Long Story Short
Good meetings don’t happen by accident—they take planning and facilitation. Good news: You don’t need an MBA or certification in facilitation to run consistently good meetings: just four key building blocks from Helia Member Jess Britt.
Hey, y’all! Libby here.
I’m going to do a little fourth wall-breaking to kick off this article: Jess Skylar (Helia’s Founder) and I really struggled to come up with an intro for this one. Not to brag, but we’re both really good at running meetings where work actually moves forward.
Our meeting styles are completely different AND totally match our personalities: like most COOs, I prefer to follow a structured agenda week after week and never leave without next steps written down and assigned. Like the visionary she is, Jess prefers a looser process and has an uncanny ability to get results with minimal structure.
So, when it came time to write the intro to this article and share the pain points we’ve felt with meetings, we both stared at a blinking cursor, not sure what to say. Then, I remembered…
My husband works at a company where meetings are a hot mess. No agendas. No clear purpose. Conversations wander all over the place. Half the time, nothing productive comes out of them. And they almost always run over, throwing everyone’s calendar into chaos.
Sound familiar?
After talking with Helia Collective member, Jess Britt (I will be using Jess B. to avoid confusion), I was tempted to personally sponsor one of her sessions for the leadership of his company. Jess B. is GOOD at meetings, and her philosophy is simple: good meetings don’t happen by accident. They’re built from key building blocks. And when you start leading through meetings, not despite them, they become a powerful leadership tool.
Good meetings don’t happen by accident.
How Jess B. got so good at meetings
Jess B.’s seven years at Year Up United shaped how she runs meetings. “The work we did at Year Up is very rooted in adult learning theory and positive youth development,” she said. “All staff, regardless of role, support program facilitation and delivery. So I got to learn a lot about high-quality facilitation skills, and that really carried over to how meetings were run across the organization. People had a common language around why you would have a warm-up question, what it means for people to process things in the moment, how to make sure the key takeaways are actually, well, taken away.”
When she stepped into a board leadership role at a different organization, Jess B. realized that good meeting facilitation wasn’t universal. “I started to realize that good meetings weren’t a given. Seeing the value of the facilitation skills that I had started to take for granted — that opened my eyes to how big the gap is.” So, she started breaking down what made her meetings work so that she could help others run good meetings, even if they didn’t have seven years of facilitation experience.
Working with leaders across startups, nonprofits, and growing organizations, she sees the same pattern: smart, capable people spending 25%+ of their time in meetings, leading around them instead of through them. Jess B. wants to change that — not necessarily by overhauling your whole organization, but by helping leaders reclaim agency over the meetings that are already on the calendar. She believes that meetings aren’t getting in the way of work. They are the work. And they require intention before, during, and after.
What resonated when Jess B. and I spoke was that you don’t need a complicated agenda or certification in meeting facilitation to pull off a good meeting. Instead, Jess B. uses the same four building blocks for every meeting:
- Warm-up
- Housekeeping
- Content
- Close
Whether it’s a standing team meeting, annual planning, difficult board conversations, or conflict resolution, the structure stays the same. You just fill in the details differently based on who’s in the room, how long you have, and what you’re trying to accomplish.
And, if you’re good at meetings (as I like to think I am), you can still learn from Jess B.’s Good Meeting Building Blocks. She takes meetings from good to great by aligning her warm-up questions with meeting goals, and creating a personal objective for herself (what SHE needs to pay attention to as the meeting leader or attendee) that works in service of the public meeting objective.
Jess B.’s building blocks work whether you’re starting from scratch or trying to level up meetings that are already decent.
The Key Takeaway
Every meeting is a puzzle to solve, and there’s a set of four building blocks that works for all of them: Warm-up, Housekeeping, Content, and Close. The key is to customize each building block based on who’s in the room, how long you have, and what you’re trying to achieve.
