Rules of the Game: Effective Group Discussion

Meetings are hard.  They can easily suck the life out of your day, week, or *gasp* job.  Let pain be your guide. (Thanks @coreyhaines)

I recently had to work through a mountain of feedback data provided by a limited product release.  User Experience experts, random individuals, and customers known for their willingness to provide quality feedback gave us excellent information.  The question became how do we effectively process the information as a team.

Here a redacted version of the meeting notice I sent out:

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We have feedback from some users. We need to talk about it, but it’s a lot of info.

Here’s the tentative plan (tentative because someone might think of a better one).

Agenda

15min · Soapbox

30min · UX Feedback

30min · Customer Feedback

15min · Next Steps

We need a really, really good note taker.  Volunteers?

Rules of the Game

1. Each person receives 3 uninterrupted minutes for their soapbox.
2. Interrupt someone during their soapbox and you lose a minute from yours.
3. Maximum 5 minutes on any one feedback item.  Action item to dig in later.
4. Fist in the air by anyone immediately halts discussion on the topic and we move to the next. Action item to dig in later.
5. Add a sticky note to the wall if you want to discuss something relevant by off topic.
6. Try to have read as much of the feedback as possible before the meeting.

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The key to any meeting is preparation and an effective recorder.  By having a timeboxed agenda, audible timer, rules, and an awesome recorder meetings can actually be fun!

I love the Soapbox for two reasons.  First it gets everyone talking.  Even the quiet person has three minutes (or a really long, awkward silence).  If someone finishes before their allotted time, sit quietly (you kinda have to or you lose a minute yourself!).  They will probably come up with something else right before their alarm buzzes. The second reason I love the soapbox is that you can then get down to business without people interjecting something off topic.

We didn’t make it through everything, people were cut off by the alarm, and people didn’t get to say everything during their soapbox.  It’s ok.  Do it often and people will learn to be direct, to prioritize their thoughts, and to PREPARE.

Now, back to my code.