My Tip of the Week: Rethink PTO and PTA Meetings

Are your meetings the worst part of your PTO job? Have you been doing them the same way for years? Do folks dread the second Tuesday of the month (or the first Wednesday, or whenever)?

by Tim Sullivan

02/07/2016

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Making meetings work is a frequent challenge for all parent groups, and my advice this week is to think differently. There's no global law that says you have to read last month's minutes at every meeting. Use your website and email to distribute them beforehand.

There are all kinds of sacred cows (the budget report, having the meeting every month in the first place) that you can choose to change. I loved this post on our message boards last week -- read how this group is approaching meetings in a new way. Can you borrow some of these ideas? Their approach may or may not be right for your group, but it's a great example of thinking differently.

I bet you'll also like these resources from ptotoday.com on making meetings better:

If something isn't working, don't be afraid to change it up. Often that kind of spirit can spread throughout your group and lead to surprisingly great results.