To build off a previous discussion topic about risk management meetings, when having a risk management meeting what is the best way to get everyone's input?
Many meetings I have been a part of were dominated by 10% of the room, even when they were asking for team input. I worked one summer on bringing in the SCRUM/agile thinking methods to meetings; this allowed for everyone regardless of any job criteria to give input. Everyone puts their ideas on sticky notes and puts them on a wall. Then everyone would walk around and move the sticky notes to different categories; in this case, the different risks that are like each other would be grouped together. The team collectively can then decide the priority of risk and how to mitigate each cluster. It allowed for the most productivity and use of everyone's time. Now that more meetings are on zoom, I feel it is even harder to get more people talking without cutting off anyone. I have used different computer online programs like Trello and Miro that allow multiple people to write and contribute at the same time.
Does anyone else know of any other ways your company does it?
I currently work at a medical device development company in the industry and am going to be attending my first risk management meeting in the near weeks. However, I will say that meetings as important as these should be held in person and I wouldn't be surprised if most companies did infact have risk management meetings in person. In my research of risk management tools online I saw many tools that companies can use to actually evaluate the risk severity, these kinds of tools would also greatly assist. While I can see 10-20% of the room being more involved than the rest, I think it's essentially up to the project leader to ensure that everyones voice is heard and that the proper meeting notes are being documented since risk management is a vital part of the design control process.
I do not work in medical device industry but our company holds risk assessment meetings for any type of change (change control) or new project coming to our plant - typically we conduct a meeting using an FMEA template and a representative from each department will chime in on the respective risks of the project. I agree with @ms2768, the project lead in these meetings should gather all the necessary information from each department to have a solid risk assessment and be able to understand from all points of view the various risks in their project. I think in my experience, we have seen people who are not able to be present rather than the meeting being dominated, so I believe in this case it is more on the project lead to hold follow up meetings or to talk to each department and get their input, as it is important to not proceed further until a proper risk assessment is acquired.
I agree with @ms2768 & @njq3 that prework done by the facilitator of the risk management meeting is extremely helpful to engage the participants. A detailed agenda with as much input as possible from all interested parties generates questions that invite contribution better than simple "fishing questions." Another detail I have found with well-run meetings of this nature is simply scheduling more than enough time with breaks to ensure that there is no incentive for not speaking. The breaks also help with fatigue and breaks up the speaking time of each participant.
These are good suggestions, I really like the idea of using tools like Trello or Miro for virtual collaboration, especially when in-person meetings aren’t feasible. I don’t have much experience with facilitating risk management meetings, but I agree that preparation by the project lead (like setting a detailed agenda and gathering input beforehand) can make a huge difference.
For virtual meetings, has anyone tried using breakout rooms to encourage smaller group discussions before reconvening? I imagine it might help quieter participants feel more comfortable sharing their thoughts.
