How to Align Meeting Goals with Project Objectives

Stop nodding along in meetings. Start having impact: Too often, meetings are filled with phrases like: ❌ “That sounds great” ❌ “Let’s table it for another time” ❌ “Let’s circle back when we have more info” From 10 years in high performing teams, here’s what I’ve learnt about meetings: Top performers aren’t afraid to ask the hard questions. Here are 13 questions you can ask to leave a mark: 1/ "What do we have to deprioritize to do this well?" ↳ Use to help create focus. ↳ Shows you understand we can't do everything at once. 2/ "What happens if we do nothing?" ↳ Use to overcome inertia. ↳ Helps identify true priorities. 3/ "Who's done this well that we could learn from?" ↳ Use when projects have been done before. ↳ Shows you want to use others’ learnings. 4/ "What's the simplest way to explain this?" ↳ Use to create clarity. ↳ Shows you understand the importance of simplicity. 5/ "What went wrong last time?" ↳ Use when repeating past initiatives. ↳ Shows you want to learn from experience. 6/ "How will we know if this is working?" ↳ Use when success isn't clearly defined. ↳ Shows you care about real results. 7/ "Who's going to own each workstream?" ↳ Use when responsibilities are unclear. ↳ Prevents the "someone else will do it" problem. 8/ "How does this affect our current priorities?" ↳ Use when new work might disrupt current priorities. ↳ Shows you're thinking about the whole picture. 9/ "Who might we upset by this choice?" ↳ Use when changes could impact others. ↳ Shows you consider how others might feel. 10/ "If we had half the budget, how would we do this?" ↳ Use to find creative solutions. ↳ Shows you can spark new ideas. 11/ "What aren't we seeing here?" ↳ Use when consensus comes too easily. ↳ Shows you look at problems from all angles. 12/ "How does this help us reach our primary goals?" ↳ Use when projects drift from objectives. ↳ Makes sure we're not getting sidetracked. 13/ "What's our plan for the worst-case scenario?" ↳ Use when planning risky initiatives. ↳ Shows you think ahead. Remember: Impact can from asking the right questions. You don't have to be the smartest one in the room. Just ask the questions that make others think differently. P.S. Which of these will you use in your next meeting? — ♻ Repost to inspire your network to have more impact at work. ➕ Follow me (Will McTighe) for more like this.

“Let’s have a meeting to talk about meetings,” said no one ever. But maybe we should. A Microsoft global survey found the #1 workplace distraction is inefficient meetings. The #2? Too many of them. Sound familiar? Last week, I led a meeting effectiveness workshop for a team of 15 at the request of their practice leader—who happens to be my husband. His team’s meeting struggles? Rambling discussions, uneven engagement, unclear outcomes, and lack of follow-through. He thought a meeting AI tool might fix it. Nope. AI can help document meetings, but it can’t make people prepare better, participate more, or drive decisions. The fix? It’s not “Have an agenda”. It’s setting the right meeting norms. My husband was hesitant to put me in the late morning slot–worried the team would tune out before lunch. I told him, “Put me in, coach. I’ll show you engagement.” And I did. For 90 minutes, we tackled meeting norms head-on through interactive discussions and small group exercises. Here are 5 norms they worked through to transform their meetings: 1️⃣ 𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. An agenda is a list of topics. A purpose answers: What critical decision needs to be made? What problem are we solving? Why does this require a discussion? If you can’t summarize the purpose in one sentence with an action verb, you don’t need a meeting. 2️⃣ 𝗕𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗼’𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺. Some discussions only need two people; others require a small group or the full team. Match the participants and group size to the topic and purpose.  3️⃣ 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲. Before the meeting, define the problem or goal. Identify potential solutions. Recommend one. Outline your criteria for selecting the solution(s). Back it up with data or other relevant information. Preparation = productivity. 4️⃣ 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻. A good facilitator keeps conversations on track, reins in tangents, and ensures all voices –not just the loudest–are heard. Facilitation matters more than the agenda. 5️⃣ 𝗘𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀. Summarize decisions. Assign action items. Set deadlines. Follow-up to ensure accountability and progress. A meeting without follow-through is just wasted time. The outcome of the workshop? 100% engagement. (One person even admitted she normally tunes out in these things but stayed engaged the entire time!) More importantly, the team aligned on meeting norms and left with actionable steps to improve. Want better meetings? Set better norms. Focus on facilitation. What’s one meeting tip that’s worked well for your team?

