If you’re in a hurry and need practical information right now, Meeting Hero: Plan and Lead Engaging Productive Meetings is for you.
The book has everything you need to be an amazing meeting facilitator. Here’s a chapter by chapter breakdown of what’s included.
Preface
- How I came to be a facilitator
- Why I decided to write this book
Introduction: Meetings Need Heroes
- Why we need heroes
- The dangers of accepting the challenge
- The benefits of saying “Yes!”
- The book’s roadmap
1: To Meet or Not to Meet
- The expense of calling a meeting and how to determine if your meeting is worth it
- Appropriate reasons to call a meeting
- When a meeting isn’t the right choice
- Alternatives to calling a meeting that will still get you what you want
2: Nuts and Bolts
- The definition of a meeting
- The players and their respective roles
- Types of meetings
- The standard process
3: Purpose Drives Engagement
- 3 components of a compelling purpose
- The questions your purpose must address
- A process for developing a purpose others want to fulfill
- How to communicate your purpose to your participants
4: The Plan
- Why you should skip the agenda and create a plan
- The elements of an effective plan
- The steps you should take to create one
- How to get feedback from others
5: Schedule for Success
- How to determine the right length for your meeting
- The advantages and disadvantage of various time slots during the day
- Why the day of the week matters more than you may think
6: Pick the Right People
- Selection principles you should use to decide who to invite
- How to keep troublemakers away
- Why you should invite some unlikely participants
- What to do when you’re not sure about whether to invite someone
- How to make sure participants come prepared
7: Place and Space
- Why you should consider holding the meeting somewhere different than usual
- How to assess the space to determine if it will work
- The table arrangements that work best by size of group and meeting purpose
- Why seating assignments can help you and who should sit in which spot
8: A Toolbox
- Everything you ever wanted to know about flip charts and didn’t care to ask
- What you should carry in your toolbox
- The things you should check just prior to the meeting so you are ready
9: A Strong Start
- How to set the proper tone in the first few minutes
- Useful ground rules and why you should make some
- How icebreakers help and a couple good ideas for you to try
10: Earn the Group’s Respect
- Why you ought to stay neutral and how to do it
- How to keep your cool when someone is pushing your buttons
- How to create a comfortable/safe environment
- What to do when someone thinks your plan isn’t working
11: Pay Attention
- The key participant cues you need to notice and how to be sure that you do
- What you should be listening for from participants
- What to notice when people aren’t talking
12: Make Your Words Count
- 8 levels of control and how to pick the right one
- Why offering your opinion is a dangerous step to take
- 6 types of statements you can make during a meeting
- How to make sure everyone’s on the same page
13: Respond without Words
- The reasons silence is a powerful facilitation tool and how to use it to the group’s advantage
- How to use eye contact to manage the conversational flow
- The body language tricks you can use to direct a meeting like a traffic cop
14: Involve Everyone
- How to get quiet participants to join in on the conversation
- How to get the loud ones to give others a chance
- Useful jobs you should get others to do during your meetings
15: Stay on Track
- What to do when someone takes the group on a tangent
- When and how to point out the group’s accomplishments
- How to confirm agreement
- When you should ditch your plan and roll with the situation
16: Manage the Clock
- How to make time visible and valuable
- Surefire ways to start the meeting on time
- How to complete the work at or before the scheduled end time
- Tricks to keep the meeting moving
17: Maintain Respect in the Room
- The behaviors you want from every meeting participant
- The common behaviors that derail meetings
- Strategies for preventing and responding to meeting troubles
18: Engage Them
- How to turn routine into fresh and new
- Interesting ways to create a challenge
- Why you want to crank up the candor levels and how to do it
19: Generate Options
- Meeting situations that require creative thinking
- How to define a problem that results in better ideas
- How to keep participants in the creative zone
- Why fun helps and how to encourage it
20: Make Decisions
- 4 methods groups use to make decisions
- How to work through an impasse
- A conflict resolution process you can follow if a dispute breaks out
- 3 decision making tools that will save you a ton of time
21: Avoid Decision Traps
- Why you should learn to ask for other opinions
- How to notice assumptions and what to do about them
- Why previous decisions shouldn’t influence current decisions
- How to keep your group from always choosing the safe route
- How to keep peer pressure from leading to the wrong answer
22: Finish with Flair
- How to tie up all the loose ends
- How to ensure everyone knows what will happen next
- Why you should evaluate your meetings and 3 ways to do it
- How to make sure people feel good about their participation
23: After the Meeting
- How to make easy work of meeting notes
- How to learn from the meeting and incorporate those insights into future meetings
- Who you should follow-up with and how to do it
24: When You’re Not the Leader
- How to set a great example as a participant
- How to deal with bad behaviors from other participants
- How to make helpful suggestions without stepping on toes
25: Answer the Call
- 4 simple suggestions for practicing what you learned
- Ways you can continue to grow and develop your meeting hero skills
- How to leverage what you learn across the organization
