththem,butit’ssuretosayasafacilitatoryoucanmakeorbreakthemeeting.You’retheoneresponsibleforoneortwohoursofsomeone’sday,makesureitcounts.

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Facilitate more dramaAccordingtoPatrickLencioni,theauthorofDeathByMeetings, there are two things going wrongwith theoverallmeeting culture.One,meetingsareboringbecausetheylackdramaandtwo,theyareineffectivebecausetheylackcontextualstruc-ture.

To keep meetings engaging there needs to be some conflict. Most leaders in meetings avoidjustthatandfocusonendingtheirmeetingsontimebecausetheydon’twanttobeseenasineffi-cientorasatimewaster.Ontheotherhand,thereare the so-called ‘staffmeetings’. Participants inthese meetings are often unsure if they are sup-

posedtobedebating,brainstorming,orlisteningto what is being said. There is no clear contextforthesemeetings,justtheinclusionofanythingthatcomesup.Thatcouldbeanythingfromthebudget fornextquarter todiscussingtheeventsforthatweektotheresultsofthelatestmarketingcampaign.

So,howcanyoumakesurethatyoumakethebestdecisionsandnoone'stimeiswasted?Facilitatedramaandpassionatediscussionstoengagethewhole teamand lead thesediscussions towardsa profound decision. Notice the conflict and ig-norethenaturaltendencytodosomethingaboutthisconflict.Thisisagoodthingandsupportthis

conflictby askingquestions andget to the rootoftheproblem.Trytodefineandsummarizetheparticipant'spositionbyaskingquestions,like‘I’mhearing…and…,isthatyourpointofview?’.Thesekindofsummarieswillhelpparticipantsaddresstheconflict.Participantswillhavethefeelingtheyachieved something afterwards and that every-onehadtheopportunitytoweighinduringthesediscussions.

Ofcourseitalldependsonyourobjectiveduringameeting,butkeepinginmindthesetwopointscansignificantlyimprovethemeetingcultureyouhave.Readtheeasy-to-readDeathbyMeetingifyouwanttoknowmoreontheabove.

End with a recapDuringameetingalotisbeingdiscussed.Maybeone or two hours of information, decisions, andactionpoints.Whataretheimportantthingsthatpeopleneedtoremember?Sure,itwillbewritteninthemeetingminutes,buttoensurethatevery-oneknowswhattheimportantpointswere,endthemeetingwithashortrecap.Quicklyreviewthedecisionsthatweremade,theactionpoints,andthepeopleresponsible.Thiswayalldecisionsandactionpointswillbeclear for everyone, and themeetingminuteswon’tcomeasasurprise.

I’ve been to a meeting once with 150 people, that lasted for two days. The result? We scheduled smaller meetings with only a few people. What a

waste of time! I believe good meetings start with sharing a goal and a clear outcome that you want at the end of the meeting. They should be held with

less than ten people, preferably of the same discipline, and they should be pragmatic and quickly come to a result.

Joost ten Brink | Backend developer at GAIKU

“

Inthenextfewchapterswe’lldiscusshowtorecordthemeetingminutes,howtodealwithdifferentpersonalitiesandroles,andhowtoengageyourteamduringmeetings.

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InteractionMeetings are here to make things better and allow participants to work together. People seem to forget that sometimes, and come into the meeting cranky and unmotivated. Sitting in a one or two hour meeting with a few cranky people will bring down the positive and energetic vibe. Even though attending meetings is not a passion for most people, there are a few things that could make it easier for everyone.

First of all,showupontime.Ofcourse,likewereadinchapter8aboutculturaldifferences,timelinesscandiffer inpartsof theworld.Justbeawareofwhatpeopleexpect.

Also,trytoengageinthemeetingandaskques-tions.Noteveryitemisasrelevanttoyou,howev-eryoucanengagebyaskingfollow-upquestionsand, if thesituationallows it,shareyourpointofview.Thekeyistoaskquestionsthatinspireanewwayofthinkingandexpandtheirrangeofvision.

Here are a few ways to construct open-ended questions: 1. Togetmoreclarity:‘Canyouexplain…?’2. Createbetterworkingrelationsbyasking: ‘How have sales been going?’ instead of ‘Did you meet your target?’3. Encourage thinking analytically: ‘What are the consequencesofexecutingitlikethis?’4. Helppeoplereflectonthis:‘Whydidthiswork?’5. Create ownership (in case of a passive team): ‘Whatdoyousuggestwedointhiscase?’

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What not to ask? Avoid questions with a nega-tiveperspective like, ‘Whydidn’tyoufinishthisontime?’,orafewclosedquestionsinarowthatmakeitmorelikeaninterrogationthananopenconver-sationlike,‘Whattimeisit?’,‘Howmanypeoplearecoming?’and‘Whenwillthereportbeready?’ Askingquestionsmakessurethatyouarealignedasateam,thatyou’rebetteratsolvingproblems,andalsogiveotherstheopportunitytothinkfur-therthantheywouldotherwise.Formoreonask-ingquestionsandotherexamplescheckoutthis articlebytheHarvardBusinessReview.

Virtual meeting etiquetteWhat’s written above is important, but whenyou’reworkingremoteevenmoreetiquetterulesareapplicable.Thisisduetothelackofbodylan-guagethatisnotpresentlikeinaphysicalmeet-ing.

Averyimportantguideline:beclearonthegroundrulesofthemeeting.Avirtualmeetingstandsorfalls on its structure somake sure that rules arecrystalclear.Youcouldeithertelleveryoneatthebeginning of the meeting or send it beforehand. Someexamplesofrulesthatcouldbeimportant:whothefacilitatoris, ifpeoplearemutedornot,thatthere’sanagendatofollow, ifquestionsarewelcome or not during the meeting, and whowritestheminutes.

Here are some tips to get the most out of your virtual meetings: • Begin with a warm-up or small talk to get everybodyrelaxed.Forexample,startbyasking remoteattendeestointroducethemselvesand also to describe what's happening in their country,town,oroffice.Youcanstartdoingthis whilepeoplearearriving,sothatyoudon’tget distractedwhilewaitingfortherest.• Closeallappsonyourcomputerandsetyour phoneonsilenttostayfocused.

What to specifically look out for as the facilitator: • Makesuretoengageeveryone,evenmorethan a regularmeeting, by calling their nameand asking questions. Ensure that everyone has a say. Try to use private chat functions to ask unresponsive participants why they aren’t engaging,toavoidputtingthemonthespotif youfeelresistanceinanyway.• Make sure everyone follows the ground rules thatyou’veestablishedatthebeginningofthe meeting.

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FeedbackFeedback is an essential part of a healthy company and also one of its largest challenges. Some people don’t like giving feedback, some don’t like receiving feedback, and not a lot of people know how to give constructive feedback. In this chapter we’ll explain what the steps are to give feedback and receive feedback, and how to listen in general.

