What is a FAST meeting?
Using the FAST method to run consistently better meetings

For the past 7 years, we have been investigating why so many organisations have poor meeting habits, get inconsistent results and waste massive amounts of time, effort and money in bad meetings.

Then recently at a health and wellness presentation, the speaker reminded me of the benefits of deep belly breathing. In an instant, I saw how meetings are like breathing. Both occur habitually and without need of any training. However, greater mindfulness and simple technique improvements can create new habits and better results. In the case of deep belly breathing this leads to improved health & vitality, and in the case of meetings this leads to a more dynamic and high performing culture.

So what meeting technique or method can you introduce in your organisation that will lead to better meeting habits and higher performance?

The FAST structure for conducting meetings provides such a method. Let’s look at what a FAST Meeting is, and how it can be used to improve the overall performance of your organisation by running consistently productive meetings.

What is a FAST meeting?

A FAST meeting is a method for running good meetings. Once learned, it requires little effort to apply, and creates great leverage in being able to improve your meeting effectiveness. As a tool, it can be carried around in your head, providing colleagues with a common language and frame of reference to enable more co-ordinated and aligned action in meetings.

First and foremost, the FAST process is common sense. Think about any productive meeting you have been to. It starts with a well thought out and clearly stated purpose. It continues with good quality conversation and dialogue, which generates practical insights or innovative ideas. Next, ideas are brought together and a decision or priority is agreed upon. And before people leave, it is clear who is going to do what.

F = Focus

A = Awareness

S = Solution

T = Traction 

Each stage can be conducted mindfully, and with simple improvements, to generate more consistent and effective results in all meetings, from staff and team meetings to client meetings and strategic project meetings.

F = Focus

The Focus stage involves having a clear purpose and desired outcomes for the meeting. It also involves getting everyone focussed, so there is engagement and buy-in from the outset. This should take approximately 10% of the meeting time. The skill of the meeting leader in framing the meeting up front is a simple, high leverage opportunity to improve Focus.

Often meetings are held without the purpose being clearly stated. For example, the purpose of regular weekly or monthly meetings is assumed but not communicated. Each regular meeting should have a specific purpose given the changing context and priorities within the organisation at the current time.

Team meetings often have too many different purposes in the one meeting and this can diffuse the focus.  Poor communication at the beginning of a meeting makes it less likely that participants will feel engaged or understand the relevance of the meeting purpose. This misses an opportunity to get off to a strong start.

A = Awareness

The Awareness stage involves facilitating an engaging, robust dialogue that involves everyone present and draws out all the information relevant to the Focus. It should generate key insights and innovation, and enable greater understanding about the topic at hand.  It should take approximately 50 – 60 % of the available time. The ability of all participants in the meeting to ask powerful, penetrating questions, and engage in deeper levels of dialogue are opportunities to improve the Awareness stage.

To be effective in this stage it’s important to allow time for the issue to be fully explored and avoid looking for solutions prematurely. Where many groups believe spending time on solutions will deliver best value, it has been proven that understanding the problem more thoroughly often leads naturally to a higher leverage and more sustainable solution.

In many meetings, discussions fall into patterns of behaviour that emulate the wider culture of the organisation. Politics or power can be seen in action, information is withheld or distorted or people’s inputs are valued differently. Conversations can drift off on tangents, or take much longer than planned in the agenda. And the larger the group, the harder it is to have everyone actively involved. Often it is in the Awareness stage when energy and engagement start to wane and people become distracted or frustrated.

S = Solution

The Solution stage involves making a conscious switch from exploring the topic, to bringing the matter to a conclusion. It is an opportunity to be transparent about how a decision or priority can be agreed, and ensure that decisions are supported by everyone present, even if a consensus is not possible.

The switch to Solution stage should occur roughly 2/3 of the way through the available time and should take about 10 – 20 % of the time. The ability of meeting leaders to use transparent decision making processes is vitally important in this stage.

Many meeting leaders do not make a clear transition at an appropriate time to the Solution stage. Some organisations habitually switch too early in their rush for a solution, and so decisions are ill informed, or meetings become confused as they flip back and forth between Solution and Awareness. Other organisations leave this stage too late and rush to a conclusion when time is almost up, leading to unclear decisions that are not owned or understood by all participants.

T = Traction

The Traction stage identifies clearly understood actions and accountabilities that will guide sustainable action after the meeting. It is the time when clarity and commitment can be tested to ensure people are on board with what they will do.

This stage should take 10 – 20 % of the time, and it represents a natural transition that flows from the agreed Solution. The skill of meeting leaders to confirm and test clarity and commitment, as well as to seek opportunities for co-ordination and support of activity, can make a real difference to Traction.

In most meetings, people turn up at the start with full To Do lists, yet it is expected that when they leave with more actions, things will get done. Too often, actions are noted that people are either not committed to doing, do not fully understand, or don’t have the time and resources to enact.

One of the greatest failings in most meetings is they fail to generate consistent, sustained follow through. This is a failing not just of the Traction stage, but of all the previous stages if they have not created focus, energy and commitment amongst participants to work towards worthwhile and productive outcomes.

Summary

The FAST method for running consistently better meetings is an easy to use tool.

It can help you and your colleagues learn simple techniques that enable new habits to form, leading to consistently better meetings that can breathe more life and dynamic energy into your organisation for higher performance.

Next steps

To learn the techniques that are outlined in each of the 4 stages, the FAST Meetings System provides a series of on-line or workshop bases modules.

Or as a current facilitator or competent meeting leader, you can participate in an advanced program to become an Accredited FAST Facilitator™. This will enable you to run complex meetings such as strategic planning, project design or multi-stakeholder collaboration meetings and deliver strong outcomes.

by David Pointon - FAST Meetings

Contact FAST Meetings today to find out more about how to implement the FAST Meetings System into your organisation.