Meetings are a bit like a thermometer. They help you evaluate how healthy your organization is, how well your organization is adopting new technology, and how easily you can scale.

Here are a few questions that can help you evaluate what meetings are revealing about your productivity and organizational health.

• How many meetings do you have per week to check in on progress?
• Do you use your 1-on-1s to discuss the progress of things?
• Do you have a way to check progress without adding a meeting to the calendar?
• How often do you have meetings to explain the process and what is expected from people?

Let’s discuss a few of those questions.

For instance, having too many check-in meetings can be a symptom of a few things, such as a lack of trust between the manager and the team, a lack of processes in place to guide the team and ensure they know what the expectations are, or even a lack of digitalization.

Companies may not be using technology to track progress and have to depend on meetings, but this is key.

Another example is the use of meetings to share information or updates where there is no collaboration between team members or stakeholders, but the only objective is to inform. Often, this is a symptom of bad habits and a lack of digitalization.

Sometimes, this implies that there are no processes in place to track “who has read it or watched it,” and meetings end up being the only way to do that. Even if that means that people are just “present” while doing other things during the meeting. This is so common that it has become normal.

In how many of your meetings today did you not say more than 2 words?

Another example is the constant use of meetings to share proposals, ideas, new designs, or new strategies, whether the goal is to get them approved, get feedback, or gather information from stakeholders. These meetings tend to be ineffective in a live format, as people usually need time to digest the information. Many negative things can happen as a result, but this is a symptom of a lack of trust, lack of digitalization, and lack of processes — to mention just a few.

If you have one or more progress check-in meetings for each of your projects, you probably can improve that.

Let’s discuss this on this video.

Running effective meetings is key for any organization, as well as for any leader or team member. Having the skills to lead meetings effectively is something all organizations highly value.

Leading a meeting is no longer limited to live traditional meetings but also includes asynchronous ones. Whether it’s a synchronous meeting or an asynchronous meeting, the ability to guide discussions, extract valuable insights, and drive progress is paramount. However, many organizations struggle to give their teams good guidelines so that they conduct meetings that truly serve their purpose. This often leads to waste, chaos, and repetition.

In fact, hundreds of people search online for good ways to lead their meetings.

In this blog post, we delve into the crucial aspects of leading meetings effectively, offering practical tips that go beyond the conventional advice found online. These insights are not just theoretical concepts; they are actionable guidelines that can be readily implemented by leaders and shared across their teams for immediate positive impact.

Meetings should be more than a routine exchange of information; they should serve as catalysts for progress, collective decision-making, and effective communication. While common tips such as setting agendas, having clear ground rules, and inviting feedback are valuable, they don’t encompass the fundamentals necessary to make a meeting truly productive.

We’ll explore “What to Do and What Not to Do During Meetings” first and we will share a quick framework with you right after.

Defining the Meeting Objective:

• Don’t: Start with your proposal or concept right away or go over the agenda without defining the objective of the meeting.
• Do: Clearly define the meeting’s objective, specifying what is needed from participants and why they are present.

Tailoring Information for Engagement:

• Don’t: Over explain or use industry jargon.
• Do: Provide concise, relevant information aligned with the meeting’s objective, ensuring engagement.

Taking Leadership in Meetings

• Don’t: Expect participants to start discussions after your presentation.
• Do: Lead the meeting actively, concluding explanations with questions that contribute to the meeting’s objective.

Asking Great Questions:

• Don’t: Settle for generic questions like “Do you have any questions or comments?”
• Do: Ask thought-provoking questions that elicit specific answers crucial for meeting objectives

The beauty of these guidelines lies in their simplicity and applicability. Leaders can easily share them with their teams, creating basic norms that drive effective meeting conduct.

By incorporating these principles into both synchronous and asynchronous meetings, teams can expect to improve productivity, engagement, and overall meeting outcomes.

Learn more here.