Let’sstatethateveryonewantstoimprovehisskills.That’shumannature:toalwaysgetbetteratwhatyou do. Besides a self-evaluation, learning whatneedsimprovementrequiresfeedbackandthat’swhereitgetsmorecomplicated.Imagineyoulose$100, thatwould suck, right?Now imaginewin-ning$100.Whatwouldgetyoumoreworkedupandmakeyoufeelstrongeremotions?Formanypeople,itwouldbelosingthemoneythatwouldenablestrongerfeelingsthanwinningthemoney.

Samegoesforgivingandreceivingfeedback.Re-searchshowsthatemployeesreactsixtimesmorestronglytoanegative interactionwiththeirbossthantheyreactedtoapositiveinteraction.Nega-tivefeedbackcanhaveanadverseeffectonsome-one’sproductivityandevenwell-being.

Giving feedback is a delicate situation.

There are 3 steps to respectfully do this: 1. Startwithanobservationofthesituationfrom yourpersonalperspective: “I’mseeing/hearing youdo/saythis…”2 What is the effect on your feeling and/or behavior:“Thisgivesmethisfeelingandthat’s whyIdothis….“3. Givespacefortheopinionofthatperson: “Do yourecognizethis?”OR“whatdoyouthinkof this?”

Thiswayyouretainrespectintherelationshipandgivespaceforotheropinions.Thiswillnotevokeany defensiveness from the other person and sets aconstructivetonefortheconversation.

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Receiving feedback also has its challenges.

It’snothardtoreceiveanyfeedbackinthewayit’sdescribedabove. If feedback ispresenteddiffer-entlyyoumightgetdefensiveandbelessopentoaconversation.

Whatyoucandointhatcase:1. Ask for clarification and use follow-up questions2. Makeasummaryofwhat’sbeingsaidto avoid misinterpretation3. Demonstrate appreciation of the situation:“It’scleartome”OR“yourinten- tionsareclear.”4. Shareyourownopinion:“Ithink…”,“Ihave heardofthisbefore”,“Iagree”OR“Idisagree, because…”,”whatI’velearnedfromthis…”5. Endwitha follow-up: “This iswhat I’lldo withit…”,“I’lltakeitintoaccountthenext time”,“I’msorrythere’snothingIcando.”

Thiswayyoucansolvealotofproblemsthatariseinaworkplace.Withthesetips,youcanensureasafeenvironmentwhereyoucanhelpeachotherthriveandsharefeedback.

How to listenDuringameetingpeopleareconstantlycommu-nicatingviabothwordsandvisualscues.However,sendingmessagesisnottheonlypartofthecom-munication process. Receiving (listening) is justasimportant.Thinkaboutit:whenyousaysome-thingtosomeone,butthatperson isnotpayingattention or doesn’t try to understand you, yourmessagehasbeensentfornothing.So, listeningplaysanimportantroleinmeetings,buthowdoyoudoit?Let’stakealookatanimportantlisten-ingskill:activelistening.

Active listeningListeningisnotthesameashearingandrequiresboth focus and a concentrated effort. You needfocus inorder tounderstand themessages thatarebeingsenttoyou.Activelisteningmeansfullyconcentratingonwhat isbeing said rather thanjustpassivelyhearingthemessageofthespeaker. Firstly, show interestusingbothverbalandnon-verbalmessagessuchasmaintainingeyecontact,nodding your head and smiling, or saying ‘yes’or ‘mmm-hmm’toencouragethemtocontinuespeaking.Thiswillmakethespeakerfeelmoreatease.

Secondly, remain neutral and non-judgmental,especiallyearly intheconversation.Active listen-ingisaboutpatience:pausesandshortperiodsofsilence should be accepted. Don’t jump inwith

questions or comments, give the speaker sometimetoexploretheirthoughtsandfeelings! Finally,when you feel like theperson is finishedspeaking,ask forclarification ifneeded,summa-rizetheperson’smessageinyourownwords,andgivethespeakerthechancetocorrect.Thisway,youensurethespeakerthatyou’velistenedtohimandthatyouunderstandwhathesaid. Thesestepswillhelpyoubeagreatlistener.Andremember,practicemakesperfect!

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I’ve attended a lot of meetings where everything was written down, which took a lot of time. You don’t have to write everything down.

Just the important things, like what was decided and what needs to be done by whom and when.

Hannah Boom | Operations manager at GAIKU

“

Meeting minutesMeeting minutes provide a written record of what was discussed and agreed upon at a meet-ing. With meeting minutes you and your colleagues will have the same recollections from the meeting and the same ideas about what was agreed. Good minutes make sure everyone, in-cluding everyone who couldn’t attend, knows what was decided and what needs to be done. In chapter 7 we explained how to prepare the meeting agenda.

In the appendix, you’ll find a full template of ameeting agenda. As you go from agenda item to agenda item, write down the most impor-tantphrasesanddecisionsunderornexttoeachagenda item.

Whyishavingapersonresponsibleforeachtaskand decision so important? Take Steve Jobs forexample. He insisted that every agenda pointandactionpointmusthaveapersonresponsible.He called that person theDirectly Responsible Individual. Thisway,everything isorganizedandclear,andpublicaccountabilitywillensurethatatask gets done.

Here’s what you’ll need to include in your meeting minutes:• Date,time,andlocationofthemeeting.• The purpose of the meeting.• Names of attendees and those who were unabletoattend.• Agenda items.• Decisionsthatweremade.• Actions that need to be done. Include the deadlineandwhoitwas assigned to.• Followupmeeting.

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Do

• Record the date, time, location, and type of meeting.

• Check off attendees as they enter the room. Orcirculateanattendancelisttheycancheck offthemselves.

• Ask for clarification if necessary. Sometimes, the group will move on without making a decisionoraclearconclusion.However,it’syour jobtowritedowndecisionsthataremadeso askforclarificationwhenneeded.

• Be selective. Listen for key points of the meetingandcapturethem.Youcan’tkeepupif you try to capture it all, so be sure to simply (and clearly) write (or type) the decisions, assignments,andactionsteps.

• Recordit.Literally. Ifyouareconcernedabout not being able to keep up with note taking, considerrecordingthemeeting,butbesureto letparticipantsknowtheyarebeingrecorded. Therecordingscancomeinhandyifyouneed clarification.

• Use the agenda as a guide. The agenda will show you what needs to be discussed and decided.

• Record vote outcomes and the number of votes.

• Stay objective. Recordwhat is discussed and decidedwithoutgivingajudgment.

• Finish the minutes as soon as possible after ameetingwheneverythingisstillfreshinyour mind.

• Includeeverydetailinthemeetingminutes.

• Include personal opinions, comments, or judgements.

• Include words of praise or criticism from anyone.

• Detail the debate over an issue. You should include facts in your meeting. What is discussed and decided? Do not include everything that is said. The meeting minutes shouldn’tbeatranscript.

• Wait to type up the minutes from your notes. The longer you wait, the less accurate they become.Do it the samedayor thenextday, whileyoustillrememberwhathappened.

• Recordcontent in theminutes thatcouldbe embarrassing or inappropriate to an individu- al,company,ortheorganization.

• Keep draft or handwritten minutes. Discard the draft after minutes have been approved.

