Meet with a Purpose

What I Learned In School Today: If you don’t know the purpose of a meeting, then you shouldn’t be having the meeting.

There are so many meetings. Everyday, there are meetings. IEP meetings, 504 meetings, parent meetings, student meetings, curriculum meetings, committee meetings, school board meetings, observation meetings, building leadership meetings, district leadership meetings, and on and on and on. If you are interested in all aspects of a school system and education (YES) and you want to be meaningfully involved (YES), then the amount of time spent in meetings will continue to increase.

Truthfully, I don’t mind meetings. They are often a way of communicating with one another or developing a plan to reach a goal and can be a productive use of time when well run. However, there is one aspect of a meeting that must be clear in order for me to feel the time investment is worthwhile. The meeting must have a crystal clear purpose. If the purpose of the meeting is unclear or there are people involved who do not understand what it is about or why they are present, the meeting should not take place. Without a purpose, any meeting can devolve into complaining, finger pointing, and unproductively, which is a time inefficiency we cannot afford in schools. If you don’t have a purpose for a meeting, cancel it. If you do have a purpose, make sure it is understood by everyone involved.