In progress

When it comes to running meetings, the usual advice about having an agenda, and letting people to ask you questions. While this is good — it might not be enough to truly make your meetings productive.

Meetings should help you make progress and collective decisions, but none of those tips really help you lead a meeting where you can shape how you will get the answers and knowledge you need to achieve the objective of the meeting. The tips below are good, but we can say that those are not the essential ones and will not help you achieve the objective of the meeting.

• Set a meeting agenda.
• Ensure someone leads the meeting.
• Get the right people to attend the meeting.
• Set meeting ground rules, like being on time.
• Ensure participants understand any jargon.
• Invite participants to ask questions or provide feedback.

While those tips are valuable, they don’t constitute the fundamental elements that truly make a meeting productive. They lack a comprehensive framework for the person leading the meeting to achieve the meeting’s objective.

Let’s break it down in simpler terms and discuss a few things that will actually lead your meetings productively. We managed to break it down into three main things.

1. Set Clear Goals, Not Just an Agenda

Instead of just having a to-do list (agenda), focus on what you really want to achieve in the meeting.

It’s about setting clear goals.

Yes, having an agenda is helpful, but the main thing is making sure you accomplish what you set out to do and ensuring everyone knows why they are there too.

“The objective of this meeting or session is to:___________”

1. review this design/initiative/concept
2. discuss this proposal/idea/concept
3. brainstorm about [what] and create a backlog of ideas for [what purpose]
4. share an update with you on [what] to achieve [what purpose]
5. review the finalized version of [what] and get this approved by [whom?]

“At the end of the meeting we will have/know/do ___________.”

2. Understand How Everyone Feels

Meetings are not just about talking points; they’re also about how people feel. If only a few people are actively participating and the rest are silent, it’s hard to know if you’re on the right track. Pay attention to emotions even in online meetings, and use them to guide your decisions.

• On a scale of one to ten, with ten indicating a great idea aligning with our current goals and constraints, how would you rate this idea/proposal/design?
• Do you think we are moving in the right direction?
• How do you feel about this topic? Is this a priority or important to you?

3. Ask Questions that Matter

It’s not just about asking people if they have questions!

If you’re leading the meeting, it’s your responsibility to get the information you need from them.

Prepare at least three questions for each meeting that will move things forward.

Discover the OFQ Framework.

OFQ Meeting framework — a simple yet powerful tool to transform your meetings into productive sessions.

It stands for Objective (what you want to achieve), Feelings (how do they feel about it), and Questions.

Let’s explore how this framework can elevate your meeting game in detail.

Understanding the OFQ Framework

Objective (O): Setting the Destination

The first pillar of the OFQ Framework is setting a clear Objective for your meeting. What’s the end goal? What are the expectations from participants? This clarity guides the entire meeting.

Feelings (F): Gauging the Atmosphere

Meetings are not just about ticking off tasks; they are about people. The ‘F’ in OFQ focuses on Feelings. Pay attention to the emotional undertones during discussions. Are people excited, confused, or disengaged? Are you moving in the right direction?

Understanding the emotional pulse helps you steer the meeting effectively and get a better understanding of people’s priorities, but especially get a sense of whether you are moving in the right direction or not.

We all have different ways to read people, and not everyone is easy to read, so ask them. Ask them how they feel about your proposal? Or ask them if they think you are moving in the right direction.

Questions (Q): The Catalyst for Progress

As the meeting leader, your responsibility is not just to present information but to extract valuable insights and achieve the objective of the meeting. Prepare at least three questions for each meeting — questions that propel the discussion forward, clarify doubts, and gather diverse perspectives.

One of the key ways for you to increase productivity and get more time to get things done is not depending so much on meetings for collaboration and decision-making, and moving some of your meetings asynchronously.

But…

What meetings should you move async?

Which ones tend to be easy to move?

Which ones tend to be more difficult?