Don't

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Meeting rolesClearly defined meeting roles will help you have more productive meetings. Assigning differ-ent roles to participants is a good way of keeping attendees involved and engaged. What are important roles to have during your meeting? Let’s discuss the three roles you can assign to make your meeting more efficient.

Role 1. FacilitatorThemeeting facilitator isusually theonecreatingthemeetingagendawithorwithoutinputfromthegroup. During the meeting, the facilitator guidesthe group through the agenda and keeps an eye on thetime,sohealsotakesontheroleoftimekeeper.Hefocusesonthegroup’sprocessandhelpsmakethegroup’sworkgosmoothly.Thefacilitatorguidesthe group through the agenda, leads the discus-sions and brainstorms, andmakes sure decisionsaremade.Hecreatesbalancewhenitcomestogiv-ingeveryoneequalopportunities toparticipate inthe meeting.

Role 2. Note takerThenotetakerorrecordertakesnotesonaflipchartoralaptop.Heorshemayalsobecalledthemeet-ing minutes taker. This person documents whatis discussed, key decisions that aremade, actionitems,andresponsibilities.Thesemeetingminutesshouldbedistributedassoonafterthemeetingaspossiblesothateveryoneknowswhattodoandbywhen.

CHAPTER 13

I used to be a cook, and every night after work we would have a meeting about the work we needed to do the day after, and what we could do with different products that were still left. Not your average business meeting,

but definitely a meeting. There were a lot of cooks that were loud mouthed and wanted to get the chef’s attention. That didn’t create an open

environment where everyone got the chance to put in ideas. People would really try to push their own ideas, which made it difficult for shyer people to

speak up. I think the meeting facilitator, the chef in this case, should really be considerate of that.

Arne Oldenhave | Backend developer at GAIKU

“

Role 3. Directly responsible individualThisismoreofageneralrolethatprobablyevery-onehasinameeting.Itmeansthateverypartici-pant is responsible for their ‘own’agenda item(s).The responsibleparticipantcouldbe theheadofthe specific department, someone that’s beenworkingonthatproject,orsomeonethatputtheitemforward.Anythingthatmakesthemostsense

inateamormeeting.Therolemeansthatyouhavetointroducetheitem,providepeoplewiththenec-essaryknowledge,andexplaintheproblemordis-cussion.Beclearonwhatkindof inputyouneedfromthegroupandwhatkindofoutput youex-pect.Isitadecisiononthisspecificmatterorjustsome ideas?

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Meeting personalitiesWe’ve discussed different meeting roles that could benefit your meeting efficiency. But what about different personalities? People are inherently and genetically different. Keeping a meeting on track can be a challenge because of (different) personalities. When different personalities come together to discuss or decide, they will disagree occasionally.

Notonlyinmeetings,butinbusinessingeneral,it’susefultoknowwhatkindofpersonalitiesthereare.Whenwetrulytrytounderstandthepeoplearoundus,wewillbecomesuccessfulentrepreneurs,ded-icatedemployeesandfriendliercolleagues.Sothenexttimeyougetannoyedwithyourcolleaguefor

being too loud or when you get impatient withyouremployee fornotgetting to thepointquickenough, try to think about different personalitiesand how this might cause this situation. Belowwewilldiscussdifferentpersonalitytypesthatyoumightencounter.

CHAPTER 14

Openness to experienceOpenness reflects people’s willingness to consider new ideas. Someone who is open to experienceusuallyenjoystryingnewthings.Thesekindsofpeople areoriginal, imaginative,daring,havebroad interestsandgenerallyprefer varietyoverfixedroutines. ConscientiousnessConscientiouspeoplearecarefulorvigilant.Theyhave the desire to do tasks well and take ob-ligations to others seriously. This makes them hardworking, ambitious, and energetic peoplewholikeplanningthingsinadvance.

AgreeablenessAgreeableness reflects how much people wantotherpeopletolikethem.Agreeablepeopleval-uegettingalongwithotherswhichusuallymakesthemsympathetic,kind,affectionateandtheyarelikelytoengageinprosocialbehaviorandvolun-teerism.

NeuroticismNeuroticpeopleworryalot,areinsecure,self-con-scious,andtemperamental.Theyarethekindofpeoplethatcallandtextimmediatelyaftersend-inganemail tomakesureyougot it. This insta-bilitycancausedifficultiesintheworkplacewhenpeoplegetangryorupsetatothers.

ExtroversionPeoplefallsomewhereonascalefromextrover-sion to introversion. Everyonehas a certainper-centage of extroversion and expresses it in dif-ferentways. So, if you have 20% extroversion, itmeansyouarequiteintroverted.Extroversioncanbe described as social, fun-loving, talkative andderivingenergyfromsocialactivity.Introvertsontheotherhand, ratherseek for internalstimula-tion and derive energy from solitary and oftencreativepursuits.

5 personality traitsResearch published by Robert R. McCrae and Paul T. Costa, Jr., states that five personality traits, known to psychologists as the "Big Five”, can give a scientifically accurate assessment of your personality. You can easily remember these personality traits using the acronym OCEAN:

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Formore information about personalities, take alookatBusiness Insiders’articleabouttheBigFivepersonalitytraits.Areyouinterestedinyourteam'sscoresonthesepersonalitytraits?Takethetest!TheInternationalPersonalityItemPoolisavailableon-line inboth longand short versions. Then,watchthebehaviorofyourcolleagues,andget toknowhowtheyactandreact.Usethatunderstandingtopredicthowtheywillreactdifferentlytosituationsthanyouwouldhave.

One final thing you should note about generalpersonalities is thatmost people fall in betweenextremes.Thatis,thereareforexamplenotmanypureintrovertsorextroverts.Instead,peoplehaveacombinationofbothdimensions.Also,theresultsof these tests are notwritten in stone. They giveyouanindicationofsomeone’spersonalityatacer-tain time.Keep inmindthatpeoplechangeandare alsonot the same indifferent situations. Thisinformationisjusttohelpyouconsiderpersonalitytypesandtohelpyoucreateabetterunderstand-ingofyourselfandsomeoneelse.

The ramblerSomepeopletalkmorethanothers.However,to-tally irrelevant rambling from a participant canhave a negative impact on yourmeeting. It cancauseyourmeetingtotakemuchlongerandlosefocus. Make sure there’s a clear agenda for themeetingwiththetopicsbeingcoveredclearlydis-playedonascreen.Whensomeonegoesonandonaboutsomethingandlosesfocus,youcancalltheattentionbacktothetopicathand.

The quiet oneOntheotherhand,somepeoplehavegreatideasbutnevervoicethem.This isnotdesirable ifyouwant tomakesureallattendeesareequallyen-gaged. So, how can you help these participantswithspeakingup?

Here are some ideas:• Give people five minutes to write down their ideasorthoughts inasilentbrainstormbefore openingthegeneraldiscussion.• Shyer people may not feel comfortable speakingupinlargergroups,soyoucancreate smallergroupstoletpeoplediscuss.• Another approach may be to talk to a quiet individualinprivateanddiscusstheimportance ofeveryone’sideas.Tellthemyou’dliketohear whattheythinkandencouragethatpersonto explain their (interesting) idea at the next meeting.

