1.5 - About University

H OW TO USE THIS TOOL“…If leaders specify too much about purpose, goals and approach … they may gain compliance to ‘their’ purpose.But they are likely to lose commitment to a team purpose.”—John Katzenbach and Douglas Smith, THE WISDOM OF TEAMSUse this tool often, because events are expensive, and this time needs to be well-invested. Justthink about the cost of five to a dozen or more people sitting around for an hour, a day, oreven longer. This is valuable time, and you need to ensure that your meetings are focused andthat people show up prepared.For a meeting of a half day or longer, it’s more powerful to involve others in planning. Usethis tool with a small group (e.g., a cross-section of four to six people, possibly including asenior manager who might not be attending but is sponsoring the upcoming meeting). It willtake about an hour. For a larger group of a dozen or so people, this planning usually requiresa couple of hours. Hold the planning session two or three weeks prior to the scheduled meetingdate, so group members will have time to complete the prework assignments thatinevitably result when using this tool (e.g., preparing a report for the meeting).For a short meeting of one or two hours, we recommend this tool for preparing a draftmeeting plan. Send it to all participants for their input prior to the meeting. In addition, checkwith the group at the start of the meeting, in case they want to make any last-minute amendments.WEB WORKSHEETP ROCESS C YCLE W ORKSHEETUse this template to plan an upcoming meeting, workshop, or event.➊ Purpose(Brainstorm what thepurpose is and is not,then prioritize.)Why are we having this meeting?➋ Outcomes(Develop observableand measurableoutcomes for eachhigh-priority purpose.)What will we take away from this meeting?SECTION 11 TOOLS FOR LEADING MEETINGS 337