This is the continuation of the previous video. In here we share with you how you can move your informative meetings asynchronously because these meetings tend to be quite easy to move to asynchronous formats. So it’s a good way to start. You only need a tool like Loom or some video recording platform.

In the video, we also show you how you can track who has read the information or watched your video so you have the certainty that they are informed. We show you how you can do that with a tool like Nova (for our users) but you can also use your own tool if you have something similar.

In here we walk you through the best way to move your meetings asynchronously. Not only informative meetings but all types of meetings.

• Brainstorming meetings
• Feedback Meetings
• Design and Project Reviews
• Check-in meetings
• Meetings to get something approved
• Stakeholder meetings, etc

As you probably already know, whether you are a follower or a Nova user, the secret sauce for running productive meetings and improving the way you collaborate lies in asking good and thought-provoking questions. If you haven’t already read this post, we recommend doing so before proceeding with this one, or you can save it for later. The post explains a simple and applicable framework that will help you run meetings effectively.

To emphasize its importance, at Nova, it is considered a must-read. Anyone starting to work here needs to follow that framework and adapt it to their personal style overtime.

In general, questions aim to:

1. Generate curiosity in the listener.
2. Stimulate reflective conversation.
3. Be thought-provoking.
4. Surface underlying assumptions.
5. Explore how different perspectives can be applied.
6. Discuss risks.
7. Invite creativity and new possibilities.
8. Generate energy.
9. Channel attention.
10. Touch deep meaning.
11. Evoke more questions.

These are just a few reasons highlighting the importance of questions.

Here, we want to go a bit more in-depth on why this is important.

Sometimes we see how teams ask questions during meetings so that people agree with them, but what we want with these questions is, in a sense, a bit of the opposite. We want to ensure the team brings their experience, knowledge, and ideas to the table. We want to tap into their knowledge! We want them to question and challenge what “we” are mentioning so that we can — together — build better products, better strategies, better businesses,…

“Avoid asking questions that encourage pure agreement and ask questions that encourage people to think, to question what you are saying, and to explore the “concept or problem” from their unique perspective.” — Ro Fernandez

With this post (and all our posts on our blog), our team wants to give you the tools, knowledge, questions, and frameworks so that you can lead any meeting or conversation with stakeholders and:

1. Tap into everyone’s knowledge and experience to make better-informed decisions.
2. Save time.
3. Find all the gaps, constraints, problems, and issues with what you are presenting so you can improve it — but reducing the amount of conversations and revisions you currently have.
4. Avoid making people feel like they have to agree with you and be the one who encourages them to disagree and feel comfortable with healthy conflict.
5. Create a culture where meetings and asynchronous sessions are designed for progress. If the meeting hasn’t ended with a new decision, new knowledge, or clear steps to move forward, it’s probably not a good meeting.

In a way, this is the result of “thinking as a team” or collective thinking. Many organizations since the pandemic talk about collaboration and collective knowledge, but a few really think collectively. There are multiple reasons why organizations fail at really “team collaboration,” but one of them is how meetings are run.

In general terms, meetings follow a lot of the systems from our early education and old school “management and leadership “— where the person leading the meeting/class will share information with everyone else. Everyone else will listen, and the person leading the meetings will finalize the meeting by asking “do you have any comments or questions?”

In this scenario, the main skills the person leading the meeting or class needed were good presentation skills (storytelling) and good skills at creating a good PowerPoint presentation (or similar).

It was, in a way, assumed that the person leading the meeting was right. Everyone there was there to listen, learn, and/or execute the plan. That is far from what we want today, especially in the knowledge workers and specialist industry, where everyone brings a different perspective, knowledge, and experience, and we want to ensure we are thinking and making decisions as a collective (team).

Of course, to keep things organized and have multiple projects and things going, people are assigned to work and they tend to be the ones leading a meeting, but NOT with the intention to bring “the final solution to the table” (with exceptions: approval sessions). Instead, they want to bring a very well-formed solution (idea, proposal, strategy, design, plan…) to the table but knowing that it is going to be missing things and is inviting certain team members and stakeholders to complete it and have a more complete perspective.