Meeting personalitiesNow,let’stakeacloserlookatafewspecificmeetingpersonalitiesandhowyoucanhandlethemtohaveasuccessfulmeeting.

*blah! Blah?

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The multitaskerDidyouknowthat73%oftheaveragemeeting-go-er has brought otherwork to ameeting at leastonce?Thesepeoplemaybecalledattendees,butthey are not participants. They are not engagedin themeeting.Howcanyou solve this?First, tellattendeestoleaveallpossibledistractionsattheirdeskandtell themtoonlybringthingsthattheyreallyneed.Second,limitthemeetingtoareason-ablelengthsopeopledon’tfeellikethey’relosingtimetheywanttobespendingonsomethingelse.Agoodruleofthumbisthatanhourisamaximumthatpeoplecanreallystayfocusedandlistenclear-ly.Haveabreakafteranhourandcontinueormakesure yourmeetings never exceed an hour. Third,makesurethegroupisnobiggerthan10people.Thiswayparticipantswill less likely bedistractedandstayengagedduringadiscussion.

The dominatorAlso known as the Know-it-all. This person maythinkhe’s inameetingofone,andeveryoneelseishisaudience.Whenyoufeellikesomeoneistak-ingoverthemeetingbytalkingallthetime,makesureyoustartaskingquestionstootherpeopleinparticular.Startaskingquestionslike“Howdotherestofyoufeelaboutthatidea?”or“Okay,that’sagood point;maywemove on to someone else?”Thepointistohelpotherpeopleparticipate.

The negative oneWhenyoukeephearing“thiswillneverwork”fromthesameperson,youknowyou’vegotaNegativeNancyinyourmeeting.Whattodo?Sometimesit’senough tomake people aware of their behavior.Thebestwaytohandlethisisbyaskingyourselfifthispersonhasavalidpoint.Ifnot,confrontthembygivingpositivefeedback.Youcantalktothisper-son in private and ask them to think about their an-swerfirst.Maybethey’veneverrealizedthatthey’rebeing negative most of the time.

Itcanbedifficultkeepingameetingontrackwithdifferent personalities. Startwith structuring yourmeetingwithanagendaandatimelimit.Thiswillgive people little room for dueling personalities.When you’re facilitating ameeting it’s importanttopayattentiontowho’stalkingandthatyoucanrecognizethingsthataregoingwrong.

Having a good leader during your meeting is key! A leader should make sure everyone is engaged and that both extroverted

and introverted feel comfortable saying the things they want, and need, to say.

Arvind Yadav | Backend developer at GAIKU

“

#&@*!

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Group decision making

Before we discuss a few group decision-makingstrategies,let’smakeclearthatagoodleaderiskey.Makesureyouknowwhoisleadingaspecificpro-jectortaskandhasthefinalresponsibility.

There are several things the leader can do to help a group make decisions more efficiently:• Clarify the goal of the meeting. Create ex- pectations with actionable agenda points thatclearlyexplainwhatisexpected.• Whenpeopleseemtotallyblockedandunable to come to a decision, go back to the initial question or purpose and phrase it in other words.

Brainstorming Brainstorming is a group decision-making tech-niquedesignedtoincreasetherangeofideasandsolutionsavailableforthegrouptoexplore.Brain-storminggroupsmeet specifically to generate asmany ideas as possible. This technique doesn’tprovideasolutionordecisionitself.Instead,itpro-ducesa listof ideas thatwill laterbeconsidered,discussed,andevaluatedwhenitistimetoreachafinaldecision.

Meetings are often held to come to a decision. However, group decision-making is not very easy. Things like incomplete information and narrow perspectives can make your decision-making a challenge. Also, groups often make ineffective decisions because they either fail to list alterna-tive solutions or do a poor job of evaluating and selecting solutions.

CHAPTER 15Don’t judgeWhether an idea is good or bad doesn’t matter. Judging and criticizing isn’t good for themoodandcreativeflow.Peopleshouldn’t feelafraidtospeakup.Empoweryourco-workers. Assign a moderatorAlthoughtheentirepointofabrainstorminvolvesafreeflowofideas,youcanquicklygetofftrack.Chooseamoderatorwhoknowstheprojectandcan drive conversations toward original thoughtandsuccessfulteamwork. Change physical environmentSwitching environments can influence the wayyourbrainworksandwhatkindofideascometomind.Stimulateyourbrainbybrainstormingout-side or in another room. Independently prepareGiveeveryoneabouttenminutestocomeupwiththeirownideasbeforeyoudiscussthemtogether.Thiswayyou’llmakesureyouwon’tgetstuckwithcommon suggestions but you’ll probably havemorediverseideastobeginwith.

Identify goalsYou don’t want to waste time endlessly writingdown ideas. Clearly state the goal of the brain-storming session so that everyone knows whatis expected and will stay focused. For example:“Identifytenpossiblewaystogetmoreemployeehappiness.”

Set a time limitBysettingatimelimit,youknowthattheagreedupongoalsmustbemetbya certain time. Thiswillencourageyoutostayontrackandcomeupwithasmany ideasaspossiblewithin the time-frame. Avoid groupthinkGroupthink occurs when people in groups seek to eliminate conflict entirely. Positive reinforcement and agreementsaregreat,butshouldn’tstandinthewayofcriticalthinking,creativity,andquality. Write everything downEvery idea, good or bad, should be briefly putdown on paper or a whiteboard because youwon’t remember everything. You don’t want toendupscratchingyourheadbecauseyouforgotallthosegreatideas. Work togetherDon’t get attached to your own ideas. Everyonewillhavegoodandbadideas,butintheendit’sallaboutthebest ideasthatsolvetheproblem.So,helpdevelopotherpeople’sideastoo.

The ground rules of brainstorming

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PollPollingcanhelpdeterminehowpeoplearefeel-ingaboutacertainissuewithoutrequiringanyonetocommithimorherself toanything.Managersor leaders who are going tomake the decisionmightdothisbyaskingaquestionlike,“Ifweweretodecidenow,howmanyofyouwouldfavorop-tionone?”Youcansimplyraiseyourhands,ornot.Itgivesanideaofwhatpeoplethinkaboutacer-taintopicandthisinformationallowsforabetter decisiontobemade.

Nominal Group TechniqueThistechniqueissimilartobrainstormingexceptthatit’smorestructured.

The nominal group technique involves the following steps:

• Writedownideasinprivate.Aftertheproblem athandisdefinedandunderstood,members silentlygeneratetheirideasinwritingwithout discussionwitheachother.• Share ideas. Take turns reporting your ideas tothegroup,oneatatime,whileafacilitator writes them on a flipchart or whiteboard. Again,nogroupdiscussionoccurs.This listing continuesuntileachmemberhasnomoreide as to share.• Discuss ideas. The next step is discussing all ideas. The purpose of this discussion is to clarify,criticize,ordefendthestatedideas.• Vote on ideas. Each person privately and anonymouslyprioritizestheideasaccordingto a rank-ordering system.• Calculate the group decision. The final decision is calculated mathematically, based on the votes of the previous step.

