6 Tips for leading effective technical meetings as a Software Engineer
Tags: productivity, career, workplace
Published: 2023-04-30 13:17:55

Meetings have earned a reputation for being counterproductive and toxic in the tech world. Engineering teams often resent them as they take away valuable time that could be spent on hands-on work. Commonly heard phrases like "This could be an email" or "This could be a chat message" reflect the general sentiment towards meetings. It's no surprise why this is the case - meetings often lack clear agendas, discussions remain superficial, and they interrupt the flow of your day, making it harder to use your time effectively.

However, meetings don't have to be unproductive and frustrating. With the right approach, technical meetings can be productive, efficient, and even enjoyable. In this post, we will share 6 tips for leading effective technical meetings that will help you get the most out of them without feeling like they're a waste of time.

## Less is better
Keeping your meetings short and concise is key to ensuring that attendees remain engaged and productive. Limit your meetings to no more than 30 minutes and respect the agreed-upon time frame. Once time runs out, the meeting is over - avoid taking people's time beyond that. If further discussion is required, continue asynchronously via chat or schedule another meeting accordingly.

When inviting attendees, be mindful of who is truly necessary for the meeting. Resist the urge to invite everyone and only include key decision-makers. The more people you invite, the more difficult it will be to land on a specific decision. 

Remember, every hour spent in a meeting represents a significant chunk of your team's time. Inviting ten people to a one-hour meeting, for example, amounts to ten hours of your team's time that could be spent elsewhere. 

## Prepare an agenda
Avoid scheduling meetings without a clear agenda. Without a well-organized agenda, it can be difficult to keep discussions on track, ensure that all necessary points are addressed, and stay focused. Therefore, it's essential to identify any critical issues that need to be resolved during the meeting and prioritize them accordingly.

To ensure that everyone is on the same page and adequately prepared, it's recommended to share the agenda with attendees beforehand. By doing so, attendees can review the agenda and any necessary materials, such as relevant documents or reports, to contribute meaningfully to the discussion. Additionally, providing the agenda in advance allows attendees to identify any potential issues or questions they may have ahead of time, which can help streamline the discussion during the meeting.

## Know your audience
Understanding who will be attending the meeting can help you tailor the discussion, language, and tone to ensure that everyone is engaged and can contribute meaningfully. 

To start, consider the background and expertise of the attendees. Are they software engineers, project managers, or executives? Knowing this information can help you adjust the technical level of the discussion and avoid using jargon that may not be familiar to everyone.

Also understanding the attendees' priorities and goals can help you frame the discussion and provide context for the meeting's objectives. For example, if the attendees are primarily focused on product development, framing the discussion in terms of the impact on the product's development timeline can help make the discussion more relevant and engaging.

## Read the room
Attendees generally have the intention to work together to identify and agree on a solution to the problem at hand. However, it's important to be aware that disagreements can arise, either through explicit feedback or implicit nonverbal cues such as silence or negative body language.

As the leader of the meeting, it's crucial to read the room and pick up on any concerns or disagreements that may be present. If you notice that attendees are expressing concerns, try to listen actively and avoid dismissing their feedback. Instead, ask questions to better understand their perspective and work to address their concerns collaboratively.

If attendees are particularly far apart in their views, consider breaking into smaller groups to explore the issue in more depth. This can help to foster more productive and focused discussion, and may lead to a more effective resolution.

## Take notes
Notes can serve as a valuable tool for keeping everyone on track and ensuring that key points are captured and documented. This can help to ensure that the meeting remains focused and that important information is not lost.

In addition to being useful during the meeting itself, meeting notes can also provide a helpful record of decisions and discussions that have taken place. This can be especially helpful for individuals who were not able to attend the meeting, as well as for team members who may need to refer back to the notes at a later date.

When it comes to taking notes, there are a variety of tools and approaches that you can use. Some people prefer to use simple tools like Google Docs or internal organizational tools to capture meeting notes. You can take notes yourself or ask someone to take notes during the meeting.

Make sure to share your meeting notes with attendees after the meeting. This can help to ensure that everyone is on the same page and can provide a useful reference for follow-up discussions and tasks.

## Conclude with action items
Concluding a technical meeting with clear action items is essential for ensuring that the meeting is productive and that everyone leaves with a clear understanding of what needs to be done next. You can capture action items as a part of meeting notes.

To effectively conclude your technical meeting, start by summarizing the key takeaways and decisions that were made during the meeting. Be sure to highlight any critical action items that were identified, and assign ownership and deadlines for each item.

## Conclusion
As a general rule, it's important to schedule meetings only when they are absolutely necessary. Every minute spent in a meeting is a minute that could have been used to accomplish real work.

If you do decide to run a meeting, make sure to follow the tips outlined above to make it as efficient and productive as possible. This way, attendees can get the most out of it, and the meeting won't feel like a waste of time.