Good questions are the most powerful tools available to us
The questions we use to support Assessment are intended to initiate self-reflection and generate learning for the group that will help them to improve the effectiveness of future meetings, and to build better stronger relationships within them.
Simple Questions
- To what extent was this meeting a good use of your time?
- What do you feel went particularly well within the meeting?
- Where do you feel there is room for improvement in subsequent meetings?
- What lessons do you want to remind the group of at the outset of the next meeting?
Structured/Sequenced Questions
The meeting effectiveness model rates meetings on ten different criteria. This makes it easy to use the Meeting ToolChest to identify resources to support improvement and ideas in those areas.
The criteria (or a subset of them) can be asked manually of a group as follows:
- How would you rate the attendance at the meeting – right people, right time, ready?
- How would you rate the facilities for the meeting – rooms, technology and support?
- How would you rate our clarity and commonality of purpose – aims and approach?
- How would you rate the efficiency of what we did – speed and quality of progress?
- How would you rate our creativity within the meeting – generating ideas and insights?
- How would you rate our use of tools and best practice techniques within the meeting?
- How would you rate the leadership of the meeting – its guidance and facilitation?
- How would you rate our listening within the meeting – involvement and understanding?
- How would you rate our overall progress including our achievement between meetings?
- How would you rate the level of commitment generated – our ownership of outcomes/actions?
General
Many of the above questions can be asked simply of individuals or groups, but it is often helpful to consider more sophisticated or progressive groupings to better support engagement with the question and refinement of the answers. Options to do this can be found in Grouping options within meeting sessions
Track your progress to ensure the efficacy of this strategy.