Meetings: the bane of a leader’s existence. Meetings are not intrinsically evil, but they are often poorly planned, lack alignment with goals and priorities, have no follow-through, and are a true time-waster. There are many tools out there to help make meetings more efficient, great books, and even podcasts!
But you know me; I like practical, real-life examples. Enter Kimi Kean, a Regional Superintendent for Aspire Public Schools, and her new and improved meeting agendas.
There are so many things I like about Kimi’s standard weekly 1:1 meeting agenda. She’s got:
- Clear expectations about who sends the meeting agenda by when
- Celebrations and appreciations to both start and end the meeting
- Written updates on all work plan areas so she can stay informed on key projects
- Time dedicated to problem solving
- Room for Kimi, as the manager, to add her own agenda items
Kimi explains why she took the time to align with her team on standard 1:1 meeting agendas: “Last year we didn’t always prepare or use this time intentionally. Sometimes we would spend check-in time on updates that didn’t need discussion. I adapted this template from a colleague so that 1) we align check-ins to the big buckets of work we have established in our shared work plan and 2) we spend more of our time together on an in-depth issue rather than updates. I hope we will experience more Togetherness!”
Kimi and team, I have no doubt your meetings will be more fruitful with this upfront intentionality! Kudos, and keep us posted on how it goes!
