Ah, meetings; the cornerstone of ‘getting things done as a project team’.
We’ve all suffered them, besieged with missing agendas, hidden agendas, collective procrastination and musings of “Why am I here?”, all topped off with meaningless minutes; they’re making it up as they go along.
Feeling some PTSD? Use MONTY! Analysis to effectively focus meetings.
Simple and versatile, this technique works in a variety of situations: it can help formulate business strategy and tactics, facilitate the purpose of a workshop, assist in resolving a discrete problem area, plan a project or even provide structure to brainstorming.
Let’s take a look at the MONTY! components:
- Mission – Where is it that you want to get to?
- Objectives – Which objectives must be achieved to support the mission?
- Needs – What needs to be delivered to achieve the objective?
- Tasks – Who will do what by when to implement the need?
- Yes! – How will you know when you’ve achieved the mission and objectives?
For the analysis process to be successful, carefully scope the purpose of the analysis and ensure all five components align and are supportive: a clear and unambiguous mission statement provides the foundation to define objectives to achieve that purpose. A set of needs must be identified that accomplish each objective, with specific tasks and activities identified to deliver every need. Lastly, critical success factors per objective will ensure explicit agreement of what constitutes success.
OMBA Tip
If you’re not responsible for the planning or leading of a particular discussion, use the technique in stealth mode: scribe notes in line with MONTY! to consolidate thinking and formulate ideas that can help steer proceedings.