Ep 106 — Strip the Agenda: Fewer Words, Better Meetings with Chris Fenning

Meetings can quietly take over a school week and still leave everyone feeling behind. We bring back communication expert and author Chris Fenning for a practical conversation about effective meetings in education and why so many faculty meetings feel draining long before they start. If you’ve ever walked into a Monday meeting expecting one thing and gotten a last-minute surprise plus a pile of follow-up tasks, you already know the cost: stress, confusion, and less time for students. Chris shares a simple framework we can use for almost any meeting type, from leadership check-ins to whole-staff gatherings: TPO, which stands for Topic, Purpose, Output. We talk through what each word really means, how it changes the way we write meeting invites, and how it helps us decide who truly needs to be there. We also dig into the “this could have been an email” problem and the smarter fix: if there’s no interaction or action required, use a better channel like a short video, voice note, or written update and make the next step explicit. We also get tactical about what to do when a meeting goes off track. Chris offers a respectful question that any participant can use to pull the group back toward the intended output, without sounding rude or shutting people down. Finally, we explore how attendees can stay engaged by clarifying their contribution before the meeting begins, which is one of the fastest ways to reduce wasted time and improve meeting productivity across a school. Subscribe for more minimalist leadership and teacher workflow strategies, share this with a colleague who runs meetings, and leave a review with your best tip for making meetings less painful. This episode is sponsored by Plan Z Education Services.