Our CEO, Ro Fernandez, always says that “without people’s perspectives, we don’t know if our reality is real.”

“There is no truth, there is only perception — and our individual perception is too small and constrained, so we have to invite people to share their perspectives, knowledge, and ideas and listen them with admiration and curiosity so that we have somewhat access to a more “complete” reality” — Ro Fernandez.

So in this post we’ll go over our master list. Our list includes key thought-provoking and powerful questions.

All these questions are organized keeping in mind the most common flow for how teams and stakeholders start a discussion, share ideas, and end up with a solution or agreement that is, in some way, approved by all.

Something like this: The realization of a problem, Challenge or pain, First discussion, Ideation or Brainstorming, Contemplation of alternatives, Evaluation, Approval, Planning, Execution and tracking and Retrospective

We will start with ideation and brainstorming.

Ideation or Brainstorming.

At this early stage where new ideas are welcome, and you are still trying to find fresh ideas and improve the current ones, you need to lead the discussion by asking questions that encourage people to share more ideas, to think about things to add or remove from the current idea, and also to get a sense of how everyone perceives the current idea and how they feel about prioritizing it.

Feeling

• On a scale of one to five, with five indicating a “great idea” aligning with [our current goals and constraints], how would you rate this idea?
• Please use/select an emoji to indicate how you feel about this idea. Are we moving in the right direction?
• What had real meaning for you from what you’ve heard? What surprised you? What challenged you?
• Please help us understand how you feel and perceive this idea. On a scale of one to five, with five indicating a “great idea” and meaning that we should [prioritize to continue to discover more and finalize this idea]
• Based on the key highlights of this idea, and considering that we still have to _____, would you say that based on what we know, we are moving in the right direction? On a scale of one to five, with five indicating that we are moving in the right direction.
• Based on the key highlights of this idea, and considering that our main objective is ___ and that our main constraint is ___, how do you feel about this idea? Select an emoji.
• How confident do you feel about the feasibility of implementing this idea? (On a scale of one to five)
• On a personal level, how aligned do you feel with this idea and its objectives? Please use an emoji to indicate how you feel about this idea.
• What are your initial thoughts on this topic, and do you have any ideas to contribute?
• What’s important to you about (your specific situation) and why do you care?
• How much positive impact do you feel…?

Questions

• What aspects of this idea do you find most appealing or exciting?
• Are there any concerns or reservations you have about this idea that we should address?
• Do you see any potential challenges or obstacles that we need to overcome for this idea to be successful?
• Can you share any specific examples or experiences that influence your perception of this idea?
• What do you think are the potential positive impacts of implementing this idea?
• How does this idea align with our organizational values and mission?
• Are there any alternative approaches or modifications to this idea that you would suggest?
• Considering your role and expertise, do you foresee any practical issues in implementing this idea?
• How can we improve it? If you could wish for anything, what would it be? Use the framework: “I wish …”. Please add your wishes on sticky notes.
• Are there any things we should avoid, and why?
• Keeping our constraints and requirements in mind [a], [b], and [c], what would you add or remove from this initial idea?
• When looking at this [idea/proposal], what’s the first thing that comes to mind? What do you wonder about? What have you heard others are doing that could inspire our team? Finish this sentence: “What if…” (Optional)
• Overall, how do you think we should proceed with this [idea/proposal]?
• In your opinion, what aspects of our current approach could be enhanced or modified?
• Can you share an example from your experience that might inspire a new perspective on this issue?
• How can we build upon existing ideas to make them even more impactful? Please share at least a new suggestion or idea on a sticky note. Add one idea/suggestion per sticky note.
• Are there any unconventional or out-of-the-box ideas that you believe could benefit the discussion?
• What improvements or innovations would you propose to address the challenges we’re currently facing?
• If you were in charge, what changes or initiatives would you implement to improve our current situation?
• How can we leverage emerging trends or technologies to enhance our approach?
• Do you have any suggestions for streamlining our processes or making them more efficient?
• Are there any successful strategies from other industries that we could adapt to our context?
• What should we add or improve? Do you have any additional ideas or recommendations? Please add one idea per sticky note.
• How useful and important do you consider this [proposal, idea, ..]?
• What potential factors or obstacles could lead to delays in the project timeline?
• What opportunities can you see in (your specific situation)?
• Are there contingency plans in place to mitigate delays if they occur?
• What alternative projects or opportunities could we potentially forego by investing in this initiative?
• How might we…?
• How does this initiative align with our long-term strategic goals and objectives?
• What assumptions and/or beliefs are we holding that are key to the conversation we are having here?
• What assumptions do we need to test/validate or challenge here in thinking about (your specific situation)?

