Developmental Meetings

What are developmental meetings?

A developmental meeting is a meeting to think about improving things.  The format and atmosphere differ from a meeting to progress daily 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 do we run developmental meetings?

• Start the meeting by going around the group and asking everyone to say something positive while everyone else listens.  You can invite them to say something that is going well or directly related to the topic.  For example, if you are discussing customer service, it might help to ask them why this is important.  This activity allows people to connect and be positive.
• Create an agenda from the group’s interests and concerns.  You ask what the most critical issues are they would like the group to work on today.  List the topics on a flip chart without editing or comment.  Then, ask each person to tick off the (say) three issues they would like to work on from the list.  The ones with the most ticks are the agenda for the meeting.
• Ask the participants to share their best thoughts on a topic or issue for (say) two minutes while everyone else listens attentively.  This 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 person at the meeting.  The rest of the meeting will go well when everyone is heard.
• Use sub-groups.  If you form small groups of the people with the most interest in a topic, you will get more and better work done than if you stay together.  Groups of three to five are the most effective for producing and testing ideas.
• If you need to get everyone thinking about something quickly, ask people to talk and listen to each other in pairs for a few minutes each way.  This is particularly effective when you are a bit stuck on something controversial.  The thoughts from their paired discussions are usually constructive.  Pairwork is valuable when you want a thoughtful response to an announcement of a change.  You can ask each pair to come up with a question or a comment.  You will get more and more thoughtful responses.
• At the end of the meeting or halfway through, if it is long, go around the group and ask people for their thoughts about the meeting.  You can ask people what they learned, what was good about it and how the next one could improve.  This will enhance the sessions and share the responsibility for them working well.

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.