COMP 208/214/215/216
Lecture 2
Teams and Meetings
Lifecycle of a Typical Team• Forming• Storming• Norming• Performing
• Forming – Storming – Norming – Performing, Bruce Tuckman 1965
Forming
• Liaise with colleagues to form your team
• Return the filled registration form to me
• Incomplete teams will be completed by me tomorrow. Missing people will be assigned a team at random.
Forming
• The team is formed• Members introduce each other,
and learn about each other’s skills and personalities
• They discuss the team mission, and make a preliminary assessment of duties and allocation of tasks.
Forming
• 4 or 5• Talk to Strangers!• Bigger is not Better
Storming
• The team gets down to real work under pressure, and meets its first crisis
• There are differences of opinion about what to do, or about how or when to do it, or the quality of what is done
• Sometimes the differences are resolved peacefully, sometimes not
• Always best to discuss any differences
Norming
• Resolution of differences requires agreement as to team norms and practices
• Norms are rules or standard procedures for how a team does things
• They will possibly differ from one team to the next
Performing
• Once team members are agreed on their goals and how they will work together, they can get down to doing the work
• Ideally, each team should reach this stage as soon as possible
Meetings
• Meetings are important:– They ensure that everyone knows what
is going on– They provide opportunity for discussion– They foster commitment as a group
• Group meetings are an integral part of this course: groups are required to meet weekly
There are different kinds of meetings:• Meetings vary according to their
– size– formality– purpose
• Most of what follows applies to all types of meetings: where specific I shall deal with small meetings intended to review progress on a project
Meeting roles
• Chair:– responsible for calling the meeting, setting
the agenda, controlling the meeting.
• Secretary:– responsible for recording the business of the
meeting (minutes), circulating the meeting notes.
• Participants:– responsible for relevant agenda items;
making constructive contributions.In small meetings, the secretary and chair are
participants as well.
You maywant totrydifferentroles atdifferentmeetings
Purpose
• A meeting should have a clear purpose at the outset, and should not be distracted from that purpose.
• Your meetings are mainly to:– Report progress so that everyone knows what is
happening– Decide what needs to be done, and who is going
to do it– Agree on a set of actions for the forthcoming
week
Before the meeting• The chair:
– Prepares an agenda– Circulates the agenda to the participants
• The participants– Before the agenda is produced, ask the chair to
include items they want to discuss– Read the agenda when it arrives– Prepare for any items they need to report on– Think about other items they can contribute to– Tell the chair if they cannot attend for any
reason
The Agenda - I• Heading
– Date, time and place of meeting• It is good to meet at a regular time and place each week• This can be electronic, teleconference
– Purpose of Meeting
• Standard items– Apologies for absence– Minutes of last meeting– Action points from last meeting– Matters arising
Meeting:
1. Apologies 2. Minutes 3. Matters Arising
The Agenda - II
• New Items:– Typical for your meetings:
• Review of plan in the light of reports• Identification of tasks• Allocation of responsibility for tasks
– Other issues people want to raise• General progress• Difficulties• Requests for support and advice.
4. Review ofplan5. Tasks forcoming week6. Allocationof Tasks
The Agenda - III
• Closing Items– Any Other Business
• Last minute additions, since agenda was produced
– Date and Time of Next Meeting• Fix a date and time which makes it possible
for everyone to attend• Also agree who will chair the next meeting
and who will be secretary.
7. Any OtherBusiness8. Next Meeting
During the Meeting (Chair)• The Chair should follow the agenda in order.
– Ask someone to start the item (e.g. report their progress)
– Invite comments– Ensure the discussion remains focussed, and
that everyone stays calm– Force a decision if necessary– Summarise what has been agreed– Move onto the next item
During the Meeting -Secretary• For each agenda item, the secretary
should:– Note what was reported– Note what was agreed– Note any actions that were identified, and
who will carry them out.
Do not record too much detail. We don’t need a blow-by-blow account of the
discussion, just a record of the conclusions.
During the Meeting - All
• Stick to the agenda!• Be constructive• Stick to the point• Be considerate - don’t try to score
points• Be reasonable• Make a note of the agreed actions for
which you are responsible
After the Meeting
• The secretary writes the meeting note (minutes)
• The secretary circulates the meeting note to all invited to the meeting (and to the project monitor)
• Everyone reads the meeting note• Everyone tries to carry out the actions
they were assigned.
Meeting Note - I
• The meeting note is primarily to record actions that have been agreed. – It is not a verbatim record of the
discussion.
• It should be kept succinct: – It should be as short as possible, while
conveying the required information.
Meeting Note - II
• Heading– Gives the date, time and place of the
meeting
• Present– Records who was present at the meeting
• Apologies– Anyone invited who could attend and said
so.
Meeting Note - III
• For each agenda item:– Reported: What was reported about the
item, and who reported it– Agreed: What if anything the meeting
agreed about the item– Action: What was agreed should be
done, and who agreed to do it
• Date, time and place of next meeting.
A simple factual record is what
is needed
Team Wiki & Meeting Notes
• Each team will be provided with a wiki• You need to upload notes of each
team meeting to your team wiki – Within 3 working days of each meeting – It is OK to type the notes directly into
your wiki.
• Your project monitor will check on your progress via your team tools
Summary
• Prepare for the meeting. – Know what you need or want to say when you
arrive
• Stick to the business of the meeting
• Make sure everyone knows what was agreed and what they are meant to do after the meeting.– Carry out the actions given to you.
• Upload meeting notes to your team wiki each week.