Meetings. Can’t get enough of them. Sometimes they can be a waste of time, but it is possible for meetings to be efficient, productive and enjoyable(!). From my experience, the following can help:
- Invite the minimum of people necessary
- Put together a realistic agenda and stick to it!
- Encourage attendees to prepare for the meeting
- Be inclusive
- Keep things moving (and focussed)
- Only cover topics that require a meeting
- Ensure decisions made are and action plans are put in place
- Have some interesting/yummy food
Due to the scale of the trip we were planning, several logistics meetings were necessary. Here’s a summary of our meetings for the NZ trip:
Meeting 1 – 12th June – course logistics
The first meeting was primarily to finalise the course details.
See previous blog post for details: https://beanie-grant.unswoc.org/2019/11/25/meeting-1-12th-june/
Meeting 2 – 9th July – gear/snow trips/flights
By this point, we had been emailed an information pack about the course which included a gear list so we spent some time going through that. We also decided on a weekend to go to the snow and had further discussions about when to fly to NZ.
Meeting 3 – 3rd September – snow trip/expectations
Our third meeting was the longest and most intense meeting! It consisted of two distinct sections:
1.Logistics meeting for blue lake trip
Our blue lake trip was complicated by the weather and slight pressure to open it up as a club trip. In the end we decided that it would be much more beneficial not to open it up as a club trip – it meant we had more time and energy to use the time to prepare for the course in NZ and therefore get more out of the course which we are able to share afterwards.
2. Discussion of trip expectations
Three months out is the time to start doing activity specific training, so we wanted to check in on each other. It had also come to some people’s attention that everyone’s expectations for the course were likely different – understanding everyone’s goals/motivations was essential for the success of the trip.
When mountaineering, ideally you are climbing with someone you’re comfortable with, so around the time of our 3rd meeting pairings for the course were determined. This allowed enough time for planning and preparation among each pair.
Meeting 4 – 3rd December – gear check
We had one final meeting before jetting off to New Zealand in order to double check that we had all the necessary gear. Car logistics and people’s insurance plans were also discussed.
Meeting 5 – TBC
Once everyone’s back in Sydney we’ll have a debrief meeting to reflect upon the trip – what went well, what we learnt, how we can effectively share our newfound knowledge with the club and where our next adventures will be!