This article originally appeared in START Connecting in November 2018. 

Meetings are an important part of sharing information and making decisions that help us capitalize on the strengths and experiences of a group of people with common goals. The most efficient and effective meetings adhere to a defined process and agreed upon guidelines that the group follows to execute the goals of the meeting. The START Effective Teaming and Meeting Mechanics Resource Manual is a foundational tool that can guide teams through this practice. This is an updated version of the former START Meeting Mechanics Manual. The manual has been restructured to address effective teaming and provide additional resources that can be utilized when targeting specific programming needs.

Effective Teaming Process

The Effective Team Process section describes how to use Meeting Essentials (components for effective teaming), Meeting Practices (team behaviors), and Individual Accountability Practices (individual team member behaviors) for more effective team meetings. The Effective Teaming and Problem Solving Assessment is a tool that teams can use to evaluate their processes in these three areas and set goals for improvement.

Meeting Mechanics Problem Solving Process

When a team is presented with a problem, it is crucial for the team to efficiently identify variables and develop solutions that result in an action plan. This becomes more complicated when problems are complex or emotionally charged, and the process slows or is halted. Adding structure to the process through the use of the Meeting Mechanics Problem Solving Process can assist with efficiently developing solutions in these situations.

The facilitator follows the six steps of the Meeting Mechanics process:

• Problem Identification
• Problem Specification
• Brainstorming
• Cluster and Prioritize
• Implementation Variables
• Action Plan Development

Experience tells us that certain key ingredients are important for meetings to achieve their purpose. This includes the process of getting the right people to the table, staying on task, making decisions based on accurate information, problem solving, and executing plans in a fair and timely manner. Each of these steps, among others, are defined in the manual to assist teams to accomplish their meeting goals and work more effectively as a foundation for supporting positive student outcomes.

Meeting Resources

Two key resources to enhance the Meeting Process are Guiding Principles and Visual Organizers. During meetings, Guiding Principles are posted and visible to all team members, and visual organizers are used to structure the meeting discussion. Visual Organizers are designed as templates to enhance communication and problem solving, to support the sharing of ideas and solutions, and to avoid the potential challenges and barriers that can occur during unstructured team meetings.

Ordering Information

The START Effective Teaming and Meeting Mechanics Resource Manuals are available for purchase. Visit the Meeting Mechanics page for more information.

Written by: Lisonn Delcamp, Ed.S.

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