4 minute read
Meetings and how spreadsheets and can assist us
130 mins All
Objective / Aims
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Saving time and avoiding unproductive meetings. After the workshop participants: • Will be able to prepare a spreadsheet for taking minutes of the meeting and record decisions. • Will be able to use minutes of the meeting as a tool for follow up and control of deadlines.
Materials/Apps
• Adult teachers, trainers need also to print materials for the activities • Apps, Software, platforms used: Any spreadsheet software
Space
Space should be prepared for group and individual work. Personal computer with internet connection and installed spreadsheet software. Big screen for projecting in front of the group.
ANALOGICAL PART. STEP BY STEP. 1st part (20 min)
1. The first activity in this part of the workshop is to get to know participants and their experiences. 2. Sharing meeting experiences. Discuss and write down on paper, whiteboard or display on screen. Speak with the group about personal good/bad experiences from participation in meetings.
Possible questions:
1. What characterises a good/poor meeting? 2. Why are meetings necessary at the first place? P.S. You will need to make new QR code. 3. Discuss various situations where meetings can help or they are result of poor organisation inside an organisation.
ALTERNATIVELY. You can prepare an on-line space, generate a QR code and ask participants to use/test their digital world skills of using QR code. Short survey about experiences regarding 1. How often do you have to participate in a meeting? 2. How long usually are your meetings? 3. How many persons usually are present? 4. How are decisions recorded?
Finish discussion with a calculation “How much does a meeting cost?” And what about the cost if nothing is decided… or no actions agreed?
Small survey could be made e.g. http://padlet.com You can use presentation material with comments for a trainer that is provided in addition to this document. See documents spreadsheet-meetings.key.pdf , spreadsheet-meetings.pptx and spreadsheet-meetings.key
ANALOGICAL PART. STEP BY STEP. 2nd part (30 min)
Generate a list of a good preparation for the meeting and possible ways of keeping meeting minutes. Write lists on a whiteboard or make it a short task for participants split in small groups and then write results on a whiteboard.
You can use presentation material with comments for a trainer that is provided in addition to this document. See documents spreadsheet-meetings.key.pdf , spreadsheet-meetings.pptx and spreadsheet-meetings.key
DIGITAL PART. STEP BY STEP. 1ST PART (20 min)
Ask participants in small groups or pairs to create a spreadsheet that could serve for keeping meeting minutes and recording decisions. Show spreadsheets on screen and discuss proposed layouts. Lead to discussion about assigning tasks and deadlines and using spreadsheet for that.
DIGITAL PART. STEP BY STEP. 2nd PART (20 min)
Discuss ease of using one or another layout for the purpose of defining tasks, responsibilities, deadlines, ease of reviewing decisions made in previous meetings. Suggest using filters.
After seeing various layouts of spreadsheets from group-work, you might pay attention to influence of possible technical errors - misprints, spelling mistakes etc. and
Suggest creating pre-defined lists on a separate sheet and using them for input of names, topics and other repetitive data thus saving time for error tracing and corrections afterwards.
Step-by-step instructions about how to create lists can vary from spreadsheet software one uses and can be found in Help sections of respective software. Key words for search: list, data validation.
DIGITAL PART. STEP BY STEP. 3rd PART (30 min)
Hands on creating your Document - meeting spreadsheet Task: make layout / template for your meetings. Individual or small group work. During this task assist participants individually according to their particular needs.
Evaluation of the activity / Result (10 min)
Saving your Document and summary of the workshop.
Discuss what have participants learned, what will they use in their everyday work.
Example Survey https://freeonlinesurveys.com/s/30iBxjE7 (link may expire, so you create your own)
Optional. Show some examples of software dedicated to managing tasks, deadlines and projects. Lead discussion in a way participants come to decision that there is a border somewhere where use of specially designed software becomes more efficient rather that developing complicated spreadsheets.
For further reference about planning, assigning tasks and tools for project management please refer to on-line resources e.g. Complete multi-project management tool examples (include links) Asana ClickUp
Jira Trello Just for recording minutes: Fellow
Planning a Virtual Meeting – Checklist 1. What are our objectives – tangible and intangible? 2. What would my agenda be if this were a face-to-face meeting? What is the level of participant interaction? 3. How could each step be done virtually? 4. Who needs to be involved at each step? 5. What can we do asynchronously? What needs to be real-time? 6. What technology tools might best support each step of the process? What do I have available to me? 7. What obstacles can I anticipate? How can I address these? 8. What role do I need the client or sponsor to play? 9. How do can I best prepare participants? 10.How much time will it take me to coordinate this meeting / series of meetings? 11.What additional help do I need? 12.Will this virtual process meet our objectives? What do I need to renegotiate?
