Very often organizational re-occurring meetings can fall into the trap of business as usual. Such is the weekly meeting. A habitual event we do just because. In Danis Red Cross Youth a group of project managers decided to re-think the weekly meeting. By changing the format, reducing its length and rotating responsibilities, they created a new concept for the meeting.

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The challenge

The project managers met every week. The length of the meeting was flexible, it was random who would lead the meeting and those who had something to say would voice it when they felt it was their turn. At the core was a frustration that too little got done in too much time.

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‍Our approach

The concept for the weekly meeting were re-formulated. What would make it important for the project managers to meet on a regular basis? What questions would they need everyone’s input on? How could the meeting be facilitated in a way where everyone would feel both valued and inspired by each other? After three design meetings and a handful of tested prototypes the new concepts was ready.

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‍The solution

The purpose of the weekly meeting became to share knowledge and prioritize joint actions. Maximum 2 hours, a 1 x 1½ meter visual template and a guidebook to help anyone facilitate the meeting. Each participant is to come prepared with post it notes and takes turns to briefly present them and add them to their personal space on the template.

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“Working visually with our weekly meeting at the time, helped change our meeting culture. It became more focused and valuable for the participants".

Sine Egede, former project leader at Danish Red Cross Youth