The Perfect Meeting

Leigh Austin EEX 6524 Organization and Collaboration in Special Education

The Perfect Meeting The Perfect Meeting in my department

includes key stakeholders who are valued for their knowledge, expertise and role they serve in supporting student needs.

The meeting is engaging with an intense focus on the purpose and desired outcomes. Laughter and camaraderie can be detected by those passing by the meeting room.

The Perfect Meeting To honor the time commitment of each

meeting member, the meeting begins and ends on time with friendly guidance to keep the attentions aligned to the purpose of the meeting.

The meeting ends with a review of agreed upon action items and those responsible for moving the action items forward.

Planning The Perfect Meeting1. Specific purpose for meeting that can only be accomplished by meeting

“… meetings should be planned only if they can contribute significantly to serving student needs” (Dettmer, Knackendoffel, & Thurston, 2013, p. 162).

Planning The Perfect Meeting

2. Identify essential meeting members Experts to advise or instruct the group Number of invited members based on purpose of

meeting “The group should be as small possible, adhering to the principle concerning meetings that the more who are involved, the shorter it should be” (Dettmer, Knackendoffel, & Thurston, 2013, p. 162). Problem-solving – no more than 5 people Problem identification – approximately 10 people Listening to presentation – up to 30 people Motivation- as many people as possible

Planning The Perfect Meeting

3. Determine need to meet face-to-face, virtually, or blended4. Request for agenda items5. Circulate agenda with begin and end times prior to meeting

Plan for streamlined meeting with active participation from those at the meeting

“With an agenda distributed beforehand and a stop-time given, participants will be more productive and less apprehensive” (Dettmer, Knackendoffel, & Thurston, 2013, p. 163).

Planning The Perfect Meeting

6. Assemble documents that needed reviewed at the meeting

7. Distribute documents that can be reviewed prior to the meeting with request to review

During The Perfect Meeting1. Introduce team members including the essential role and expertise they bring to the team2. Review the agenda including the purpose of the

meeting3. Set and gain agreement of norms for interactions during the meeting

Active listening- free of judgment or intimidation

Active engagement from all attending the meeting – each person has a voice at the meeting

Parking lot for discussions or questions that are important for further discussion at a later time

During The Perfect Meeting4. Request volunteers for specific functions to be accomplished during the meeting e.g. time keeper, scribe, leaders of each added agenda items, etc.

5. Begin and end meeting as scheduled

During The Perfect Meeting6. Meeting notes are projected for meeting members to view and contribute to the discussion.

7. At the end of the meeting , the scribe reviews the action items with person responsible identified as well as agreed upon outcomes of the meeting

Following The Perfect Meeting

1. Meeting notes are distributed to all invited members to the meeting with a request to note

any corrections to the meeting notes within the

following 2 days.

2. Those not in attendance are responsible for discussing the meeting outcomes with a member that was in attendance.

ReferenceDettmer, P., Knackendoffel, A., & Thurston, L. (2013). Collaboration, consultation and teamwork for students with special needs (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.