Multi-concept/idea discussion.

This meeting can have a research purpose, or sometimes the person leading the meeting wants to show a few options to:

1. Understand which option seems to be what users, the team, and/or stakeholders would want and, at the same time, understand why.
2. Better understand the problem by understanding people’s preferences and what they will prioritize.
3. Better understand what requirements or characteristics are essential about the solution, idea, or proposal.

Just to mention a few.

Understanding Preferences and Needs:

• While this is the first option, and I have [a few/one more] option(s) to show you, I would like to get a sense of how you feel about this option. If 5 was a symbol of excellence, how would you rate this option?

— Continue with: Please provide information about what could be improved if you have selected anything below 5 or help us understand what makes it a great option.

— Continue with: What if [add constraint] would that change your answer? Would anything have to change?

• Now that we’ve looked at the first option, let’s explore the next one. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being excellent, how would you rate this option?

— Considering this option, what aspects do you find particularly effective, and are there any areas you believe could be enhanced?

• Which option resonates most with your preferences or needs?

— continue with: Can you articulate why a particular option appeals to you or aligns with your preferences?

• What’s the best thing about …? What’s the worst about…? Do you think you were prepared for both the best and worst during…?
• What disadvantages have you found occur when…? Were there any negatives that outshone the positives?
• Are there specific features/ideas within these options that you find particularly appealing? Are there specific features/ideas within these options that you find particularly problematic?
• How do you foresee the proposed options fitting into your workflow or daily tasks? What do you think you will have to change, remove, add, improve or prepare?
• In your opinion, what specific changes or enhancements could elevate this option to a higher rating?
• Now, let’s introduce a hypothetical constraint. If [add constraint], would your rating for this option change? What adjustments would be necessary? How does the introduction of [add constraint] impact your perception of this option, and does it alter any aspects you find crucial?
• As we move through different options, keep in mind your rating for the previous one. How does this option compare, and what distinguishes it positively or negatively?
• In comparing this option to the previous one, do you notice any trends or patterns that stand out?
• What alternative projects or opportunities could we potentially forego by investing in this initiative?
• How does this initiative align with our long-term strategic goals and objectives?
• What opportunities can you see?

Problem Understanding and Prioritization:

• Which things/characteristics/features would you “keep” from the alternative options that you haven’t selected as your favorite? Would you add those to the option you have selected? Tell us more! We want to ensure we are not eliminating good ideas just because things were deviated that way when we were thinking and exploring options.
• Considering these options, what challenges or issues do you foresee?
• Which aspects of the problem do you believe these options address most effectively?
• If you had to prioritize, which elements/characteristics or features would you consider most crucial in addressing the problem? (select/mention [2–5 max])
• Can you identify any trade-offs or compromises that might be necessary in choosing one option over another?

