Meeting skills - 2023

This workshop, by Wim Coessens (The Works!), places a strong emphasis on good meetings practice, gradually also drawing on the participants' own experiences and cases. The most important frame of reference is the circumplex of interpersonal communication (which some of the participants may already be familiar with).
Furthermore, a number of structured exercises (a.o. NASA) will be used, which are content-wise 'out of the box' and provide participants insight in the group dynamics aspects (process). Because the result is not of primary importance, the focus is more on the interaction and the group. Specific themes or questions from participants can also be addressed. Here, of course, the content or result is important. A questionnaire at the beginning of the workshop gauges participants’ expectations and challenges, and identifies real-life cases to be discussed during the workshop.

Learning outcomes

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to ...

• consciously ask themselves whether a meeting is necessary/optimal to achieve their objective and therefore worth the time investment (of x number of people),
• limit the time spent in meetings to what is necessary,
• improve the quality of the meetings in which they participate,
• have a structured agenda that is shared in advance with all participants, and that indicates the purpose, the goal/expected result, the working method, and a project timing estimate,
• increase involvement in the meeting by opening up the agenda to the participants so that they can bring in their own agenda items,
• tackle each agenda item according to the CORPI model,
• realize that the effectiveness of a meeting depends on careful and timely preparation before the meeting, efficiency during the meeting itself, and clear (+accepted) agreements on the follow-up after the meeting,
• have gained experience with decision-making techniques: consensus, majority decision making and other useful tools to increase the quality and effectiveness of meetings.

Competences

An important part of preparing for any further professional step is becoming (more) aware of the competences you have developed and/or want to develop. In the current workshop, the following competences from the UHasselt competency overview are actively dealt with:

• interpersonal competences:
  • assertiveness
  • (interdisciplinary) collaboration
  • leadership
• task-orientedness:
  • organisation & coordination
  • progress monitoring
  • result-orientedness

For whom?

• PhD students & postdocs
• 16 places available

When and where?

• November 14, 2023 - 09:00-17:00
• Campus Diepenbeek, room A4

Registration?

• Registration is closed.
• As places are limited, registering does not automatically imply that you will be able to participate. You will be notified by email after the registration deadline has passed.
• Please cancel your registration at least one week in advance in case you cannot make it (cf. cancellation & no-show policy).

Acknowledged as?

• DS BSH: category 'research management & communication skills' - course aimed at developing general communication skills
• DS HLS: category 'transferable skills' - compulsory elective course
• DS ST: category 'scientific & generic communication' - course about generic communication