Pomodoro meeting

While reading a blog post by my Crisp colleague Anders Laestadius I remembered a meeting type I tried a few years ago. We called it “Pomodoro meeting” since it was timeboxed to 25 minutes, just as the time management technique Pomodoro.

This is how it was conducted:

  1. The facilitator, usually the one calling the meeting, outlines the purpose of the meeting and the expected outcome.
  2. Someone, usually the facilitator, gives a short presentation of the facts and checks with the group if the information is enough to continue the meeting.
  3. Then follows a discussion where all participants are invited to speak.
  4. The facilitator is, during the meeting, writing down and updating proposed decisions, preferably on a whiteboard so everyone can see. Those notes are continuously updated and removed during the discussion.
  5. The facilitator stops the discussion shortly before 25 minutes have passed and asks if everyone can agree on the proposed decisions and who is to be assigned to which task. If we don’t have a decision the facilitator asks if more information is needed or if a new meeting is needed. If a new meeting is needed, a time for that is then decided.
  6. The meeting is closed, at least for this time.
Pomodoro timer

This proved to be a great form of meeting for decisions. If the purpose of the meeting is for information or brain storming there are probably better forms.

Good luck
/Tomas Björkholm

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