For meetings to have maximum impact—and not feel like they could have been an email—they must follow an agenda, capture the information and ideas shared, and conclude with assigned action items to move the topic at hand forward. This is especially important for brainstorming meetings where it is easy to stray from the stated purpose and even easier to leave wondering if the group’s ideas will translate into anything concrete.
Using a shared spreadsheet platform like Google Sheets can help. First, note-takers can record the discussion of each agenda item in real time. The sheet functions like a whiteboard but with the added benefits of permanence, tidiness, and the freedom for any meeting participant to contribute at any time. A participant struggling to get a word in might simply share their thoughts in the sheet, or someone who hears a great idea but doesn’t see it recorded can add it.
At the conclusion of the brainstorming phase, participants may immediately revisit the notes to identify the most promising ideas, or they may take time to consider the information.
Regardless, for the meeting to feel purposeful, it must produce at least one clear next step. That action item could be for each participant to choose one idea from the notes to discuss at the next meeting and add that idea to its agenda.
If the meeting’s purpose is to develop and implement a plan immediately, the team may choose one idea from the brainstorm to explore further. Each step of the chosen plan or component of the planned product would then be assigned to a specific person or team with a due date.
To keep a coherent record of a project from brainstorming to completion, each meeting may have its own dated page within the Google Sheet. Action items from one meeting become agenda items for the next, helping team members stay accountable and focused.
Crowdsourcing the agenda—with each team member invited to add topics for problem-solving or gathering information or feedback—ensures that the meeting remains focused on addressing needs and increases its collaborative value beyond, say, an email chain.
Karen Langer Little is class coordinator for the Carnegie Center for Literacy & Learning. The Carnegie Center, 251 W. Second St., is a nonprofit educational center offering seasonal writing, publishing, and language classes, among other community programming. For more information, visit CarnegieCenterLex.org.