Running Meetings That Work
Commission culture runs on meetings. Make yours purposeful, inclusive, and brief.
Learning objectives
- 1.Design meeting agendas with clear outcomes
- 2.Facilitate participation from all attendees
- 3.Follow up with accountable action items
EC competencies developed
Full framework →Before you schedule
Ask: Could this be an email or shared document? If yes, don't meet. If meeting, define outcome: decide, inform, brainstorm, or align. Invite only those who contribute or must know. Default 45 minutes, not 60.
Facilitation basics
Start on time, state purpose, assign note-taker and timekeeper, manage airtime (round-robin for quiet voices), park off-topic items, end with recap of actions (who, what, when). Publish notes within 24 hours.
- Decision meetings require pre-reads circulated 48h ahead
- Brainstorming needs psychological safety rules
- Status meetings should be replaced by dashboards where possible
Hybrid and remote meetings
Remote participants experience inequality if in-room attendees side-chat or poor audio excludes them. Cameras on where possible, repeat questions from chat, and rotate meeting times to avoid always disadvantaging remote colleagues in other time zones.
Practice
Hands-onApply this lesson before you move on. Your work is saved in your personal workbook.
Turn a vague meeting into an outcome agenda
You have been invited to ‘touch base on the file’. Convert it into a purposeful agenda.
Key takeaways
- ★No outcome defined = no meeting
- ★Facilitation is active airtime and follow-up management
- ★Hybrid meetings require deliberate inclusion design
You haven't finished the practice block yet. You can still mark the lesson complete — or finish the practice first (recommended).