Project MMS (Meeting Management Simulation)

Previous     Home     Next

After the meeting

Capturing and reporting key outcomes of the meeting are critical for follow-up activities.

• Decisions
• Action items
• Open issues

Once the Secretary has written the minutes, check them over with him/her. Check that people - especially those who tend to forget! - are taking the actions listed in the minutes.

This is possible if the information was not lost.

It is not uncommon for important information to get lost at the end of a meeting. Looking through the meeting proceedings, you may find yourself asking, "Didn't we agree to decision x?" or "I thought we solved problem y!" and yet the information is nowhere to be found.

Write It Down and Hang It On the Wall

The following Ten Basics of Managing Data may help to create a good report at the end of the meeting:

1. Write it down and hang it on the wall.
2. Work on one issue at a time. Let the group choose and word the issue. Write it down and hang it on the wall.
3. Agree on how to work on that issue. Tap into group wisdom before offering your own process. Write it down and hang it on the wall.
4. When someone offers an idea. Write it down and hang it on the wall. If they offer the same idea repeatedly, point to where it is hanging on the wall.
5. If someone attacks a person for a 'dumb' idea, ask them where the idea is hanging on the wall. Move to it. Move discussion to the idea, away from the person who offered it. If additions or qualifications are offered, write them down and hang them on the wall.
6. When the group is coming to consensus around a solution, write it down and hang it on the wall.
7. When the group moves away from the agreed-to topic, go to where you wrote it down and hung it on the wall. Call their attention to it and give them the choice to change the topic. Show how this digression affects the original topic or put a time limit on their digression. Whatever they decide, write it down and hang it on the wall.
8. When the group moves away from the agreed-to process, go to where you wrote it down and hung it on the wall. Call their attention to it, and give then the choice to change the process. Show how this digression affects the process they agreed to or put a time limit on their digression. Whatever they decide, write it down and hang it on the wall.
9. When some one says "we ought to do this …," find out who will do it. Write it down and hang it on the wall.
10. Before breaking up, find out when the group will get back together. Write it down and hang it on the wall.

Once the meeting has concluded, arrange for the recorder's notes to be posted or distributed to all participants. Post-meeting communication provides form and closure both to participants' contributions and their social needs. A lack of clarity in meeting notes can drag unfinished business to the forefront of your next meeting and unnecessarily slow the group's progress towards its long-range goals.

Source

3M activities and exercises: Write It Down and Hang It On the Wall

Link