Henry 2 1 3

Ian 2 3 1

Emily 1 3 2

Mercedes 1 2 3

Total 6 9 9

Option A Option B Option C

Example outcome of nominal group technique.

I’ve had a lot of good experiences with brainstorming sessions, but only because a clear goal was stated before the session. Also, one

person should be in charge of leading the brainstorm session to make sure everyone stays focused. Otherwise you can’t make any sense of the chaos.

Jorick Serto | Creative strategy manager at GAIKU

“

Dialectical inquiryIf it’s a yes/nodecision, you coulduse this tech-nique. Itworks as follows. Thereare twogroups,one favoring yes, and one favoring no. The firstgroupwilllistallthepros,andthesecondgroupwill list all the cons. Then everyone will discusstheirfindingsandreasons.Thistechniqueensuresthatdecision-makersconsiderallalternativesand

opposing views in decision-making and it helpsmanagers tomake an informed decision. Makesure that at the end there is one person making thedecisionandthateveryonewillhavetoabidebythat.Thiswayyouavoidtensionandencourageacceptanceattheend.

Inmeetings,makingdecisionsisaneverydayoccurrence,anditcanbeachallengewhenyou’redealingwithdifferentpeopleandopinions.Therearealotofwaysthatwillmakeiteasiertomakegroupdecisions.We’vediscussedbrainstorming,polling,nominalgrouptechnique,anddialecticalinquiry.Eachofthemcouldbeusefulindifferentsituations.Trythem,andfindoutwhichoneworksbestforyou.

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How to engage and keep energy high?One big problem in meetings is that attendees are not engaged and don’t deliver any use-ful input. Meetings can be strenuous at times and it’s hard to keep your team engaged. Every business has a certain meeting culture and that’s often hard to change. But there are different methods that can be used to make sure you get more input or discussion in your meeting.

We’ve listed some easy suggestions to help you keep everyone (including yourself) energized and engaged while leading a meeting

CHAPTER 16Get greater involvementTo get greater involvement indecisions, consider listing allideas and giving participantsseveralvotestocast.Intheend,the group’s preferred priorities areclear.

Make sure you encourage discussion items. People tend to avoid tensionor disagreements in a meeting. But some healthy discussionsbetween colleagues can createengagement and get the issue out completely. Have otherscontribute to themeetingwiththeirownagendapoints.Meet-ingscanquicklyturnintoalec-tureinsteadofadiscussion.Giveattendees the opportunity to contributetothemeetingagen-daandmeetinggoals,sothosewhocontributeideasoragendapointsaremorelikelytopartic-ipate

Remove the chairs and stand up. Let people stand up once inawhile.OK,sodon’tthrowawayyour chairs, but also don’t letpeoplecomeinandsitdowntillthe bitter end of the meeting. Attendees who stand up havehigher levels of engagementandevenbecomemorecreativein brainstorming.

Make the meeting content visual. Use visual elements in yourmeetings, like sticky notes,graphics, and idea mapping.Visual tools will bemore inter-esting to the attendees and this willhelpthemtobemoreener-gized and engaged.

Create smaller groups for discussion. Themorepeoplegetthechanceto talk, themoreengagedtheybecome.So,designactivities inthemeeting that invite peopleto form smaller groups for dis-cussion.Smallergroupsalsoal-lowshyerteammemberstofeelmorecomfortablecontributing.

Give team members a responsible role. Give attendees a responsiblepart in themeeting. For exam-ple,onepersoncanberesponsi-bleforleadingadiscussionandanother can be responsible fortakingnotes. Thiswill definitelyincrease participation and en-sures that every team member hasaninterestinthework.Also,it gives attendees an opportu-nity to grow their courage andconfidence.

Throw in some games. Energize your meetings by throwing in some games. Thiswillmakethemeetingmorefunand lighten the mood. For ex-ample,settingpeopleateasebyusinganice-breakeratthestartof the meeting is a great waytogeteveryonerelaxed.Partici-pantswillfeelmorecomfortablewithspeakingup.Takealookattheappendixforafewexamplesofenergizersthatyoucoulddowithyourteam.

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Meeting minutes and follow upOnce the meeting is over, there are two things to do: write clear and concise meeting minutes and follow up on the commitments made. Why? Because a meeting is not done when everyone walks out of the room. So many ideas get lost because people walk away and leave it at that. Meeting minutes are essential to ensure that work gets done.

Meeting minutesPulltogetherallyournotesandrecordings.Makesureyourmeetingminutesarecompletebyadd-ingadditionalnotestotheminutesassoonafterthemeetingaspossible,whileeverythingisfreshin your mind. The meeting minutes must be easy tounderstandbutstillbeasshortaspossiblewithonlyusefulinformationincluded(oneofthebig-gestpitfallsinwritingmeetingminutes).You’reinameetingtomakedecisionsanddiscussactionpoints,sothosehavetobeclearforeveryone.

Like you read in chapter 12, meeting minutes include the following:• Date,timeandlocationofthemeeting• The purpose of the meeting• Namesofattendeesandthosewhowere unabletoattend• Agenda items• Decisionsthatweremade• Actionspoints• Nextmeeting

CHAPTER 17

PART 4. After a meeting

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Follow upSo,theagendaitems,announcementsanddeci-sionsareallstatedinthemeetingminutes.Oneofthe most important things in your meeting min-utesaretheactionpoints.Thesefollow-upitemsmakeameetingsuccessful.

Whatdoclearactionpointslooklike?• What needs to be done? Be as clear as possible. Instead of saying “powerpoint presentation”, include a verb: “create powerpointpresentationaboutnewFacebook campaign”. Now that person knows exactly whattodo.• Who needs to do it?Alwaysputanamenextto anactionpoint.Someonemustberesponsible orelsenooneisgoingtodoit.• What’s the deadline? Deadlines motivate peopletogetthingsdone!

Ifeverythingisclear,it’stimetodistributeorsharethe meeting minutes through an online tool.Also,fileallmeetingminutesforfuturereference.Someorganizationsmay store themonline andalso back up on an external harddrive. And forothercompanies,youmayneedtoprintandstorehardcopiesaswell.Whateverworksbestforyourcompany,it’simportanttostorethemwellforfu-turereference.

Check in on follow-upsOftenmanagersthinkthatpeopleareself-startersandwill dowhat they say theywill do.But let’sbehonest:eventalentedandcommittedpeopledon’talwaysdowhattheysaytheywilldo.So,af-terthemeeting,checkinatappropriateintervalstoensurethecommitmentswillbekeptasprom-isedorelse re-evaluated. If youdon’t, thewholemeetingcouldhavebeenawasteoftimeandyouendupdiscussingthesamethingsoverandoveragain.