Identifying Essential Requirements or Characteristics:

• What are the must-have features or characteristics that you think any viable solution should possess?
• How do these options align with the key requirements or characteristics you consider essential?
• Are there specific criteria you would prioritize when evaluating these options?
• Can you highlight any potential gaps or shortcomings in the proposed solutions concerning essential requirements?
• What is the allocated budget for this initiative, and are there any constraints or flexibility?
• How can we optimize costs without compromising the quality or functionality?

Evaluation.

Evaluation meetings aim to evaluate a proposal, idea, concept, or strategy to mitigate risks and overall evaluate the options (details). In this stage, the person leading the meeting is NO longer asking for additional ideas, and the objective is to improve the idea and start evaluating what could go wrong so they can finalize all the details. For this type of meeting, consider questions such as:

• Are there any risks or considerations? Are there specific limitations or constraints to keep in mind during the review?
• While considering [specific use case] and prioritizing [specific feature/design/project] in this [design/proposal/etc], have we taken into account extreme or unique use cases that our [product/business] often encounters?
• When assessing the usability of this [design/proposal…] and the user’s journey to accomplish [specific task], can you identify potential gaps or risks?
• Can you think of any technical limitations or complications that could limit or could add delays to our plan? We have considered already the following ____.
• Is there anything that could be changed or removed to reduce costs or simplify the implementation and distribution phases? e) How confident are you that this will work?
• How difficult is this to implement? What is the effort, and what is the expected benefit?
• What assumptions and/or beliefs are we holding that are key to the conversation we are having here?
• What assumptions do we need to test/validate or challenge here in thinking about (your specific situation)?
• Are there any unspoken fears, concerns, or worries that, if left unaddressed, could become significant issues later on?
• Let’s say that hypothetically we had to change [ x ] for [y] to [reduce costs/increase velocity/because of tech limitations]. Would that change how you feel about the solution? Would that change things? If so, what would have to change to still be as good of a solution? If these changes will not mean anything to you or any of the other use cases, then please mention that.
• What question, if answered, could make the most difference to the future of (your specific situation)?
• How do you think (the situation) relates or causes…? What are some of the consequences of (your specific situation)?
• Let’s say that we could finish this a few weeks early, and we could implement something to improve it. Which of the following options will you choose? (only 1)
• Think about all our user types and use cases. Would this solution affect [user type], and [user type]? Is there anything we should know, or are we missing something? Is there anything we should exclude? Why?
• While considering [specific use case] and prioritizing [specific feature/design/project] in this [design/proposal/etc], have we taken into account extreme or unique use cases that our [product/business] often encounters?
• How would you define success? Since the definition of success may vary, sharing your perspective or using emojis to react to others’ definitions can help us arrive at a comprehensive definition that aligns with everyone’s needs and expectations.
• What conditions must be met, and what resources will we need to succeed?
• What is convenient or how can we leverage existing resources to make this more efficient? Are there any untapped opportunities within this [strategy, proposal, ..]?
• What impact do you anticipate this proposal having on our stakeholders, both internally and externally?
• How does this idea contribute to our long-term vision and mission?
• What could we improve, change, remove to ensure the user/client achieves their goal faster [Goal/Problem]?
• What can we improve, change, remove, stop doing, or add to reduce costs and inefficiencies?
• Based on this new [proposal/implementation/design…], we will have [things changing]. These changes can [what?]. Do you have any ideas on how to improve it?
• This new [proposal/idea/changes/strategy/design…] will impact the following people: a) Team: [How? What changes for them?] b) Clients: [How? What changes for them?] c) Influencers and Partners: [How? What changes?] Is there anything we are missing, or we should do or stop doing to ensure we successfully [what?]
• Are there any unspoken fears, concerns, or even a weird intuition that is making you feel like we are missing something or this can’t work? If so, please spend a few minutes trying to tap into that feeling and find out as much as possible what’s wrong and what can we do.
• What haven’t we evaluated or know enough about? Should we pause this until we know more about it, or should we validate what we know with this initiative?
• Help me get a sense of how you would evaluate this proposal [design/strategy/proposal] by rating it from one to 5, with five being a symbol of excellence.
• During this meeting, I have mentioned a few characteristics that I want to run by you so you can help me prioritize. The goal really is to have a more complete perspective of which are the priorities and must-haves. Here are the [##] characteristics mentioned. Which three are a must-have, and removing them will make this proposal [idea/design/strategy] useless?
• Additional considerations: Based on our budget, we have left [A] and [B] as things that could be implemented or evaluated in the future. We have evaluated the costs for [A or B], and it will [increase/reduce…], so if finished a few days earlier than expected, we could implement. If given that situation and knowing that by doing so we can expect to see the following results [1/2/3], would you approve this additional concept?

