This month, let’s build on Plusses and incorporate at least one Delta suggestion into your existing meeting format. In upcoming Tips, I’ll propose changes to your meetings that may look drastic. To get started, however, I suggest you use Plusses and Deltas to take small steps. Participants will notice and appreciate any improvements that follow their suggestions.
Here are the most common Plusses I hear:
Everyone participated.
Good snacks!
We made important decisions.
Everyone came prepared. We did our homework.
Here are the most common Deltas I hear: It would be better if…
We started and ended on time.
We stuck to the agenda.
We stayed on topic.
More people attended.
Making Small Changes as the Chair.
The next time you meet, try this as a first step. Open the meeting with brief recognition that
These are the things we felt went well at our last meeting: ……recap briefly from your notes………….
Can we agree to keep it up?
Don’t belabor it or add you own commentary; just recap what they said, ask for agreement to keep it up and move on.
In subsequent meetings, incorporate one or two Deltas. For example,
We’ve been building on what we do well. Today I’d like to try out two of the Deltas that you suggested last time we met. First, can we all try to stay on topic? [Look each person in the eye and ask for some sign of agreement.]
Second, let’s make sure we encourage everyone to participate.
As we wrap up today, we’ll review Plusses and Deltas again to take stock.
If you keep a running list of Plusses and Deltas you’ll notice the changes and trends over time. With any luck, you’ll see Deltas move into the Plus column.
Suggesting Small Changes from Your Chair
OK, so your Chair has opened the meeting as suggested above, but your colleagues are back to their old tricks and the Chair doesn’t seem to notice. From you chair, you can make an observation and ask a question without challenging the Chair.
Last month we stayed on topic well. Today, it seems to me we are wandering all over the place. Does it seem that way to anybody else?........ Could we try to stick to the point better?
It seems to me that a few of us are doing most of the talking. Does it seem that way to anyone else? Could we agree to make one point and give others time to speak?
I hope by now you recognize my on-going reliance on specific agreements made among participants. This, I think, is a silver bullet for better meetings.
Experiment this month with agreements based on Plusses and Deltas. Next month, we’ll introduce a foundation on which to build stronger agendas.
