Meetings

How can you apply agile to your meetings?

In the agile methodology known as SCRUM, there is a daily stand up meeting, that lasts 15 minutes.

In that 15 minutes the team is supposed to let each other know what they are doing.

Each person has three things to say.  What they did yesterday.  What they will do today.  Anything that is getting in the way.  The meeting is over after everyone speaks or 15 minutes is up.  Whichever comes first.  That’s right.  If time runs out before you speak, you missed your opportunity for the day.  After a few “incomplete” meetings, developers learn to cut to the chase and get their items discussed more quickly.

I’m not saying that you should necessarily go around a room full of managers and executives what they did yesterday etc.  But there are some concepts that will make any meeting run better.

The first is to have a known reason for the meeting.  If there isn’t a known purpose for the meeting don’t have it.

Wow, now that I have that off of my chest, let’s get to the point.

When you are planning a meeting (you are planning aren’t you) you need to have an agenda.  An agenda is more than a list of topics.  It has to include when each topic will begin and end.

Bad “Agenda”

What’s bad about this? Everyone knows what will be discussed. Don’t they?

When will people know when a topic has taken too long?  Will you be able to accomplish everything in the time you have scheduled?  What if someone has to arrive late?  Or leave early?  Will they be able to catch the topics that they need to?

A better agenda will be what is called time-boxed.  It will have start and end times.  And you should stick to them.

Better Agenda

There are a few things to point out.  First is the addition of Welcome and parking lot items.

The welcome item will allow you to greet everyone in the meeting and discuss any ground rules for the meeting.  Some of the most important ground rules are to stick to the agenda.  An item that runs over should be noted in the parking lot, so that the meeting can proceed on schedule.  Any ideas that are not directly related to the topic of the meeting should also be noted on the parking lot.

You will also note that I gave each item equal amounts of time.  If you are new to agendas, this is a good way to start.  Believe me.  Even this rough approximation is more than many meetings have.  If you realize that you do not have enough time for a topic, it is better to realize it before you invite other people to the meeting.  You may realize that you need to cut down on the number of topics that can be covered.  You may also decide that you need to extend the length of the meeting.  Please don’t schedule a meeting longer than 2 hours, unless absolutely necessary.  People tend to stop listening after about 90 minutes.

The parking lot items can be addressed at the end of the meeting.  Some might need further follow up (another meeting possibly), while others may have actually been answered during the meeting.  Any open items should be included in the meeting write up.  (More about meeting write-ups in another post).  If the parking lot is empty, the meeting is over and everyone gets some time back.

Once the meeting is over leave.  Even if there are follow up discussions, do them elsewhere.

After a few meetings like this, you will start to see improvements in how your meetings run.  People will start to show up on time.  They will be prepared to discuss the topic(s) of the meeting.  They will know when they can leave and get to the next meeting.  That’s right.  The “rule of two feet”.  If you don’t have anything to add or gain from a meeting, use your two feet and leave.