Editing UNITA Agile Management Guide (section)

==Agile Meetings Management==
===Generalities===
Organizing and running an Agile meeting effectively involves several key steps to ensure the meeting is productive, engaging, and valuable for the team. To stimulate participation, the recordings of the meetings should be used only under exceptional circumstances.

=== Important Steps ===

==== 1. Define the Purpose and Objectives ====

'''Purpose''': Clearly define the purpose of the meeting. It is important, when scheduling a meeting to know what it is for.  
'''Objectives''': Set specific goals for what you want to achieve during the meeting.

==== 2. Schedule and Frequency ====

'''Schedule''': Choose a time that works for all participants, considering the different time zones. You can use Datacloud to create Polls for the participants to vote on the best time and date, or you can use a meeting to decide the next one.  
'''Frequency''': Decide on the frequency of the meeting.

==== 3. Prepare the Agenda ====

'''Agenda''': Create an agenda outlining the topics to be discussed and the time allocated to each and share it with the participants beforehand.  
If there are documents that will be needed in the meeting — presentation, word documents, excel documents, etc. — be sure you share them, or the link to where they can be found, with the participants. It's important for the participants to have access to them before the meeting, so that they can read/analyse them previously, if necessary.  
'''Time-boxing''': Ensure each topic is time-boxed to keep the meeting focused and efficient.

==== 4. Assign Roles ====

'''Coordinator''': Designate someone to lead the meeting and keep it on track.  
'''Participants''': Clearly define who needs to be in the meeting and their roles. You can use the “Agenda” to mention the persons that should attend the meeting.  
'''Owners''': Clearly define who is responsible for an item/action/risk/decision.

==== 5. Run the Meeting ====

* '''Start on Time''': Begin the meeting promptly to respect everyone’s time.
* '''Stick to the Agenda''': Follow the agenda to keep the meeting focused and on schedule.
* '''Encourage Participation''': Ensure all team members have the opportunity to contribute.
* '''Facilitate Discussion''': The coordinator should guide the discussion to keep it productive and relevant.
* '''Capture Notes''': Document key points, decisions, and action items during the meeting. This will help you after to write the minutes of the meeting.

==== 6. Measuring Attendance ====

'''Track Attendance''': Use a method to record who attended the meeting. This can be done manually or through digital tools.  
In BBB rooms you can download the list of attendees from the gear button on top of the users column on the left side of the screen.  
In the “Minutes” Template you will have a table to confirm the presence of the participants.

<blockquote>
'''Note''': In order for the information to be passed on to all the Universities of a project equally and for decisions and actions to be taken and decided, it is very important that at least one person, from each institution be present in a meeting.
</blockquote>

==== 7. Minutes ====

'''Distribute Meeting Minutes''': Share the meeting minutes with the notes, action items, risk that maybe were (or not) detected, and decisions, with all participants.  
Make sure you do not share it too late with the participants, otherwise, the risk of information getting lost or late actions can increase.

'''Action Items''': Ensure that assigned tasks are clearly documented and tracked.  
Also, when deciding the “Target resolution date” please make sure that it is feasible.

==== 8. Continuous Improvement ====

You can collect feedback from participants on the meeting’s effectiveness and areas for improvement.  
This way you can make adjustments based on it to enhance future meetings.

=== Agile Meetings ===

The AGILE Project Management Approach involves dividing into actions the activities of the project, breaking the project into phases or cycles, and emphasizing continuous collaboration and improvement through recurring meetings.

'''What is an action?'''  
The result of a breakdown of a general activity in specific and simple operations.  
It is part of an activity provided for, in the task, and should provide an explicit added value to stakeholders (e.g. students, staff, partners, etc.).  
Each action is described in the specification action sheet (see section Agile Tools).  
To define and detail an action, an explicit specification sheet exists, asking for the following information:

{| class="wikitable"
! Topics required !! Example
|-
| '''Title''' || Creation of the job description for each UO position.
|-
| '''Description''' || Job description sheets detail the different required positions and roles in the future UNITA Office. It constitutes the support for informing about and initiating the future recruitment process, the conditions of work and the expected objectives.
|-
| '''Deadline''' || Month 1
|-
| '''Required resources (workdays, human resources, services, budget, etc.)''' || 
* Human Resources  
* Services  
* Budget  
|-
| '''Concerned services''' || University management board (Rectors, VPs...); HR Unit  
Budget: evaluation of the budget dedicated to the recruitment operation and assessment of the salaries of the future team members.
|-
| '''Priority in terms of added value (compared to other actions)''' || Necessary action to initiate the constitution of the UNITA Office and thus, to implement and coordinate the UNITA activities.
|-
| '''Assignees (RASCI matrix): Who does What?''' || Determination of the staff involved in the action and assign them specific sub actions.
|-
| '''Status (workflow place, see next...)''' || 
|}

'''What is a Cycle?'''  
The working period between two meetings (maximum one month for UNITA).  
According to the workload and number of actions needed, the frequency of the meetings should be established.  
For example, for TT meetings, in order to take stock of the last cycle’s actions and to define/redefine new ones, it was agreed to have monthly meetings.  
In each meeting, previous actions can be revised, and other actions can be (re)defined and implemented for the next cycle, using the following table to help:

{| class="wikitable"
! New actions !! To Do !! In Progress !! To Review !! Done !! (Bin)
|-
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
| 
|}

Let’s take a look at the following example:

* Before or during a meeting, a new action may be proposed and recorded in the '''New Actions''' column.
* If the Task Team validates the implementation of this action, its status changes to '''To Do'''. This means it is planned to be implemented during the next cycle.
* If the action is rejected, it is moved to the '''(Bin)''' column.

During the next meeting (and in every subsequent meeting), the Task Team will proceed with the following:

** A review of the actions listed in the '''To Do''' column. The status of each action is assessed and updated according to five possible outcomes:
*** '''In progress''': Action is partially completed.
*** '''Blocked''': Action is currently stuck for some reason.
*** '''Overdue''': Action is behind schedule.
*** '''To review''': Action is not feasible as originally defined.
*** '''Done''': Action is 100% completed.

** A refinement or adjustment of the new actions listed in the '''New Actions''' column. As previously described, these actions may be:
*** Accepted and moved to '''To Do''',
*** Rejected and moved to '''(Bin)''',
*** Recalibrated into smaller or redefined sub-actions.  
New actions can also address previously '''Blocked''', '''Overdue''', or '''To review''' items by redesigning, subdividing, or redefining them to optimize feasibility.

** Planning the priorities for the next cycle:
*** '''To Do''' actions are reviewed and prioritized accordingly.
*** The Task Team assigns responsibilities for each action based on its priority and the team’s available capacity.

=== Meeting Minute Template ===

Template for the meeting minutes can be found here:  
[https://datacloud.univ-unita.eu/index.php/apps/onlyoffice/710510?filePath=%2F4_Unita_Phase_I%2FUNITA%2FProject_docs%2FU_Templates%2FMeeting_Agenda_(Bodyname)_yyyymmdd.odt Click here to access the Meeting Minute Template]