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When's your meeting been successful?Meetings are a necessary part of working in any group – they give us the chance to share infor-mation, to reach decisions, and to get things done. But meetings have another important func-tion, which is often forgotten about – group maintenance. A good meeting not only gets work done but also involves, supports, and empowers the participants, creating a high level of energy and enthusiasm. A sense of community and connection to fellow group members is the basis for successful group work and social change.

CHAPTER 18 Productivity Efficiency Energy / engagement

Documents are sent on time to The right people are invited to Everyone has a chance to talk all participants to prepare well the meeting. in the meeting.before the meeting.

Discussions in the meeting are The meeting starts on time You look forward to the finalized with a decision and and doesn’t exceed the meeting and you feel energeticdo not get passed on to the designated time. afterwards.next meeting. The goal of the agenda items The meeting is not disturbed The chairperson makes sure are crystal clear: either for by background noises. everyone has an opportunity information purposes, as to contribute to the discussion discussion input, or for decision and feels comfortable doing it.making

The decisions and follow-ups Multitasking is not done during The discussions are short, to are in the minutes and logged. the meeting. the point and concise, so everyone stays focused.

If there’s nothing to discuss, the meeting doesn’t take place.

So, when is a meeting successful? Italldependsontheobjectiveandtypeofmeet-ing.Wecancall ameeting successfulwhenyoustick to the meeting agenda points and don’tget stuck on things too long. When goals areachieved, participants were involved, supportedandempowered,andalsoahighlevelofenergy,enthusiasm,andengagementwascreated.Asuc-cessfulmeetingwillmakeyoufeellikeyou’veac-complishedsomething.

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About GAIKUHow can GAIKU help? GAIKU is a powerful meeting web app. A lot of things that we discussed in this book are things that are implemented in GAIKU, like meeting minutes,actionpoints, recurringmeetingsandcreatingameeting rhythm,meeting templates for Scrum,timetracking,andmuchmore. GAIKUwasfoundedinOctober2016afteryearsofmeetingexperienceandunderstandingthepainthatcomeswithmeetings.AtGAIKUwebelievethatthemeetingprocesscanbesomuchmoreefficient andwewant to help other companiesachievethataswell.

Mission:

To make one million meetings a day more engaging and effective by 2020

GetGAIKUandstartimprovingyourmeetings!Goto www.gaiku.io to sign up.

That's all folks!We have spoken about many things in this book and we hope that they’ll be of use for you. Meetings are a very important part of our (business) lives and hopefully this book has helped make that clear. The book has given you an introduction to meetings and how you can improve the steps you take before, during and after a meeting. Please use it as a guide for different steps that you need to consider during the process or when you’re facing certain meeting problems.

CHAPTER 19

Conclusion

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Appendix

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Agenda templateAPPENDIX 1

What to prepare beforehand:

• Date,time,andlocationofthemeeting

• Thepurposeandexpectedoutcomeofthemeeting

• Attendees

• Agendaitems.Createanoutline(ortemplate)basedontheagenda.Thiswillmakeiteasyforyouto simplywritedownnotesanddecisionsundereachagendapointasyougoalong

• Anestimatedtimeframeforeachagendaitem

• Thepersonresponsibleforeachagendaitem.Thiscouldbetheonethatproposedtheitemorthe onewiththemostinformationonthesubject

• Asyougoalongtheagendaduringthemeeting,writedownalltheimportantdecisionsthatwere madeandwhoitisassignedto

• Actionsthatneedtobedone,thedeadlineofthisactionitemandwhoitisassignedto.

• Thedateofafollow-upmeetingandthegoalofthatmeeting

Overview meeting typesAPPENDIX 2

Type Time Purpose Keys to Success

Daily 5 minutes Share daily schedules and • Don’t sit down activities. • Keep it administrative • Never cancel

Weekly 45-90 minutes Tactical meeting every week • Keep the agenda general or every two weeks. Review so there’s room for weekly activities and metrics, discussion and additional and resolve tactical obstacles items and issues. • Postpone strategic discussions

Monthly 2-4 hours Strategic meeting each • Limit to one or two topics month. Discuss, analyze, • Prepare and do research brainstorm, and decide upon • Engage in good conflict critical issues affecting long-term success.

Quarterly 1-2 days Review strategy, industry • Get out of office trends, competitive landscape, • Focus on work; key personnel, team development. limit social activities • Don’t over structure or over burden the schedule

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How to start the sprint planning?AtGAIKUwemake sure we have a clear method with clearroles during the sprint. The planning startswithanestimationwherethedevelopersputinalltherawinformationrelatedtothesprint items.Theydefinethescopebasedontheamountof itemsforthatsprint.Therealplanningisdonebydefin-ingtheprioritiesforthatsprintwhichisaproductowner’stask.

At the end of this process you’ll have a clearlydefinedsprint goal thatnotonly includes itemsfrom thebacklogbutalsoa setof features. Thisway you’ll get organic growth and an engagedteamthatworkstowardsthesamegoal. At theendofeverysprint, therewillbeasprint review,whichthedevelopmentteam,thescrummaster,theproductowner,andthestakeholderswillattend.Theteamgivesademooftheproductandwilldeterminewhatisfinishedandwhatnot.Thisfeedbackisusedtoupdatetheproductback-logandresultsinanupdatedbacklogthathelpstodefinethenextsprint.

The sprint retrospectiveisthelastpartandaimsto improve processes and collaboration. Thescrummasteranddevelopmentteamwillinspectthelastsprintanddiscusspossibleimprovementsduringthisretrospective.

Image 1.0 will give you an overview of the scrum framework.

Meeting rhythmsAPPENDIX 3

ScrumIfyouworkintechnology,orspendtimewithsoft-waredevelopers,you’veprobablyheardofScrum.Scrumgotdefinedin1986byHirotakaTakeuchiandIkujiroNonakawhentheypublishedanarti-cleintheHarvardBusinessReview. They studied manufacturers that were releasing much fasterthan their competitors and they found out thattheyusedoverlappingdevelopmentphaseswithauniquerhythmthattacklesproblemsthatariseearlierthroughouttheprocessthanotherprojectmanagementstyles.Thisaligns theexpectationsof theclient /managerandtheteamaswell solessproblemscomeupbecauseofthis.Scrum does exactly this. Manage expectationsandworkflowbyevaluatingtheworkthat’sbeendoneinshortperiodsoftime.Itmakesyouworkmoreefficientasateamandcommunicatemoreaccuratetowardsotherparties.

Scrum workflowThescrumteamhasacertainamountoftime,asprint,tocompletetheworkthat’splanned.Sprintlengthisfixedthroughoutaproject,commonaredurationsbetween1and4weeks.

A scrum team usually works with a scrum mas-ter, product owner and a development team:1. The product owner is responsible for maximizingthevalueof theproductandthe work of the development team. The product owner creates a prioritized wish list for the product called a product backlog and is the sole person responsible for managing the productbacklog.2.The scrum master is responsible for making surethatSscrumisunderstoodandhelpsthe product owner managing the product backlog. He is the one taking away any impediments and the one who coaches the developmentteamtobeasmuchself-steering aspossible.3. The development team includes the people who do the work of delivering a potentially releasable product at the end of each sprint. The team usually consists of three to nine developers and organizes and manages its ownwork.

