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Guide to Conducting Meetings and RAP sessions. Contents. Conducting meetings Planning the meeting Running the meeting After the meeting What is a RAP sessions? Why hold a RAP session? Main principles of RAP When to hold RAP sessions Guidelines for holding a RAP session.
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Contents • Conducting meetings • Planning the meeting • Running the meeting • After the meeting • What is a RAP sessions? • Why hold a RAP session? • Main principles of RAP • When to hold RAP sessions • Guidelines for holding a RAP session
Conducting meetings There are three stages to conducting meetings: • planning the meeting • running the meeting • after the meeting
Planning the meeting Guidelines to planning effective meetings: • determine the outcomes that are wanted from the meeting • identify who needs to attend • prepare an agenda to satisfy the outcomes • ensure all the agenda items can be realistically covered in the allotted time for the meeting • book the meeting room • notify the participants of the meeting (why, where, when, how long, agenda)
Running the meeting Guidelines to running effective meetings: • arrive early and make sure the meeting room is set up • start on time, do not wait for late arrivals as it encourages lateness • identify a chairperson to coordinate the meeting • identify someone to take minutes • state the purpose of the meeting at the start • Review the agenda, get agreement and then stick to the agenda • allocate time on each agenda item and do not run over time for each item • avoid getting bogged down in too much detail or in side issues. • If more information or a solution needs to be workedthrough make this an action item to be addressedprior to the next meeting.
Running the meeting (cont.)… Guidelines to running effective meetings: • chairperson must control the meeting and not let individuals dominate • record minutes • identify action items, assign to one owner and specify when to be actioned by • finish on time • if some agenda items are not covered agree to reconvene • If it is a regular meeting, or a follow up meeting is required, state when the next meeting will be
After the meeting • tidy the meeting room so it is left as you found it (clean whiteboards, remove papers, cups etc) • file a record of the meeting (minutes and action items) in the project folder and add actions to the project action items log • distribute minutes and action items to all participants of the meeting. • follow up with people assigned actionitems near to the “action by” date.
What is a RAP* session? • RAP is an abbreviation for Rapid Planning. • RAP is collaborative planning for a project. • the common principle of RAP is to engage the stakeholders of the project in the activities of the planning phase to gain their contribution and commitment to the project plan. *Source: Rob Thomsett, Radical Project Management, Yourdon Press, 2002.
Why hold a RAP session? A RAP session: • increases the involvement of stakeholders in the project plan. • gains input to the plan from a greater audience than traditional project planning. • may reduce the time taken to develop the project plan. • may increase the overall effort taken to produce the project plan (because of the number of people involved) • improves communication • facilitates team building • develops team commitment to the project plan • ensures the key players in the project are on the same page
Main principles of RAP A RAP session is: • Participative: all attendees are encouraged to contribute to the session • Facilitative: format is interactive rather than formal and prescriptive • Proactive: style is creative (similar to brainstorming) • Open and trusting: information is shared, individual views are respected
When to hold RAP sessions Type of meetings where a RAP session is useful: • project kick-off meetings • determining requirements • determining costs and benefits • work breakdown sessions • estimating sessions • resourcing and scheduling sessions
Guidelines for holding a RAP session • A RAP session is a meeting, and as such should follow the basic guidelines for meetings • RAP sessions are normally longer sessions (2-4 hours) than meetings (1 hour) • In identifying the agenda for the RAP session ensure this can be achieved within the time allowed for the session • RAP sessions involve more discussion and development of ideas rather than meetings where action items are used to reduce the discussion time • Can be held over a series of days ifnecessary See www.thomsett.com.au for more details.