Jess B.’s Good Meeting Building Blocks
The four meeting building blocks:
- Warm-up* — Questions that tie to content, warm everyone up (not fluffy icebreakers — strategic ones)
- Housekeeping* — Norms + agendas (the stuff that grounds everyone)
- Content —The heart of the meeting — each topic has a clear objective and plan for group engagement (not just the leader talking)
- Close — Gather insights, next steps (so people leave with clarity)
*The order of these first two can sometimes be switched depending on the context.
Plus the secret weapon most people skip: Your personal objective — what YOU are trying to get out of this meeting, separate from the group agenda. This becomes your north star when things go sideways or when it’s not your meeting to lead.
If you’re a “Just give me the template I’m ready to get started” kind of person (aka Helia’s COO, Libby), jump straight to Jess B.’s Meeting Planning Workbook so that you’re not starting from a blank page.
If you’re a “Tell me why this works” kind of person (aka Helia’s Founder, Jess), read on for the good stuff!
How These Building Blocks Create a Good Meeting
Building Block #1: Warm-up — Make these questions do real work
Most people know about icebreakers, but Jess B. designs them strategically to serve the meeting’s purpose.
“Ice breakers get a bad rap because they’re ‘too fluffy,'” she said. “But there’s a lot of power in a strategically aligned warm-up question. If you really tie it to the content, it gets people who wouldn’t otherwise engage to actually participate.”
Before your next meeting, ask yourself: “What mindset do I need people in for this conversation?” Then design your warm up around that.
Examples by purpose:
- Build accountability: “This week will be successful if…”
- Reinforce culture: “What’s one way you’ve embodied our values this week?” or “Who’s someone not in this room you want to celebrate?”
- Get people thinking strategically: “How would you explain your job to a 10-year-old?” (great for teams getting to know each other)
- Prime for difficult conversations: “Think about a time you had to present something before you were ready. How did that feel? What made it go well or not?”
That last example is from Jess’s board meeting with a new ED. After people paired off and talked, she processed it: “Our executive director is new. What we’re talking about today is a work in progress. We want to engage in a way that will be supportive and move us forward together as a team.” That one question set the tone for the entire difficult conversation.
What makes a warm up strategic versus fluffy:
- It connects to the work you’re about to do — not just random fun
- It gets people in the right mindset — if you need creative thinking, ask something that sparks creativity; if you need supportive engagement, ask about a time they received good support
- It matches your culture — “If you’re working with a team that’s never done warm ups, meet them in the middle with something that feels more buttoned up but serves the same purpose,” Jess B. said
Real Life Situation: There’s tension on your team — between departments, about priorities — and you need a meeting to address it. Here’s how building block #1 looks in action:
- Warm up (10 min): “Think about a time you disagreed with someone on your team, and it actually led to a better outcome. What made that disagreement productive?” Or: “What’s one assumption you’re bringing into this conversation today?”
By tying the warm up prompt to the topic of the meeting, you get the chance to put everyone in the room into a headspace of resolution, and greatly increase your chances of getting the outcome you’re looking for.
Building Block #2: Housekeeping — Ground everyone quickly (then move on)
“Housekeeping and announcements are really about establishing why we are here today and what we are trying to accomplish,” Jess B. explained. “It can also be a great moment to set norms or remind people of them. Is this a regular weekly meeting where we all know our norms, or is this a new group convening for the first time?”
The key: Keep it brief. Between warm-up and housekeeping, you shouldn’t spend more than a third of your meeting time.
Real Life Situation: There’s tension on your team — between departments, about priorities — and you need a meeting to address it. Here’s how building block #2 builds on building block #1:
- Warm up (10 min): “Think about a time you disagreed with someone on your team, and it actually led to a better outcome. What made that disagreement productive?” Or: “What’s one assumption you’re bringing into this conversation today?”