During sprint planning, the team pulls a smallchunkfromthetopoftheproductbacklogorasprint backlog and decides how to implementthosepieces.

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Potentially shippableproduct

Product Backlog

Sprint Backlog

feature #1

feature #2

feature #4

feature #3

feature #5

feature #1

feature #2

Daily scrum

meeting

Sprint 1 - 4 weeksno changesin duration

or goals

Product Backlog

Product OwnerScrum MasterDevelopment Team

Scrum MasterDevelopment Team

Product OwnerScrum MasterDevelopment TeamStakeholders

Backlog Refinement

Scrum MasterDevelopment TeamProduct Owner

Sprint Planning

Product OwnerDevelopment Team

Daily Scrum

Sprint Review

Sprint Retrospective

Image 1.0 The scrum framework

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Kanbanhassevenofficialcyclicalmeetings.Somedon’thavetobeseparateandcanbecombinedinto onemeeting. Whatever works best in yourteam and your rhythm. Startups like Optimize-ly and bigger companies like Siemens have ex-changed their scrum for Kanban in order to bemore on top of their workflow. Check Kanban’swebsite for more information on these specif-icmeetingsor thiscasestudyonhowto imple-mentKanbanandhowthey improvedtheirwayofworking.

1. Standup.Adailymeetingwiththewholeteam whereeveryoneshareshistasksforthenext24 hours. 2. Replenishmentmeeting. In thismeeting you decide which tasks need to be done and prioritizeincomingwork.3. Operationsreview.Thisisacollaborationreview ofthevariousteamsanddivisionsbyhigh-level employees.4. Delivery planningmeeting. This aims to plan the delivery of certain items and during this meetingtheteamdetermineswhichitemsto deliver.

5. Servicedeliveryreview.Inthisreviewyoucheck if you are delivering according to customer expectations.6. Riskreview.Thisreviewlooksatproblemsthat putthedeliverycapabilityatrisk.7. Strategy review. During this review you complete a high-level review of the market you’rein.Isthisthebusinessyouwanttobein? Doyouhavetherightcapacities?

Image 2.0 will give you an overview of the meeting flow of kanban.

Image 3.0 gives you an overview of the differenc-es between Scrum and Kanban.

Meeting rhythmsKanbanJust like Sscrum, Kanban is a popular frameworkusedbysoftware teams.ScrumandKanbanhavesome similar concepts but are still very differentbecauseofthemeetingrhythmandflow.Kanbanappliesaconstantdeliveryflowanddoesn’tworkwithsprints.Thiswayyougiveandreceiveconstantfeedbackandupdatesaboutthework.

Toyota started working like this in the late 1940sto optimize their engineering process which wasbasedonthesamemodelsupermarketswereus-ingtostocktheirshelves.Theywantedtooptimizethe flow between the factory and the consumer,and to stock just enough products to meet themarket’s demand.

AtToyotatheystartedtocommunicatethecapacitylevels inreal-timeonthefactoryfloor.Theywoulddo thisbypassingo acard (namedKanban)be-tween departments and teams. When a case ofmaterialswas emptied, a cardwaspassed to thewarehousedescribingwhattheyneededexactlytorefill it. Thewarehousewould sendanewcaseofthismaterialandinturnsendtheirownKanbantothesupplier.Thisprocess,JustInTime(JIT),isstillapopularsystemwiththesamefoundation.

Today agile software teams also reach these JITprinciples by matching the amount of work inprogresstotheteam’scapacity.ByworkingwithaKanbanboardliketheoneabove,theteamhasamoreflexibleplanning,a fasteroutput,clearerfocus, and transparency throughout the entire cycle.

The Kanban board is the most important toolwithin Kanban. It visualizes work and optimiz-es theflowof thework amongst the team. Thiscouldeitherbedigitaloronpaperintheoffice.AbasicKanbanboardhasathree-step-workflow:Todo,InprogressandDone.Thiscancompletelybealteredaroundthe teamandtheirwayofwork-ing.Belowthesethreesteps(ormore)youfindtheKanbancards.Oneachcardthere’sadescriptionofthejobbeingdoneoftheitem,theestimatedtime it’ll take,andtheonewho is responsible. Itcould even contain screenshots andother tech-nicaldetails relevant to the item.Theadvantageof having cards for each task/step is to visualizetheworkflowandmakeitcomprehensibleforallteammembers.Thisallowseveryteammembertoseethestateofeveryworkitemandtheprojectoverall.

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Scrum Kanban

Cadence Regular fixed length sprints Continuous flow (i.e., 2 weeks)

Release At the end of each sprint if Continuous delivery or at methodology approved by the product owner the team's discretion

Roles Product owner, scrum master, No existing roles. Some teams development team enlist the help of an agile coach.

Key metrics Velocity Cycle time

Change Teams should strive to not make Change can happen at any timephilosophy changes to the sprint forecast during the sprint. Doing so compromises learnings around estimation.

Image 3.0 https://www.atlassian.com/agile/kanban

strategy review

riskreview

operationsreview

service deliveryreview

delivery planning meeting

standup meeting

replenishment/commitment

meeting

weekly daily per delivery cadence

change change

changechange

changechange

change changeweeklychange

monthlychange

monthlyinfo

quarterlyinfo

info info

info info

info

info

info info

Image 2.0 The meeting flow of kanban

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Meeting rhythmsRockefeller HabitsThe Rockefeller Habits, a book written by VerneHarnish (aka theGrowthGuy),givesguidelinesonhowtomanagegrowthinyourcompany.HebasedtheseguidelinesontheprinciplesofJohnD.Rock-efellerandrapid-growingstartups.TheRockefellerHabitsalsofollowsthemeetingtypeswediscussedinchapter5butslightlydifferent.

TheadvantagesofimplementingRockefellerHab-itsisfirstlythefixednatureoftherhythm.Thisleadsto predictability and never time-exceedingmeet-ings. Secondly, the frequency of all meetings isfixed.Withthis,peoplealwaysknowwhattheycanexpect and that ensures a certainpeace ofmindandfocus.

Thereare twodifferentmeetings: to reflect, learn,andsetgoals (yearlyandquarterlymeetings),andto synchronize (monthly, weekly and daily meet-ings).Facilitatorsmustdistinguishclearlythediffer-encesbetween these twoandbe strict regardingthecontentofeachmeeting.

WhenitcomestoadailyhuddleaccordingtotheRockefellerHabits,there isadifferencecomparedtoscrum.Youdon’tlookbacktowhatyou’vedone,butfocusonlyonwhatyouaregoingtodothatday.Tips fora functioningdailyhuddle:do it standingformoreenergy,sticktoafixedorderofpersonsintheteam,nevercancelthehuddle,andplanitataninterestingtimee.g.,8:48a.m.or9:09a.m.

