UNITED STATES
The US Partnership for Public Service (PPS) has announced an online tool kit aimed at making meetings run more efficiently.
The tool kit was developed by eight participants in the PPS’s 2018 Excellent in Government Fellow Program who all agreed they had sat through meetings that were long on time and short on decisions.
The PPS, a not-for-profit organisation that strives for a more efficient US Public Service, said the Fellows teamed up to work on the tool kit.
“Step one was to survey the Federal workforce to understand how meetings go wrong,” the PPS said.
“Next, team members developed a set of best practices, guides and resources to help employees determine the value of a meeting and run one most productively.”
It said the team produced a product that included a guide for holding effective meetings, a template for a meeting agenda and an estimator to determine the meeting’s cost based on the number of participants, their seniority (and the salaries for their level) and the length of the meeting.
“The tool kit is housed on the Department of Homeland Security website but is available to employees from any Federal Agency,” the PPS said.
“Reactions to the tool kit have been overwhelmingly positive.”
Members of the team said their colleagues liked the fact the guide was short, to the point and single-sided, making it easy to post a hardcopy in the workplace.
“Meeting organisers particularly appreciate the cost estimator, because awareness about cost could lead Federal employees to think twice about whom they invite to attend,” the PPS said.
“We believe this will lead to a more efficient workplace.”
Washington, DC, 8 March 2019