- Housekeeping (5 min): Set really clear norms. “Today we’re talking about [the conflict]. Our goal is to understand each other’s perspectives and identify 2-3 concrete next steps. If things get heated, I’ll redirect. We’re not solving everything today, but we are making progress.”
Pro tip #1: Address the parking lot upfront. Say what you’ll do if someone brings up something you’re not tackling today. Then when it happens say, “I’m writing that down in our “Parking Lot” document and we’ll address it in an email after this meeting.” Jess B. said. This builds trust that even if now isn’t the time, people aren’t being ignored forever. The key: actually follow-up.
Pro tip #2: Push yourself to think about what’s actually required for the meeting versus what can happen in other contexts. “It might not be that you use the Housekeeping time to go through every single announcement you need to make. You could say, ‘Hey, you got an email that covers X — make sure you read it.’ That’s the announcement. The announcement is not all of the content.”
Jess B.’s building blocks work whether you’re starting from scratch or trying to level up meetings that are already decent.
Building Block #3: Content — The heart of the discussion
This is where the real work happens. The Content section of Jess B.’s meetings is what most people think of as an “agenda.” Instead of a list of topics to get through, Jess B. encourages us to think of each topic as a content block, each with a clear objective and plan for how people will engage. Depending on the length and purpose of a meeting, you may have multiple content blocks.
You need two things to make the Content building block successful:
- A clear understanding of what you’re trying to accomplish – Jess B. recommends making sure your objective is outcome-focused, specific, and realistic
- Facilitation that actually gets you there
Before the meeting, get clear on what you’re trying to achieve in each content block. Are you in the ideation phase and need to brainstorm? Are you strategic planning? Are you getting ready to make a decision and want to pressure test your logic? “Those are different goals and you’ll need different content to accomplish it,” Jess B. said.
Work backward from what you’re trying to achieve and build the Content section of your meeting to go through the data, thinking, and engagement you need to get there. Here are a couple real life scenarios:
Real Life Situation: There’s tension on your team — between departments, about priorities — and you need a meeting to address it. Here’s how building blocks #1, #2, and #3 look together:
- Warm up (10 min): “Think about a time you disagreed with someone on your team, and it actually led to a better outcome. What made that disagreement productive?” Or: “What’s one assumption you’re bringing into this conversation today?”
- Housekeeping (5 min): Set really clear norms. “Today we’re talking about [the conflict]. Our goal is to understand each other’s perspectives and identify 2-3 concrete next steps. If things get heated, I’ll redirect. We’re not solving everything today, but we are making progress.”
- Content (30-40 min): Structure carefully —
- Each side shares perspective (5 min each, no interrupting)
- Ask clarifying questions (5 min each, true clarifying questions only)
- Identify common ground (5 min)
- Pick top 2 issues and solve today (15 min)
The key shift: Your team wants to solve problems together, not just hear what everyone’s working on. “There is a conversation in the room that only these people at this moment can have. Find it.” – adrienne maree brown, Emergent Strategy
Building Block #4: Close — Get real data on alignment
The dry version of closing — state next steps, ask for questions — is table stakes. But you can do better with 3 extra minutes. “You can do it in ways that give you data as a leader,” Jess B. said.
Closing techniques that give you data:
- Emoji poll: “Put an emoji in the chat for how you’re feeling.” You can give directions (thumbs up = good, exploding head = confused) or let people choose. “You can collect it and follow up 1:1, or say ‘I see a lot of question marks — does someone want to talk about what that means?'”
- Confidence check: Ask, “On a scale of 0-5, how confident are you in [what we just decided/our ability to execute this]?” When executive leaders rolled out a strategic plan and did this, they got lots of 2s and 3s. “The whole point was to bring everyone along and they realized they hadn’t achieved it. So they knew their next step was to figure out a better way to bring everyone along.”
- Plus/delta (for standing meetings): What went well? What would you change?
- Head/heart/hands: “What’s one thing you’re thinking, one thing you’re feeling, one thing you’re committing to doing as a result of this meeting?”
