LEADERSHIP COACHING: 6 KEYS TO LEAD AN EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE MEETING

One of the most critical skills for any school/district leader to be successful is knowing how to run an efficient and effective meeting. However, I often point out that no one taught us how to run an effective meeting in principal/superintendent school. In Live Your Excellence, I share how in every school culture there exists a sub-culture below the surface that we often don’t see. I describe this sub-culture as the undercurrents, which by the way, are exhausting, frustrating and often end up with us blaming others for our lack of results. The truth is we often are the ones creating these undercurrents. One area where we often create a swirl of these undercurrents is during faculty/district administrative meetings.

A few months ago during one of my coaching sessions at a school, I observed the following interaction during a building admin meeting where the assistant principal excused himself to the back of the room. “I am in a meeting with Mr. Avenir. Have him take a seat. I will see him when I am done.”  This conversation lasted a little less than three minutes.  It was enough time though for this AP to miss out on important information that was being shared out. When he returned to the group he had to be updated on the conversation and agreed upon next steps, thereby wasting valuable time and requiring others to have to hear the same information again. This disruption could have been avoided had the AP communicated to his secretary where he would be and how to handle minor situations that arise when he is out of the office so he would not need to be interrupted. Moreover, I later found out that this student missed an entire class period due to the failed communication on the part of the AP.

In truth, these scenarios and others are quite common on campuses across the country and lead to a plethora of frustrations on our part as school/district leaders. Did you see the undercurrent above? It would be easy to blame the AP, but this one lies with the principal. Principals and Superintendents alike are responsible for setting the tone of their meetings. In the scenario above, this disruption (that eventually will lead to frustration for all team members involved) could have been avoided all together. What I witnessed told me that clear expectations had not been outlined from the principal to his team. Leaders need to communicate to attendees that interruptions and distractions need to be kept to a minimum during meetings, and in turn, they need to share the same expectations with their secretaries.

My intentions are not to be critical of school and district leaders. On the contrary, I feel for them because similar to their experiences, I never received any formal training on how to run efficient and effective meetings. I simply did the best I knew how. My hope is to offer a few insights they may help all leaders and staff in their quest to be more efficient and effective in leading meetings moving forward.

Each week I share out 1 Reflection, 2 Ideas, and 1 Resource for you to consider that I hope will encourage you to explore new and better practices in your daily work. My aspirations are to support you and others in developing your skills and shifting your thinking so you will invest in your own development and maybe, just maybe I can inspire you to want to live your excellence so you can bring your best self to school every day!

Live your excellence…

Jimmy

Leading an Efficient & Effective Meeting: 121  

1 REFLECTION

“Being a leader isn’t about being in charge, it’s about taking care of those in our charge.” – Simon Sinek

 2 IDEAS

How do you set the standard and create rituals, traditions and customs that lead to a more positive culture? How you organize and run your meetings are critical first steps in setting the tone. Starting on time, following up with one on one conversations with those who are not punctual or who fall short of your expectations and having a prepared agenda are just as important. Be sure to commit to a weekly meeting with your administrative team with fidelity. You need this time with each other in order to maintain effective communication, team build, share, teach and learn together, provide expectations with clarity, and stay organized. The more you miss the more reasons you will find not to come together and the more you will create an undercurrent that scrambles at the last minute, thus adding to the stress that comes with everyone not knowing exactly what is happening. That tension impacts your climate and culture in negative ways.

Below are 6 Keys to help you become more efficient and effective at leading meetings.

1.    Brag and Learn: Begin meetings by bragging on a colleague(s). Identify the positives from the week by allowing meeting attendees to share their observations, interactions and/or experiences with their peers and then discuss the overall impact on the culture.

2.    Share Student Success Stories. This allows for reflection on why we do what we do – Every Student. Every Day. Whatever It Takes. Create a structure of practice for circling back and connecting with the student(s) and thanking them for their contribution.

3.    Identify Process for Note Taking. Try not to have the facilitator (you or someone else) take notes. This results in loss of valuable time, especially when you are trying to type/record the information while others are waiting on you. This leads to a loss of focus, off task behaviors and side-bar conversations. Assign someone to take notes or encourage all attendees to take notes on a shared document.

4.    Think Team-Support to Help Solve Problems. If one admin shares a challenge or struggle, take time to have others offer ideas, suggestions, etc. on how to solve. This approach allows team members to be vulnerable and to help each other get better. Developing strong problem-solving skills takes time and must be modeled and encouraged. Staff needs coaching, feedback and follow up to help build confidence. This is especially true for new members to a team.

5.    Identify Who Is Responsible for Agenda Items. Partner with administrative assistant (secretary) to send reminders to each team member what they are expected to complete/communicate/submit, etc. before the next meeting. This process ensures more efficient/effective meetings and tasks getting completed on time, resulting in a sense of accomplishment for all members of the team.

6.    Summarize the Meeting. Just like a classroom lesson, always take time to summarize the meeting before dismissing the team. You will want to make sure your team is clear on your expectations, next steps, timelines for completion, follow through, and your appreciation for their hard work and your commitment to support one another.

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Developing a healthy and vibrant culture is crucial to the success of any school/district leader. This requires an intentional commitment on our part in order to teach, grow and develop all members of our school community. One area where we can commit to this level of investment in others is during team meetings.

Last fall I was in a meeting where the Dean of Students was asked to give an update on a 17 year-old student as a follow up to a prior meeting. He shared that he had sent four letters to the home of this particular student who was not attending school and had not received a response from home. The student had indicated earlier to some staff members that he no longer wanted to attend school. My take on it was not only did the Dean miss an opportunity to make a personal connection with a student and his family, but also likely missed a chance to offer some hope to the academic success for this student, potentially resulting in this student dropping out of school. After some back and forth conversation it was determined that the Dean would follow up with a phone call and home visit and then the principal moved on to the next agenda item. Again, my purpose for sharing is not meant to be critical, but to share some insight that might be helpful to staff and admin, and more importantly, help us champion for more students along the way.

I see a few undercurrents in this scenario. One, the failure on the part of the Dean to manage this situation more effectively. Two, the principal for failing to coach the Dean on how to manage this situation better the next time (there is almost always a next time). Three, dismissing the value of the role of teachers, counselor, SSW, student and family and any other adult who had a vested interest in this young man. And finally, although not necessarily vital to the success of the student, a missed opportunity to improve the impact of a more efficient and effective run student information meeting.

Here was the opportunity and benefit for the principal to circle back with the Dean. One, to make sure that he quickly made arrangements to go to the house and visit with both the student and family. Second, to begin to establish clear expectations and protocols moving forward so that the next time the Dean encountered a similar situation it would be clear to him how he was expected to manage it. The focus needs to remain on developing skills of our team members. Ideally, we would want him attending meeting and saying, “I sent two letters and called multiple times last week to the home of student X and did not hear back so I did a home visit and was able to speak to all parties involved and I am happy to report he is back in school as of yesterday. I checked with his teachers and counselor and we have a plan to get him caught up. I also spoke to the baseball coach and he will be checking in with him twice a week .” In this scenario, the Dean would come to the meeting after having taken the initiative to solve this situation and report an outcome that would allow everyone to see the progress that had been made rather than attend a meeting with nothing to report. Circling back to have these coaching conversations is paramount to growing all team members and developing a high performing team and cultivating  a culture where people look forward to coming together for a meeting rather than detest it. Our responsibility is to procure a culture where the standards, expectations, and learning is established so those who attend find value in being a part of it.

1 RESOURCE

Most Leaders Don’t Even Know the Game They’re In – Simon Sinek

6 Keys to Lead an Efficient and Effective Meeting

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