TheRockefellerHabits is like lookingataglass jarwhereyoufirstput inthebiggerstones.Thenyoufill itwithmarbles,whichfitrightbetweenall theempty spaces of the bigger stones and themar-bles stand for the monthly meetings. Lastly youput in sand, which fits smoothly between all theotheremptygapsthatthemarblesweren’tabletofill.Wereyoutodo it theotherwayaround,you’dgetstuckafteryoupourinthesandfirst.Acompa-nythat followstheRockefellerHabits looksatthemostcomplicatedthingsfirst(i.e.yearlyandquar-terlygoals).Whenyouhavedefined thatpartfirstit’seasiertogiveguidanceonaday-to-daylevel(i.e.monthlyandweeklygoals)andthereisaccounta-bilitywithcleargoalsduringthewholeprocess.

HolacracyImagineacompanywithoutjobtitles,noteventheCEO.Quiteconfusing,don’tyouthink?Implement-ingholacracy inyourcompanymeansnomanag-ersandnohierarchy.Thereisahorizontalworkflowwithnoauthorityforanyonetotellotherswhattodo.

BrianRobertson is theone thatcameupwith itsframework.Hestruggledwiththewaypeoplewereworkinginhiscompany.Somanyintelligent,brightpeopleworkingthereandonlysofewhadtheau-thoritytomakedecisions.Robertsonbelievedthiswasawasteofgoodideas.So,hesetupHolacracyin2004 toenable these talentedpeopleandgetridofthemanagementlevelsasanew‘socialtech-nology’.

Holacracy is basically focused on organizing theworkandnotthepeople.Notreportingtoanyoneis very strange for human beings and it’s something togetused to.Where theydo this verywell, is atSpringest,anonlineplatform fordifferentcoursesandtraininginstitutes.TheyhaveincorporatedHol-acracycompletelyintheirorganizationoverthelastsixyears.

JonathanDaviesfromSpringest,explainedushowimportant it is to alter Holacracy to your compa-ny.They’ve integratedaprojectmanagement toolto keep trackoff all theirprojects and follow-ups.

Holacracydoesgiveyoucertainguidelinesbut it’smostly an open book that is all about trust andtransparency. This transparency in numbers andguidelinesgivesyoutherightinsightstomakede-cisionsbasedonthat.Thiswasveryclearduringameetingweattended,howfasttheyarewithmak-ingdecisions,andhowstraight-to-the-pointdiscus-sions are.

Onthenextpageyoucanfindthebasicprinciplesofholacracy.

Theoverviewgivesyouinsightintothedifferences.OneofthemostimportantadvantagesofHolacra-cyisanagilewayofworking,morethanatradition-alprocess,thatwillhelptoiteratequickly.Thatalsomeansthatrolesthatareassignedtospecificpeo-plecanchangeanytime.Rolesarepartofacircle,synonymfordepartment/teaminholacracy.

Holacracyhasonly twokindsofmeetings in theirhandbook:• Tactical meetings which are held every week. Theseareoperationalmeetingsbetweencircle members. It is held to take away obstacles, to share,andtodiscussissues.Theformaloutputof atacticalmeetingshouldbeactionsandtosync uponalltheworkofthecircle.• Governance meetings which are held every month. The focus of these meetings is to modifytheteamandtheroleswithinthecircle.

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In Traditional companies

• Job descriptions• Each person has exactly one job. Job descriptions are imprecise, rarely updated, and often irrelevant. • Delegated Authority• Managers loosely delegate authority. Ultimately, their decision always trumps others.• Big Re-Orgs• The org structure is rarely revisited, mandated from the top.• Office Politics• Implicit rules slow down change and favor people “in the know”.

With Holacracy

• Roles• Roles are defined around the work, not people, and are updated regularly. People fill several roles.• Distributed Authority• Authority is truly distributed to teams and • roles. Decisions are made locally.• Rapid Iterations• The org structure is regularly updated via small iterations. Every team self-organizes.• Transparent Rules• Everyone is bound by the same rules, CEO included. Rules are visible to all.

Image 4.0 https://www.holacracy.org/how-it-works/

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EnergizersAPPENDIX 4

There are a lot of different energizers or games you can do to keep energy high. Below are 3 examples of energizers. Maybe it’s something getting used to but we recommend you give it a try!

The Shouting GameThissimpleenergizerisplayedinacircle.Partici-pantsrepeatedlychooseoneotherpersontolookat,hoping thatpersonwon’tbe lookingbackatthem. Whenever eye contact is made betweentwo participants, both must shout wildly andlunge backward. They are then eliminated. Thegamegenerates laugherandboostsenergy inagroup.

Step 1:Thegroupstandsshouldertoshoulderinacircle.Everyonemustbeabletoseetheeyesofeveryoneelse.Youwillgivetwosetsofinstructions:"headsdown" and "heads up." When you say "headsdown,"everyonelooksattheirfeet.

Step 2:Whenyousay"headsup,"everyonelooksupandinstantly looks straight at the eyes of one otherpersoninthecircle.

There are two possible consequences: a personlooksupatsomeonewhoislookingatsomeoneelse,inthiscasenothinghappens.However,whenapersonlooksupatsomeonewhoislookingrightbackatthem,theymustbothpointinaveryexag-geratedmannerateachotherandletoutaloudSCREAMORYELL.Thosenowhavetostandout-sideofthecircletoobserve.Oncethe"screamers"have left the circle, the circle closes in and yourepeat theprocessuntil thereareonly twopeo-pleleft.Thefinaltwohavetodoitonemoretime,even though theoutcome isa foregoneconclu-sion.

Find your pair“Findyourpair”isaboutanimalpairsandagreatenergizer togeteveryonemovingand laughing.Werecommendbeingcautiousaboutculturedif-ferencesandmakingsuretheparticipantsareal-ready used to energizers.

Step 1.Countthenumberofparticipants.Anevennum-ber is required, so decide to include yourself ornot.Dividethenumberforparticipantsbytwotodecidehowmanyanimalswillexist(say16partic-ipants,sotherewillexist8differentanimals).Foreachanimal,write itsnameontwopost its.Dis-tribute thepost it to theparticipants. Theycan’tshowittoanyone.

Step 2.Askeveryonetomovearoundtheroomwhiletheycovertheireyeswiththeirhands.Nowaksthemtomaketheiranimalnoiseandtrytofindtheirpair.Wheneveryonehasfoundtheirpair,thegameisoverandhopefullyeveryonehashadagoodlaughandfeelsenergized.

Collaborative face drawingThecollaborativefacedrawingisafuninteractiveactivitythatenergizesandalsohelpswithnamememorization.

1. Give each participant a A4 paper and a pen andaskthemtowritetheirnameonthe bottom of the paper.

2. Now instruct everyone to walk around the roomuntilyousaythewordstop.

3. Eachpersonshouldpairupwithsomeonenear byandexchangepapers.

4. Askeveryonetostartdrawingthepersonuntil yousaythewordstop(10-15seconds).

5. Nowtheyexchangepapersagain,soeveryone hasthepaperwiththeirownnameonit,and startwalkingagain.

6. Repeatthesestepsuntilyoubelieveeveryone’s portraitisfinished.

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