如何規劃一場高效的會議？
We’ve all been in meetings where participants are unprepared, people veer off-track, and the topics discussed are a waste of the team’s time. These problems — and others like it — stem from poor agenda design. An effective agenda sets clear expectations for what needs to occur before and during a meeting. It helps team members prepare, allocates time wisely, quickly gets everyone on the same topic, and identifies when the discussion is complete. If problems still occur during the meeting, a well-designed agenda increases the team’s ability to effectively and quickly address them.
我們都參加過這樣的會議，與會者沒有準備充分、大家心不在焉、討論的話題是對團隊時間的浪費。這些問題——以及其他類似的問題——都源於糟糕的議程設計。一項有效的議程明確安排了會議前後的事件。這可以幫助團隊成員充分準備、合理分配時間，快速地讓每個人都參與討論同一個主題，並確定了討論時間。如果在會議期間仍然出現問題，一個精心設計的日程會增加團隊有效並快速解決問題的能力。
Here are some tips for designing an effective agenda for your next meeting, with a sample agenda and template below. You can use these tips whether a meeting lasts an hour or three days and whether you’re meeting with a group of five or forty:
以下是爲下次會議設計有效議程的一些建議、樣本議程和模板。你可以以此來決定會議時長以及與會者數量。
Seek input from team members. If you want your team to be engaged in meetings, make sure the agenda includes items that reflect their needs. Ask team members to suggest agenda items along with a reason why each item needs to be addressed in a team setting. If you ultimately decide not to include an item, be accountable — explain your reasoning to the team member who suggested it.
尋求團隊成員的意見。如果你希望你的團隊參與會議，確保議程中包括了反映他們需求的項目。要求團隊成員提出議程項目，同時詢問成員提出此項目的原因。若最終決定去除某項目，你需要向提出建議的成員解釋去除項目的原因。
Select topics that affect the entire team. Team meeting time is expensive and difficult to schedule. It should mainly be used to discuss and make decisions on issues that affect the whole team — and need the whole team to solve them. These are often ones in which individuals must coordinate their actions because their parts of the organization are interdependent. They are also likely to be issues for which people have different information and needs.
選擇影響整個團隊的主題。團隊會議時間很昂貴，而且很難安排。它應該主要用於討論和決定影響整個團隊的問題，並且需要整個團隊來解決它們，需要個人成員協調，因爲大家是相互聯繫、相互依賴的，每個人掌握不同的信息，有不同的需求。
List agenda topics as questions the team needs to answer. Most agenda topics are simply several words strung together to form a phrase, for example: “office space reallocation.” This leaves meeting participants wondering, “What about office space reallocation?” When you list a topic as a question (or questions) to be answered, it instead reads like this: “Under what conditions, if any, should we reallocate office space?”
將議程主題列爲團隊需要回答的問題。大多數的議程主題僅僅是串在一起組成一個短語的幾個單詞，例如:“辦公室空間重新分配”。這讓與會者感到疑惑，“辦公室空間再分配怎麼樣?”你應該把一個主題作爲一個問題列出來:“，我們應該在什麼條件下重新分配辦公空間?”
A question enables team members to better prepare for the discussion and to monitor whether their own and others’ comments are on track. During the meeting, anyone who thinks a comment is off-track can say something like, “I’m not seeing how your comment relates to the question we’re trying to answer. Can you help me understand the connection?” Finally, the team knows that when the question has been answered, the discussion is complete.
一個問題能夠使團隊成員能夠更好地爲討論做準備，並時刻檢查他們自己和其他人的意見是否正確。在會議期間，認爲別人的評論偏離軌道的人會說:“我沒有看到你的評論和我們想要回答的問題有什麼關係，你能解釋下嗎？”最後，當團隊知道當問題得到解答時，討論就完成了。
Note whether the purpose of the topic is to share information, seek input for a decision, or make a decision. It’s difficult for team members to participate effectively if they don’t know whether to simply listen, give their input, or be part of the decision making process. If people think they are involved in making a decision, but you simply want their input, everyone is likely to feel frustrated by the end of the conversation. Updates are better distributed — and read — prior to the meeting, using a brief part of the meeting to answer participants’ questions. If the purpose is to make a decision, state the decision-making rule. If you are the formal leader, at the beginning of the agenda item you might say, “If possible, I want us to make this decision by consensus. That means that everyone can support and implement the decision given their roles on the team. If we’re not able to reach consensus after an hour of discussion, I’ll reserve the right to make the decision based on the conversation we’ve had. I’ll tell you my decision and my reasoning for making it.”
請注意會議主題是共享信息、尋求意見以進行決策還是共同作出決定。對於團隊成員來說，如果他們不知道參會的目的是簡單地傾聽、給出他們的意見還是參與決策過程的話，那麼他們就很難有效地參與進來。如果人們認爲他們參與了決策，但你只是想要他們提出意見，那麼每個人都可能在談話結束時感到沮喪。在會議之前，讓大家閱讀會議提要，會議開始時花幾分鐘回答與會者的問題都是非常有效的方法。如果目的是做一個決定，那麼會上就要宣佈決策規則。如果你是正式的領導人，在議程項目開始時，你需要說，“如果可能的話，我希望我們以協商一致的方式作出這個決定。這意味着每個人都可以支持並執行這個決定，因爲他們在團隊中扮演着重要的角色。如果在一個小時的討論後我們無法達成共識，我將根據我們的對話做出決定。我會告訴你們我的決定和我的理由。”
Estimate a realistic amount of time for each topic. This serves two purposes. First, it requires you to do the math — to calculate how much time the team will need for introducing the topic, answering questions, resolving different points of view, generating potential solutions, and agreeing on the action items that follow from discussion and decisions.
