An inclusive meeting is when each person in your team feels like they have the chance and confidence to take part.
When you run an inclusive meeting, you’ll get more diverse opinions, which may lead to better outcomes.
Here are some ideas you can try out to make your meetings more inclusive.
When you send out your meeting invite, put a line in there like this:
“If you need any support to take part in this meeting, let me know.”
This gives people a chance to let you know if they need any adjustments or have specific needs.
Write an agenda for all your meetings.
Don’t just list generic topics. Be descriptive about what you want to discuss and hope to achieve for each agenda item.
Send your agenda to your participants as early as you can. This shows respect and gives people time to reflect on what you want to discuss.
Only invite people if they’re needed as per your agenda.
If a meeting has a lot of people in it, this makes it harder for everyone to contribute.
Some people may feel nervous speaking in front of large groups, but not in small groups.
Check you’ve scheduled enough time to get through all the things on your agenda.
If there’s not enough time, you won’t get the feedback you need from everyone in the meeting and make decisions.
When you start your meeting, make each person feel welcome.
Go around the meeting and explain why you invited each person.
Set some basic meetings rules at the start, such as:
If there are people on the phone or videoconferencing in your meeting:
If you see any behaviours that break your ground rules, politely call these out.
For example, if you see someone talking over the top of someone else, reiterate your ground rules again.
If the person keeps doing it, have an informal chat with them after the meeting. They may not be aware of how their behaviour impacts others.
A lot of teams have a mix of people with different communication styles.
If you’ve got someone who dominates a conversation, try asking them to take notes or scribe.
This will refocus their attention from talking to listening.
You can also use the concept of a ‘talking stick’, which you hand from person to person. Only the person with the ‘stick’ can speak.
If someone isn’t taking part in the meeting, you can:
At the end of your meeting, repeat key points and decisions back to the group.
Check everyone has a shared understanding of what you went through with your agenda.
Review actions and next steps.
Thank everyone for taking part and adding value to the discussion.
After the meeting, send out minutes or list of key decisions with: