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Meetings

Engineering for the Rest of Us by Sarah Drasner​

Ideally, the following points encapsulate information that everyone needs:

  • What is the shared purpose?
  • What are we doing to get the that outcome?
  • Who is owning what, and how?
  • What are the timelines? You should be aligning at the beginning and end of the meeting to make sure that nothing major is missing, and everyone is on the same page. If you haven't come to a decision by the end of the meeting, then your next steps may be to figure out who will make the decision and inform everyone, or to roll the conversation over to a new meeting. [22]

There's something people aren't saying. This kind of awkward is probably the most harmful... As managers, we should watch out for this and try to do something about it... acknowledge that it's awkward because it doesn't feel like we're being transparent with one another. I'll state what I know from my perspective and then ask if other folks are feeling the same... People will likely be a bit shocked that you came right out and said it. It may take them a couple of seconds to adjust and consider what will happen if they tell the truth too. It's critical that you not speak to fill the silence in these moments. [23]