估計每個主題的實際花費時間。這有兩個好處。首先，這要求你做數學計算——計算出團隊在介紹主題、回答問題、解決不同觀點、生成潛在解決方案以及在討論和決策之後的行動項目上達成一致所需的時間。領導者通常會低估所需要的時間。
Second, the estimated time enables team members to either adapt their comments to fit within the allotted timeframe or to suggest that more time may be needed. The purpose of listing the time is not to stop discussion when the time has elapsed; that simply contributes to poor decision making and frustration. The purpose is to get better at allocating enough time for the team to effectively and efficiently answer the questions before it.
第二，預估時間使團隊成員可以根據時間調整他們的意見，或者建議需要更多時間討論某項問題。列出時間的目的不是在時間範圍內必須完成討論，這隻會導致糟糕的決策、達不到預期效果，真正的目的是爲了更好地分配足夠的時間，讓團隊能夠有效、高效地回答問題。
Propose a process for addressing each agenda item. The process identifies the steps through which the team will move together to complete the discussion or make a decision. Agreeing on a process significantly increases meeting effectiveness, yet leaders rarely do it.
提出處理每個議程項目的程序。這個過程明確了團隊一起完成討論或作出決定的步驟。這樣一來能夠大大提高會議效率，但領導者卻很少這樣做。
The process for addressing an item should appear on the written agenda. When you reach that item during the meeting, explain the process and seek agreement: “I suggest we use the following process. First, let’s take about 10 minutes to get all the relevant information on the table. Second, let’s take another 10 minutes to identify and agree on any assumptions we need to make. Third, we’ll take another 10 minutes to identify and agree on the interests that should be met for any solution. Finally, we’ll use about 15 minutes to craft a solution that ideally takes into account all the interests, and is consistent with our relevant information and assumptions. Any suggestions for improving this process?”
處理問題的過程應該出現在書面議程上。當大家在會議中達成一致時，領導者需要向與會者解釋實施過程並徵求大家的意見：“我建議我們這樣做：首先，讓我們花10分鐘的時間瀏覽所有相關的信息。第二，讓我們再花10分鐘來確定並表決我們需要做的決定。第三，我們將再花10分鐘來確定解決方案涉及的利益，並舉手錶決。最後，我們將用大約15分鐘的時間來制定一個理想的解決方案，這將考慮到所有的利益，並且符合我們的相關信息和決定。大家還有什麼意見嗎?”
Specify how members should prepare for the meeting. Distribute the agenda with sufficient time before the meeting, so the team can read background materials and prepare their initial thoughts for each agenda item ahead of time.
明確規定成員應該如何準備會議。在會議開始前，把議程分發給與會成員，保證每個人充分閱讀，這樣團隊就可以閱讀背景材料，提前考慮每一個議程項目。
Identify who is responsible for leading each topic. Someone other than the formal meeting leader is often responsible for leading the discussion of a particular agenda item. This person may be providing context for the topic, explaining data, and so on. Identifying this person next to the agenda item ensures that anyone who is responsible for leading part of the agenda knows it — and prepares for it — before the meeting.
確定負責每個議題的領導人。除了正式的會議領導人之外，其他人通常負責領導討論某個特定的議程項目。這個人可能爲主題討論提供背景知識、解釋數據材料等等。在議程項目旁著名負責人可以確保在會議之前，負責領導部分議程的人知道其職責併爲其做準備。
Make the first topic “review and modify agenda as needed.” Even if you and your team have jointly developed the agenda before the meeting, take a minute to see if anything needs to be changed due to late breaking events.
第一個主題是“根據需要審查和修改議程”。即使你和你的團隊在會議之前共同制定了議程，也要花一分鐘的時間來看看是否發生了什麼突發事件需要改變會議議程。
End the meeting with a plus/delta. If your team meets regularly, two questions form a simple continuous improvement process: What did we do well? What do we want to do differently for the next meeting? Investing five or ten minutes will enable the team to improve performance, working relationships, and team member satisfaction. Here are some questions to consider when identifying what the team has done well and what it wants to do differently:
會議結束時討論會議表現。如果你的團隊定期開會，兩個問題就可以制定一個長期改進計劃了：我們哪些地方做的好？下次會議上我們想做哪些改變？花5到10分鐘討論下這些問題將使團隊能夠改善績效、工作關係，提高團隊成員的滿意度。在確定團隊哪些地方做得很好以及想要做些什麼改變時，以下是一些需要考慮的問題:
1. Was the agenda distributed in time for everyone to prepare?
議程是否及時分發給每個與會者？
2. How well did team members prepare for the meeting?
與會者準備是否充分？
3. How well did we estimate the time needed for each agenda item?
我們對每項議程預估的時間正確嗎？
4. How well did we allocate our time for decision making and discussion?
我們制定決策和討論的時間是否充足？
5. How well did everyone stay on-topic? How well did team members speak up when they thought someone was off-topic?
每個人是不是都參與進來了？當團隊成員認爲某人離題時，他們的表現如何?
6. How effective was the process for each agenda item?
每個議程項目的進程是否有效?
If you develop agendas using these tips, and the sample agenda and template below, your team will have an easier time getting — and staying — focused in meetings.
如果您使用這些技巧制定議程，並參考下面的示例議程和模板，您的團隊將在會議中更容易保持專注。
