RHP (better meetings)

First, get clear on the meetings purpose.

For example, are you meeting to share information, to connect, to plan, to do co-analysis, work through a disagreement or something else?

Based on the purpose of the meeting, think about if a meeting is needed, for example, if you’re sharing information, could that be done in an email? Delivered in a short video update?

If a meeting is needed, consider what format might best meet your purpose. If it’s not a meeting it might be something else - a meal, yarn, creative session etc.

Don’t be afraid to post-pone a meeting if the purpose isn’t clear.

• right relationships
  are we building relationships before and after meetings?

  Meeting well starts before - with one-to-one conversations, planning for access and inclusion, co-deciding what to cover in a meeting and care-fully selecting a place and time to meet.

• right place
  are we meeting at comfortable and accessible places?

  Many clinical places aren’t accessible to consumers, carers or community. Some places have bad histories for individuals or groups.

• right pace
  who is our pace leaving behind? 

  Community often feel rushed to make a decision by researchers. Meetings often don’t have breaks or might start abruptly without time for connecting to each other, to Country or take time to settle-in.

• right time
  are we meeting at times that support consumer, carer and community participation?

  9-5 meetings often aren’t accessible to consumers. some meetings may need to happen outside ‘work hours’ to hear from people who usually can’t be included in research.

Trust takes time to build and is easy to lose. Meeting well means that people are more likely to come back and continue working with us. So, here’s some things to avoid - what would you add?

avoid clumsy introductions

Researchers introducing their many roles and qualifications doesn’t feel great to others. Instead, have everyone introduce themselves in the same way while giving people an option to pass if they’re not ready to talk.

avoid uncomfortable icebreakers

Ice-breakers need a purpose (e.g. connecting people, settling-in, exploring a topic) and shouldn’t make anyone feel more vulnerable. So, be careful about asking people to share personal things or doing anything ‘too silly’ too soon.

avoid expecting or forcing disclosure

No one should be forced to disclose their lived experience or feel that their participation is conditional on sharing their trauma. Instead, let everyone know they’re welcome as they are.

avoid getting straight to ‘the work’

Building relationships is the work [3]. When we rush to tasks and agenda items, we often miss building trust and connections. Trust is what keeps the work happening and helps us repair issues when they happen.

avoid forcing quick decisions

Good decisions take time and usually can’t be made in a single meeting. Instead, instead: give people time and take-aways to think about outside of meetings.

Meeting well is a practice that starts before the meeting itself.

Below we share six additional practices to try-out.

It’s okay if you don’t have all the skills needed yet. Consider:

What are 1-2 things we can do differently?

Do we need an external facilitator and/or co-host?

Do we need to postpone our next meeting to make it more purposeful or accessible?

Who will be responsible for each practice/strategy (e.g. who’s in charge of accessibility? Hospitality? Re-formatting complex information?)

1 give people ways and time to prepare

Giving people time to prepare creates useful meetings and respectful relationships. Here we mean sharing preparation at least a week before the meeting, not the day before.

2 set expectations before meeting

Setting expectations can reduce anxiety and make the meeting less likely to veer-off into other topics, for example, about:

What kind of meeting it is (giving information, making decisions, designing something etc.)

What decisions have already been made

Who will be there

What to expect from a sensory perspective (e.g. bright lights, strong smells, loud noises, strong air conditioning)

3 think about power differences

Noticing and addressing power differences might mean:

co-facilitating with someone with lived experience who isn’t an experienced researcher

thinking care-fully about introductions (for example, not having people introduce themselves by the job/qualifications they have)

not meeting in a clinical place

explaining jargon

asking people with lived experience to speak first

4 use hospitality

Hospitality [1,2] helps people be comfortable and resourced to do the work. Hospitality can involve:

meeting access and sensory needs

offering nourishing food and drink

making the space culturally welcoming

greeting people warmly

Ask about access and inclusion, don’t assume [3].

5 re-format complex information

Re-formatting might mean presenting complex information in:

chunks or parts

visuals (e.g. diagrams, infographics, visual metaphors, comics, journey maps)

video or audio

6 make the meeting participatory

Participatory means making it possible for people to take part, not just listen to presentations. You might think about:

Engaging people in discovering something for themselves instead of telling them

Using interactive activities and tools

Sharing responsibilities among the team/participants

What can you try?

[1] Parker, P. (2019). The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters.

[2] Lillie, Larsen, Kirkwood, & Brown. (2024) The Relationship is the Project. Second Edition.

[3] McKercher, K.A. (2020). Beyond Sticky Notes. Doing co-design for Real: Mindsets, Methods, and Movements, 1st edn.

[4] McKercher, K.A. (n.d.) Six mindsets for co-design. Retrieved from: https://www.beyondstickynotes.com/mindsets-for-codesign

[5] McKercher, K.A, Cataldo, M., Dietkus, R., Muller, S., Barling-Luke, N., Flores, L., Lockhart, L., Benson, R., Broadbridge, A., Tchan, M. (2023). Model of Care for Co-design Expansion Pack.

New South Wales Government, Ministry of Health. (2023). All of Us: Six ways of working. Retrieved from https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/patients/experience/all-of-us/Pages/six- ways-of-working.aspx

NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation. (n.d.). Co-design Toolkit. Retrieved from

https://aci.health.nsw.gov.au/projects/co-design

New South Wales Government, Ministry of Health. (2023) All of Us: Essentials checklist. Retrieved from https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/patients/experience/all-of-us/Pages/tools.aspx