Risk Mitigation:

• What potential risks do you foresee with this proposal, and how can we proactively mitigate them?
• Are there any vulnerabilities or weak points in the strategy that need to be addressed?
• What considerations should be taken into account during the production phase?
• How can we optimize shipping logistics to ensure timely delivery and customer satisfaction?

Feasibility and Practicality:

• From a practical standpoint, how feasible is the implementation of this idea or strategy?
• Are there any logistical challenges or resource constraints that might impact its execution?
• What is the expected lifespan or durability of the product/service?
• Are there plans in place for maintenance, updates, or potential product iterations?

Connecting Ideas.

• What’s taking shape? What are you hearing underneath the variety of opinions? What are you hearing underneath the variety of opinions being expressed? What’s in the center of the table?
• What’s emerging here for you? What new concepts or connections are you making? What do we need more clarity about?
• What questions are we not asking ourselves about the situation? What’s missing from this picture so far? What is it we’re not seeing (thinking)?
• What had real meaning for you from what you’ve heard? What surprised you? What challenged you?

Tools and Templates

Tool #1

OFQ Idea Feedback: Template for live or async meeting that follows the OFQ framework for productive meetings. Encourages you to define the objective of the meeting, evaluate how participants feel about the idea, and then ask questions to ultimately encourage participants and stakeholders to make your idea/proposal better. Included questions like:

• What do you think about the idea?
• Any additional ideas? How can we improve it? If you could wish for anything, what would it be?
• Any risks or considerations? Are there any things we should avoid, and why?
• How much does this idea/proposal contribute to our goal? 1= doesn’t contribute / 5 = this idea is critical/important

OFQ Problem assessment: Template for live or async meeting that follows the OFQ framework for productive meetings. Encourages you to define the objective of the meeting, and lead the discussion to ultimately gain more insights about the “problem” or pain. Included questions like:

• How would you define the problem?
• What would you say is the root of the problem? What are the 2–3 main symptoms of the problem?
• What assumptions and/or beliefs are we holding that are key to the conversation we are having here?
• What would have to be true for this to actually solve the problem?

Tool #3

OFQ Evaluating multiple ideas/proposals: Template for live or async meeting that follows the OFQ framework for productive meetings. Helps you discuss multiple options and ideas with participants and stakeholders to ultimately better understand the problem and everyone’s preferences.

• Proposal 1. How do you feel about this proposal? What do you think?
• Proposal 1: What are the two things you like about this proposal? What are the things you are not sure about or could recommend avoiding?
• What’s the best thing about all of these proposals? Choose 2. [Provide options]

Tool #4

Idea Feedback: A simple way to share an idea or proposal with the team and stakeholders and get a sense if you are moving in the right direction or not, if you should pivot or change it, and if there are any other ideas or suggestions to improve it. Also, let’s people ask questions.

Tool #5

ICE Proposal Feedback: Simple way to discuss a proposal, idea or strategy, based on their relative value, using three parameters: Impact, Confidence, and Ease. Used often by Product Managers.

• How much does this idea/proposal contribute to our goal?
• How confident are you that this will work?
• How hard is this to implement? What is the effort?

Learn more here.