Given the meeting has acceptance criteria, when the last acceptance criteria is meet, then the meeting ends

In my last post, I talked about the utility of defining a meeting as a user story, using the classic ‘As a {who}, I want to {outcome} so that {purpose}’ to convey the meeting’s purpose for existing, what it should achieve, and who benefits. Leveraging this format clearly informs the audience of the important details and also
sets a clear vision for you as the meeting organizer.

We can take the analogy a step further and add an additional tool common to user stories - acceptance criteria. Just like in a user story, a meeting acceptance criteria defines the conditions for when the meeting is over. When all of the conditions have been met, the meeting is over. Too often, meetings run to fill the time allotted. Having clearly defined acceptance criteria for their ending gives a framework for the meeting leader or team to call the meeting early.

The format in which you write the acceptance criteria can vary. You can try the ‘Gerkin’ format like that I used above that follows the ‘Given - When - Then’ syntax. While this format works well for development user stories, I find it challenging to adapt for a meeting. Instead, I prefer to think of the acceptance criteria for a meeting like a checklist. Once each bullet in the checklist has been completed, the meeting can be considered done and the attendees can move on with their day.

Examples

Here are a few examples for a few common meetings:

Daily Standup

• Everyone has discussed their plan for the day
• All impediments that have been identified have a plan to discuss or resolve
• The sprint board has been updated to match the current state

Sprint Review

• Team shares the outcome of the sprint
• Any functional demos are shared
• Any feedback is captured or a plan for discussion has been agreed upon

One on One

• All current prerformance and improvement goals have been discussed
• Any feedback for maanger or team member has been shared

Final thoughts

Just as there are many ways to craft a user story, there are many ways to craft a meeting invite. Don’t get caught up in the nuances of the format, nor with following the analogy of a user story meeting to the full extent. The analogy itself should provide value, and so long as the acceptance criteria is clear and helps us determine if the meeting is over and if it completed its outcome, then the analogy has served its purpose.

If you haven’t tried this technique, test it out with your next meeting and see if it helps you convey the purpose and outcome to the meeting attendees, keeps the meeting on track, and provide a clear signal that it is over.