Developmental Meetings

What are developmental meetings?

A developmental meeting is a meeting designed to enhance collaboration and improve how you work together. Its format and atmosphere are different from those of a meeting to progress day-to-day matters. You need to help people share their thoughts and feelings easily and openly.

Why have developmental meetings? 

• They stimulate thought about how you work together and lead to improvements.
• They help you appreciate and use each other’s strengths, interests and contributions.
• They help you eliminate duplication and unnecessary work.
• They help you shape your future together.
• They create new ideas and energy.
• They help to stretch people.

How to run developmental meetings?

• Start the meeting by asking each person to say something positive while everyone else listens. You can ask them to say something that is going well or directly related to the topic. For example, when discussing customer service, ask them why they care about this. This activity allows people to connect and be positive.
• (If you are working with more than ten people, use small groups and share highlights from each group in the large group.)
• If you need to brief people about the topic you will be exploring, make your input clear and concise, and avoid sharing your thoughts on potential solutions.
• Ask each person to list the most critical issues they need to address together to make a positive difference. Put them on a chart without editing or commenting. Then, ask each person to tick off the (say) three issues they would like to resolve. The subjects with the most ticks are on the meeting’s agenda.
• Ask the participants to share their best thinking on a topic or issue for (say) two minutes while everyone else listens attentively. This method makes the noisy people focus their energy and gives the quiet ones time to think. They also don’t have to fight for attention. Have a turn yourself, but go last if you are the most senior at the meeting.
• Use sub-groups. Groups of three to five are the most effective for producing and testing ideas. If you form small groups of people with the most interest in a topic, you will get more and better work done than if you stay together.
• If you need to get everyone thinking about something quickly, ask people to take a few minutes each way to talk and listen to each other in pairs. Pair work is particularly effective when you are stuck on a controversial topic. The thoughts from their paired discussions are usually constructive. It is valuable when you want a thoughtful response to an announcement of a change. Ask each pair to come up with a question or a comment. You will get more thoughtful comments than if you ask a large group.
• At the end of the meeting, or halfway through if it is a long one, ask people what they have learned, what was good about it and how the next one could be better.

When to have developmental meetings? 

• When you want to improve the quality of your work together.
• When your conventional meetings need a lift.
• When you have a new challenge and want your colleagues’ input.
• When you need ideas and new approaches.
• When you are going through or managing a change.
• When you need cooperation across the organisation or between your organisation and another.