Do you hate meetings? Does your staff dread them even more? It doesn't have to be that way. As a leadership coach, nonprofit consultant, and former association executive director, I've spent a lot of time in meetings—both productive and useless, boring and stimulating. What makes the difference? It's not the agenda; it's the set-up: setting expectations, providing focus, and defining follow-through.

When you align these elements, you supercharge your meetings—whether they're of the one-on-one, team, department, all-staff, committee, or board variety. An effective way to accomplish this is to use the GOALS-IQ template.

GOALS-IQ meetings highlight GOals, Accomplishments, Looking Ahead, and Strategies, while focusing on Interesting Questions. What kinds of IQs? Those that require discussion, data, or analysis to provide thoughtful answers.

This approach helps solve a variety of common management challenges. For example, one of my coaching clients complained that her staff failed to contribute to meetings beyond reporting, and other staff did not appear to be listening. Another client wanted his staff to stop asking questions one by one in emails. A third client hated drafting staff evaluations because neither she nor her staff tracked annual goals or accomplishments throughout the year.

GOALS-IQ helps address all three issues. As a living document, continually updated, the template guides meeting preparation and participation and clarifies expectations. It sets the stage for meaningful discussion andevaluation.

Using the Template

The GOALS-IQ template is simple. Each goal is listed above three columns: Accomplishments, Looking Ahead, and Strategies. Beneath these columns are the Interesting Questions that apply to each goal.

Here's a sample:

MEETING GOALS-IQ* Goals, Accomplishments, Looking Ahead, Strategies, Interesting Questions
GOAL # 1: Grow membership by 5 percent in 2016.
Accomplishments	Looking Ahead (Next Steps)	Strategies
Personal letters signed by President and board members sent to all non-renewing members by 3/31.	Evaluate percentage renewing vs. renewal rate from typical email follow up and compare impact of President/chair vs. other board members. (by 5/1). Evaluate impact on nonrenewing member renewal rate in same geographic area or specialty. (by 5/8) Consider calling nonrenewing members. (Q2) Consider member-get-a-member campaign, premium, and costs. (Q3) Consider Facebook and LinkedIn outreach to potential members. (Q4)	Personalized outreach to increase retention and new membership Social media to identify, expand outreach to new members
INTERESTING QUESTIONS:
What is the cost compared to expected/actual return on investment (ROI)? What resources are required to call nonrenewing members? Who writes script and answers for likely questions? Can calls be made by elected leadership or other member volunteers? By all or specific staff? By a call center? How much would a pilot effort cost? When is the best time for implementation, such as: A one-day or one-week outreach? Three months after first renewal notice is sent? One month after receipt of first renewal notice? What metrics would make approaches worth repeating?

With this format, the goal reminds meeting participants whythe organization is planning an event, producing a publication, developing an online educational series, or adding a new member benefit. For example, the goal may be to increase membership, increase revenue, or promote industry standards. Examining related activities beneath the Goals umbrella ensures that related, completed activities are noted as accomplishments and get their due.

The Looking Ahead columnensures that accomplishments don't exist in a vacuum. Before there are any accomplishments related to a new goal, Looking Ahead describes the action plan succinctly. As the plan is implemented, the Accomplishments column is updated to note progress, and Looking Ahead lists next steps.

The Strategies column might, for example, note that the activity or approach is aimed at enhancing the membership value proposition or filling a gap in the marketplace. A complex plan with multiple steps might have many minor accomplishments tracked between meetings.

As accomplishments grow, the Looking Ahead column might remind users of the need to conduct an evaluation and ask: Did it work? Was there an implementation problem? A strategic error? An example of the latter could be discovering that there was no gap in the marketplace and that market research failed to detect an already established, better resourced competitor.

Don't let announcements and reporting substitute for meaningful interactions at meetings that further engagement.

Beneath the three columns for Accomplishments, Looking Ahead, and Strategies lie the IQs, which orient participants where to focus before, during, and after the meeting. Such questions might include: What are metrics for success? What resources are needed for implementation? What new strategy might be considered and how—through environmental scans, surveys, focus groups, or strategic planning?

Requiring only brief, bulleted items makes completing and updating the template quick and easy. Using bold or color on successive iterations highlights what is new and identifies progress and what needs attention. Linking questions, goals, and next steps to timelines promotes accountability. Difficulty meeting deadlines or quality standards may identify coaching or training needs.

Replacing Agendas with GOALS-IQ

Agendas are boring. Worse, they don't do what they purport to do: Tell people what to expect and how to prepare. Meetings can update participants on what is new, changing, or evolving, when those things need explanation. Otherwise, a memo will do.

Meetings should address what staff need to discuss and what they want to contribute or where they need help. So instead of circulating an agenda, detail the IQs on the GOALS-IQ template and share before the meeting to spotlight the expected focus. Signaling that additional questions are welcome helps prepare attendees to participate further.

Using the template at the meeting, presenters at GOALS-IQ meetings showcase for staff, volunteers, or boards what the organization is doing. Everyone is invited to discuss the why, when, and how.

Can this technique work in one-on-one meetings? Yes. The GOALS-IQ template helps track individual accomplishments and new ideas as they relate to organizational goals and strategies.

Of course, many association professionals already focus on goals, accomplishments, next steps, strategies, and interesting questions—just not typically at every meeting. Don't let announcements and reporting substitute for meaningful interactions at meetings that further engagement.

With the GOALS-IQ framework, staff will connect strategy to goals, accomplishments to evaluation, and plans and questions to learning. Eventually, interesting questions will share the spotlight with celebrations of success and appreciation of lessons learned. The result: a culture of reflection, idea generation, and evaluation.