RCR Forum: Better Meetings (GS716.08)

From one-on-one check-ins with a mentor to virtual project team discussions, meetings can be powerful opportunities to connect, learn, and work with others. And yet, many meetings fail to rise to their potential. If you are organizing a meeting, you can improve the experience and outcomes for everyone through thoughtful planning and management. This workshop offers a basic introduction to what makes meetings successful and how to help ensure meetings are necessary, efficient, and effective for all involved. We will also touch on how to recognize and address social dimensions of meetings (e.g., status differences, such as advisor/advisee
relationships or different roles in a lab; emotional needs, such as inclusion and appreciation).

Participants will learn steps and actions to follow when organizing and managing meetings and how to apply these in their academic life. Participants will understand what makes meetings effective and learn and apply approaches to more effectively organizing and running meetings. Specifically, they will:
- Recognize how a clear purpose, planning, and time management can improve meeting outcomes.
- List key considerations when deciding whether to have a meeting.
- Name some actions to help plan ahead for a meeting.
- Identify how to actively manage during a meeting to optimize meeting time.
- Recognize social dynamics that can undermine a meeting (e.g., mentor/advisee responsibilities and status) and ways to address.

Presenter & more info: Liz Milewicz