Real Life Situation: There’s tension on your team — between departments, about priorities — and you need a meeting to address it. Here’s a look at all 4 building blocks together:
- Warm up (10 min): “Think about a time you disagreed with someone on your team and it actually led to a better outcome. What made that disagreement productive?” Or: “What’s one assumption you’re bringing into this conversation today?”
- Housekeeping (5 min): Set really clear norms. “Today we’re talking about [the conflict]. Our goal is to understand each other’s perspectives and identify 2-3 concrete next steps. If things get heated, I’ll redirect. We’re not solving everything today, but we are making progress.”
- Content (30-40 min): Structure carefully —
- Each side shares perspective (5 min each, no interrupting)
- Ask clarifying questions (5 min each, true clarifying questions only)
- Identify common ground (5 min)
- Pick top 2 issues and solve today (15 min)
- Closing (10 min): Be explicit about next steps. “Here’s what we’re committing to. Person A is doing X by this date. Person B is doing Y. We’re meeting again in 2 weeks.” Then check: “On a scale of 1-5, how confident are you that these steps will help?”
“Match the method to what you need to know,” Jess B. said. “And then follow up on the feedback. That’s what builds trust — people see their input actually matters.”
And always address the parking lot. “Here’s what we’re doing with the parking lot — I’ll set up time to discuss this, here’s what I’ll do with that topic. That builds trust that even if now isn’t the time, you’re not being ignored forever.”
Don’t forget the work after the meeting. Block 15 minutes after to follow up on next steps, process what happened, and follow through on commitments. “Meeting maintenance takes time to actually move work forward,” Jess B. said. “The accountability is with you, but the work doesn’t all have to be you.”
Putting It All Together
Real Life Scenario #1: Annual Planning Session
The situation: You need to run a strategic planning retreat that drives decisions, not just leave with a nice document.
Building blocks in action:
- Warm up (10 min): “Think about a time you were part of a really ambitious plan that actually worked. What made it successful?” This primes people to think about execution, not just vision.
- Housekeeping (5 min): “Here’s our agenda for the day. When tangents come up — and they will — we’ll add them to the parking lot. We’re focusing on X, Y, Z today because those are the decisions we need to make.”
- Content (4-5 hours across the day): Break the day into clear sections and strategically add in time for small group work. Don’t just talk at people for 5 hours.
- Where we are now (data review)
- Where we want to go (vision, objectives)
- What’s our path forward (prioritize, assign ownership)
- Closing (15 min): Use “Head, Heart, Hands” — “What’s one thing you’re thinking, feeling, committing to do?” This tells you if people are actually aligned
Your personal objective: “Ensure we leave with prioritized decisions and clear ownership, not just a nice vision statement.” That guides you when the group wants to add “just one more priority.”
Real Life Scenario #2: Board Meeting with Difficult Conversations
The situation: You’re chairing a board meeting where you need to discuss something hard — a struggling ED, budget cuts, a program that’s not working.
Building blocks in action:
- Warm up (15 min): “Think about a time you had to show someone something before you were ready. How did that go?”
- Housekeeping (5 min): “Today’s objective is to discuss [the issue], gather input from everyone, and decide on 2-3 specific support actions.”
- Content (45-60 min):
- Present the situation (10 min)
- Small group discussions on “What’s working? What’s concerning? What support is needed?” (15 min)
- Full group synthesis (20 min)
- Decision on next steps (10 min)
- Closing (10 min): “On a scale of 0-5, how confident are you in the path forward?” If you get lots of 2s and 3s, you know you haven’t achieved alignment.
Your personal objectives: “Make sure every board member read the background materials. If not, pause to address this and consider giving space to review real-time.” AND “Ensure my voice doesn’t dominate — board members need to own this decision.”
Jess Britt is a volunteer tour guide at Shelburne Farms in Vermont, which is now an educational nonprofit for a sustainable future.
