Well, I woke up this mornin', didn't know right from wrong (Muddy Waters)

The Meeting-a-thon continues unabated at school. 

They are a necessary evil.

It's not just Woodford House either - it's epidemic proportions in education. When I was a Deputy Principal (and then Principal) I seemed to spend most of my time in meetings. It was a bit of a shock - I didn't realise that was what I'd signed up for. Pastoral meetings, Middle Management Meetings, strategic Senior Leadership meetings, department meetings, parent meetings, student at risk meetings...it was endless.

Now that I have more classes to teach I have less meetings but they still happen with alarming regularity.

So, bottom line - they can't be avoided. 

Here then is a good list of five things that meetings should be addressing. I whittled down to this core list from a list of 15 things that was on Dan Rockwell's blog. Less is more Dan!:

What does winning look like this week/month?

How will we know we are winning?

What kept us from achieving greater success last week/month? 

What new thing(s) will we try this week/month? (Organizations that      don’t try new things, die!) 

What dangers wait around the corner? How can we prepare today?

I like this list because it acknowledges big picture, rather than making widgets. It starts with the here and now, looks back a bit with a clear focus, and then thinks about the future.

It's pretty much the same template we used when I was a DP at Cambridge High School and that I instigated in strategic Senior Leadership Team meetings as a Principal. Same idea - slightly different language.

If you're going to have a meeting - than please - make it a focused one.