PMs have all the accountability. With none of the authority. Getting others to do what you need them to do can be tough. Managers' and directors' gigs aren't easy, but at least they're in a position of authority. As for project managers? Not so much. Which means you need your own set of tactics. Since there's nothing you can do to 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘭 a team member to get their stuff done. Cialdini's landmark book "Influence" is full of great advice on subtly accomplishing this. a. Reciprocity b. Commitment & Consistency c. Social Proof d. Authority e. Liking f. Scarcity g. Unity But personally, I prefer a more direct approach: public accountability. How does it work? Here are the steps: 1/ 𝘿𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙗𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 Collaborate with sponsors and stakeholders to spell out what you're meant to accomplish. Ensure you have complete buy-in before moving from this step. 2/ 𝙊𝙧𝙜𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙯𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙨 Sit down with your project team members to mark down all of the tasks (with dependencies) that are required to accomplish your defined objectives. Make sure all of your team members are at the table. Spend as much time on this as it takes to get it right. 3/ 𝘼𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙜𝙣 𝙤𝙬𝙣𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙙𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 For every task from the previous step, identify a single owner who is responsible for the task's completion. Ascribe durations to the tasks. Ask the owners what must be accomplished before their work can begin and/or finish. Ensure that it's marked as a dependency if it was missed in the previous step. 4/ 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩 In round-robin style, ask every task owner if they believe the list of tasks is accurate. Do not ask this of the group; 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆. 5/ 𝙂𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙪𝙮-𝙞𝙣 Socialize the plan with the sponsors and/or steering committee. (Milestones should be sufficient.) Ask for concerns about timing and duration. Answer all questions and get final approval. 6/ 𝙋𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘𝙡𝙮 𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙫𝙨. 𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙠 Meet as a project team regularly. Review current and past due tasks *with the task owner PROMINENTLY identified*. Do this religiously so people know it's coming and will prepare accordingly. Be supportive of task owners who fall behind, and show support to their supervisor as you make them aware of deliverables that are at risk or overdue. ~~~ Be firm but fair. This will build your credibility and ensure that team members know what's expected of them. Any problems that arise become a concern related to the process rather than with individuals. Do this over the duration of the project--and then for subsequent projects--and you'll become recognized as a process-oriented project manager with high standards. People want to work with a PM who has high standards, and who holds others to high standards as well. ____ 👋 Follow me Timothy Morgan for more about IT project management.

If you work for me, you will often hear me say: "I'm not looking for your agreement; I am looking for your alignment." It's like saying, "Let's all head in the same direction, even if we don't agree on every detail." It's a cool way of acknowledging that we can have different views but still work together toward a common goal. In the workplace, we often find ourselves drawn together by a common purpose. As leaders, it's crucial to remind our teams of this collective objective. Aligning our efforts toward a shared goal doesn't necessitate complete agreement on every detail. So, how can we do this? 1️⃣ Clearly Define the Objective: Start by crystalizing the purpose or objective. Be explicit about what the team is working towards. Ambiguity is the enemy of alignment. 2️⃣ Open Communication Channels: Foster an environment where ideas flow freely. Encourage team members to express their thoughts, concerns, and ideas. Different perspectives can enrich the overall strategy. It's about finding the synergy amid the diversity. Don’t confuse open communication and brainstorming with “everyone will be happy with the decision that gets made.” Leaders have to be decisive after hearing facts and opinions. This inevitably means that someone will be disappointed. That is ok. 3️⃣ Emphasize the "Why": People align more readily when they understand the reasons behind a decision. Clearly communicate the 'why' of the objective. Connect it to the bigger picture and the impact on both the team and the organization. 4️⃣ Empower Ownership: Give team members ownership of their roles within the broader objective. When people feel their contributions matter, they're more likely to align willingly. 5️⃣ Expect Commitment: Once a decision is made, it’s the job of a leader to expect commitment to the purpose or objective. Lead from your commitments- not from your emotion. Commitments lead to alignment. Insist on both. Want to dive into this even further with me? Join my email community at the link below for candid reflections and tips, or reach out at the same link to work directly with me. https://lnkd.in/g_Wf9dBp #leadership #CEO #alignment #accountability #mission #companyvalues #organizationalpurpose #teammotivation