Leading Through Meetings: Sources & Further Reading

My tools and resources for leading through meetings have been influenced by my own experiences leading meetings and facilitating workshops for the last 15+ years. I learned these skills from other practitioners — many from former colleagues at Year Up United — and adapted through experience. Because of how I learned, and how facilitation practices naturally evolve through application, I am not always sure of the original source.

I’ve done my best to track down and link to as many original sources (or the best available, credible references) as I can. This list is still a work in progress, and I will continue updating it as I find better attribution. If you think I’ve missed attribution for anything in my library (or have a primary source for something listed here), please let me know at [email protected]!

Sources & Further Reading

Amazon's silent reading practice — The practice of opening meetings by reading a written memo together in silence before discussing. Levels the playing field and ensures everyone starts from the same information.
Bain & Company, RAPID Decision-Making Framework — A framework for clarifying who plays what role in a decision-making process. Referenced in the Getting Input or Feedback meeting design guide.
Liberating Structures — A collection of facilitation techniques designed to include every voice in a group. Includes patterns like silent reflection before discussion and structured small group engagement. While I have not used their resources directly, it would not surprise me if the people who taught me what I know used these resources. Learn more at: liberatingstructures.com
Malcolm Knowles, The Adult Learner & David Kolb, Experiential Learning — Adult learning theory and experiential learning. These ideas shape how I design meeting experiences: reflection, discussion, and application over passive information delivery. (Simply Psychology overview of Kolb | eLearning Industry overview of Knowles)
Michael Bungay Stanier, The Coaching Habit and The Advice Trap — On the power of asking open-ended questions before jumping in with advice. Directly relevant to asking open-ended questions as a meeting leader and the recommended structure for "Group Problem-Solving."
Plus/Delta — A simple feedback structure from Agile and Lean retrospective practices. "Plus" captures what worked; "Delta" captures what to change. Widely used in many organizations and contexts.
Dot voting (multivoting) — Commonly used facilitation technique for quickly prioritizing ideas generated in a group. Often associated with variations of multivoting/nominal group technique (NGT). See: ASQ: Multivoting and Delbecq, Van de Ven, and Gustafson’s Group Techniques for Program Planning (1975) (referenced in this NGT summary handout: Mass.gov : Nominal Group Technique).
Think-Pair-Share — Commonly attributed to Frank Lyman (University of Maryland) as a structured discussion routine designed to include more voices by giving people time to think individually, then in pairs, then share with the larger group. One commonly cited reference: Lyman, F. (1981). "The responsive classroom discussion" in Mainstreaming Digest (ed. A. Anderson).
Silence in meetings / silent reflection — Silence and solo reflection can improve participation and the quality of discussion (especially before group conversation begins). See: HBR: The Case for More Silence in Meetings
Common facilitation techniques (attribution unclear) — Some techniques referenced across my resources are widely used in facilitation and education, but I have not been able to find a clear original source. This includes techniques like a parking lot, gallery walks, small-group discussions/role-play, etc. I did not invent these, and I’ll continue updating this list if I find better attribution.
Frances Frei and Anne Morriss, Move Fast and Fix Things — This book influenced how I think about communicating change in meetings (including some of the framing used in the Inform (Update, Decision, Change) meeting design guide).
Robert "Cujo" Teschner on Coaching for Leaders, Episode 660: "How to Prevent a Team From Repeating Mistakes" — On debrief philosophy, avoiding the rush to judgment, and separating luck from process.

Something missing from this list? That was not my intent! Please let me know at [email protected]

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