Research Meetings

If you are reading this, chances are that you will have a meeting with me. My goal is to make our time together efficient and effective, yet friendly. Here are the ground rules.

Scheduling

• Make sure there is a calendar event.
• If we agreed that you will manage the meeting, your first step is to create the event and invite me and all participants.
• If it is not in the calendar, it does not exist.

Time use

• Use at most half of the allotted time to cover the agenda below.
• We will use the remaining time for discussion, decisions, and problem-solving.

Agenda

• You are encouraged to prepare a presentation, but it is not mandatory. However, you should prepare your talking points and the topics to be discussed.
  • Do not improvise or attend the meeting unprepared.
  • Think through and write down your talking points.
• Present the high-level idea of your project: briefly describe the latest “story” (your elevator pitch and high-level overview of what you are doing).
  • The objective is twofold: (i) I need a recap, and (ii) I need to confirm your understanding of the project direction.
  • Rehearsing the story will help us refine it and write about it later.
• Recap last meeting’s agreements: what you committed to deliver and what we planned to address this time.
• Report actions since the last meeting: what you did, what worked, and what did not.
  • Have results ready to show (both positive and negative are acceptable).
• List your open questions and where I can help: what you need from me or the group.
• Share open directions: possible paths forward and options you are considering.
• Optional but helpful: key risks or blockers, decisions needed, relevant data or materials, and a brief timeline with upcoming milestones.

Discussion and next steps

• If you managed your time, we should have at least half the meeting to discuss.
• We will discuss the issues, comment on what will happen next, and outline how to solve the problems.
• We should agree on clear actions and deliverables for the next meeting, with owners and target dates.
• If the meeting is not recurrent, we will agree on and schedule the next one before we close.