When to do this Yourself vs Bring Someone in
Everything above? You can do it. Grab the Jess’ Meeting Planning Workbook, pick your hardest meeting this week, and try the building blocks framework. The structure will make you better.
You might want outside help if:
- Your meetings keep going sideways and you’re not sure why — it’s not just one meeting, it’s a pattern
- You’re planning a high-stakes session — annual planning, board retreat, team conflict — and want help designing it
- Your team has deeper issues that no amount of meeting structure will fix — trust is broken, communication has collapsed, people are checked out
- You want a thought partner — someone to talk through how to structure a specific meeting before you walk in
If you want help with your meetings
Jess Britt offers FREE Effective Meetings Office Hours — bring your specific meeting challenge and get help thinking it through. She also helps leaders turn meetings into their most powerful leadership tool through coaching, training, and facilitation.
For individual leaders:
- Meeting Reset Package (3 sessions) — Get immediate relief from meeting overload with a calendar audit, immediate fixes, and a reflection check-in.
- Set the Agenda Leadership Intensive (6 months) — Leverage every meeting to lead, move work forward, and build culture through targeted executive coaching.
- High-Stakes Meeting Design & Coaching — Get a custom agenda and facilitation coaching so you can lead your next off-site or big meeting with confidence.
For organizations:
- Meeting Leadership Skills Training — Your leaders learn these building blocks and leave with an actionable plan for a real upcoming meeting.
- Leadership Development Partnership — A multi-month program combining skills training with peer coaching groups and strategic advising.
- Strategic Meeting & Retreat Facilitation — External facilitation for your most important meetings so you can be a full participant.
Connect with Jess!
Want to learn more first? Jess B. writes Set the Agenda, a weekly newsletter for leaders who want to lead through meetings, not despite them. Folks who sign up through Helia will get Jess’ full set of Strategic Warm Up questions.
What to Take With You
Start here:
- Meeting Planning Workbook— Space to plan your meetings. The four building blocks plus links to strategic warm-up questions by purpose, closing techniques that give you data, and a handout on setting quality objectives. (Special access for Helia readers, normally only available to those attending trainings with Jess!)
- Jess’ Full Meeting Building Blocks Overview — Deep dives on objectives, facilitation principles, timekeeping, standing meeting ideas, and more
- Subscribe to Set the Agenda for weekly tips to help you lead through meetings, not despite them.
Recommended reads:
- Listen to Jess B. on Coaching for Leaders — a top-ranked management podcast downloaded over 40 million times
- Move Fast & Fix Things: The Trusted Leader’s Guide to Solving Hard Problems by Anne Morriss and Frances Frei
Questions to Sit With
- What’s my personal objective for my hardest meeting this week — and how will that guide me if things go sideways?
- If I used Jess’s four building blocks, what’s the ONE thing I’d change about my next meeting?
- When’s the last time my warm up question actually connected to the work we were about to do?
- Am I closing meetings in a way that gives me data on whether people are actually aligned — or just asking “any questions?”
- What would be different if I blocked 15 minutes before and after meetings to actually prep and follow up?
Not sure Jess‘s the right fit? Talk to Helia directly!
This article comes from a coffee chat with Jess Britt in October 2024. These conversations form the heart of the Helia Library — because we’ve learned the most from doing and from talking with other doers willing to share their wisdom. We don’t need to start from blank pages or do everything alone.
As always, take what’s helpful, leave what’s not, and make it your own.
About Jess Britt
Jess Britt is on a mission to make work better — for leaders, their teams, and those around them. With 15+ years leading people, projects, and organizations (including at Year Up United, where she learned the facilitation skills that transformed how she thinks about meetings), she brings a thoughtful, evidence-informed, and practical approach to coaching and strategic advising. She’s also an avid reader, supportive thought partner, and amateur birder based in Boston, MA, and South Burlington, VT.
Work with Jess
