Planning and Leading Effective Meetings

Far Eastern University

General Education

Activity # 4: Six Thinking Hats Analysis of Planning and Leading Effective Meetings

NAME: Flores, Pryianca T. PROGRAM: Accountancy DATE: Nov. 22, 2020

SECTION: 38 SCHEDULE: 1:30-3:00 (M,Th) FACULTY: Margaret Sanapo

General Instruction: Analyze the material, Planning and Leading Effective Meetings, using Ed De
Bono’s Six Thinking Framework. Refer to the topic information sheet for guidance. Type your answers
on the spaced provided. Submit this accomplished template on or before the given deadline. Answer
briefly but meaningfully. Be specific with your answers and provide sufficient elaborations. Avoid
general answers. Rubrics on how this will be rated is given in the topic information sheet

WHITE HAT (FACTUAL HAT): What evidences, findings, and beliefs were presented in the article
regarding planning and leading effective meetings? Elaborate.
Meetings, effective or ineffective, comprise almost half of an employee’s workday. So, for every meeting
to be effective, proper planning and leading must be taken into considerations as much as possible
because meetings are associated with each participant’s time and it is mentioned in the article that poorly
planned meeting wastes time which results to negative outcomes. First, it lowers the attendance at future
meetings because this may be perceived as a disruption to other productive activities. Second, it may lead
to off-task behaviour in meetings. On the other hand, meetings can be effective guided by proper planning
and leading. Participants should be limited to only those who can engage or be responsive during the
meeting and will be able to make beneficial contributions aligned with the meeting’s agenda. The meeting
environment must be considered as well because this will determine how comfortable or uncomfortable
your participants will be. Lastly, the most important is the schedule of the meeting. As said meetings are
associated with the time the participants are available and not having enough time to attend a meeting, can
keep them unfocused, lessen alertness and be in a rush.

RED HAT (EMOTIONAL HAT): How did you feel about reading the points shared by the authors of
the article? Why did you feel that way? What made you feel that way?
As I read the article, I completely understand the points and agree with the author as well. I felt this way
because I have attended different meetings and based on experience, the points mentioned really resulted
to ineffectiveness/effectiveness. I also felt shocked when I knew that meetings comprised almost half of
the workday of an employee. I think that companies should lessen conducting these meetings because
there are times that meetings are actually not necessary especially when there are different ways to
communicate or deploy that message or agenda.

BLACK HAT (CRITICAL HAT): What could be the dangers, problems or challenges associated to
planning and leading effective meetings based on the authors? How can these factors make meetings
less effective and efficient?
Some of the dangers associated to planning and leading are if there is no usage of agenda, the meeting is
not properly scheduled, punctuality of members, appropriate meeting environment and the lack of leader.
First, agenda is important for a meeting to go smoothly. Without this, the meeting may be going in
different directions, instead of just one, which will make the points vague and lessen understanding from
participants. Second, meetings are highly associated with the participants’ time and if it is not schedule on
a time preferred by your participants then they cannot focus properly and the engagement will be low.
Third, punctuality can make a meeting less effective because if either the leader or participants arrived
late then the flow of the meeting will not be followed already for there are wasted times, worse they may

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not finish at all or extend. Fourth, the meeting environment. It is important that everyone is comfortable
all throughout the session for them to keep themselves focused and perceive the message or points
accurately. Lastly, lack of leader. If no one will lead, then it is possible that ideas from ideas will collide.

YELLOW HAT (OPTIMISTIC HAT): What are the points that you agree with the authors? What are
positive points shared by the authors in terms of planning and leading effective meetings? How can these
become helpful in planning and leading meetings?
One of the points that I agree with the author is when it is mentioned that the number of participants
should only be limited to those who can make such contributions that are beneficial to the agenda of the
meeting. I agree with this because managing problem behaviour is one of the most challenging tasks in a
meeting and if you have those types of participants, chances are your meeting will be ineffective. Another
point that I agree is before initiating a meeting, the organizer must always ask if a meeting is really
needed for that particular topic or agenda. There are different ways to deploy your message and
sometimes a meeting should not be held because a simple e-mail regarding information are just around
the corner. These two points I mentioned are helpful both in planning and leading. The first one is helpful
to both because considering only beneficial participants is part of proper planning and with this; the leader
will not find it that hard to lead the meeting. On the other hand, the second one is helpful as well because
there are really cases wherein conducting a meeting is not necessary and with this you can both save time
and you will not be in a meeting that disrupts productivity which may lessen focus and understanding of
the agenda.

GREEN HAT (CREATIVE HAT): What suggestions do you have to improve the planning and leading
of meetings? You can answer this in the context of a meeting planner and leader and/or from a meeting
participant. Elaborate.
As a meeting participant, I think that when they are asking for the available time they should also consider
if this will be a disruption to any activities their participants have. Although one may be free during a
specific day at a specific time, it does not mean that they are completely free for sometimes this is what
they are using to do tasks assigned or in advance. They should also put some ice breaker in every meeting
to keep the participants awake and to increase engagement.

BLUE HAT (CONTEXTUALIZATION HAT): Think of situations when you led or attended a meeting
and relate the occurrences to the points shared by the authors. They can be formal or informal
meetings in FEU or else where. Validate the authors’ claims vis-à-vis your experiences.
Since I am still part of the FEU JPIA’s Project Association, we meet every two weeks on a Wednesday or
a Saturday depending of your assigned schedule. I can say that our meetings are effective because of the
following reasons: participant’s free time is considered, participants are limited, association head/sub-
heads knows how to do their task, engagement is well-encouraged and meeting program/agenda is
followed. At the start of the school year, our association head conducted a survey regarding the associates
schedule and time that they are free for a meeting. This has made our meeting effective because we are
focused on the meeting instead of being on a rush due to conflict in schedules. Second, participants are
limited. As mentioned, a survey was conducted which limits the number of associates per meeting since
there are two schedule. Third, the associate head together with her sub-heads can do their task really well.
An engagement head is assigned which encouraged participation and a technical head is assigned to do
the screen-sharing and muting those who are not making contributions to avoid interruptions. Lastly, the
meeting flow is really followed. Our associate head always made sure that we are all on time by
reminding us or giving the link again 10-15 minutes before the meeting and we are able to finish in time
as well.

PURPLE HAT (OWNERSHIP HAT): What important learning insights can you derive from the
reading? How will you use these in your personal and professional endeavors?

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I think that the important learning that I can derive from the reading is, planning and leading should come
hand-in-hand for a meeting to be effective. A meeting should be first properly planned to be able to
effectively conduct it. Failing to do so, will lead to results such as few attendees or low participation rate.
Once the planning process went well, that is when one should know how to lead and be able to get the
participants participation and be able to deploy the agenda to each and every one.

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