These days really put focus on our ways of working. It’s a good time to drive efficiency and remove waste in meetings. Preparing for meetings is essential. One example is a review meeting. Too often reviewers show up unprepared. In the worst case they start to read the material in the actual meeting and offer flying comments.

There is a better way, supported out-of-the-box by Polarion using the Approvals center together with work item statuses. individual reviews are done as preparation for the meeting and individual opinions and comments are logged in the system. The progress of the review can be followed. At the meeting the focus can stay on where there are comments and where opinions vary

The basic structure is shown in the picture:

The procedure we propose for review meetings is as follows:

    1. Select the scope for the meeting. Make sure the selection has a status that means “ready for review” and that the reviewers are listed for Approvals. Send out a link with the selection when scheduling the meeting.
    2. All reviewers go through the items and give their opinions and comments. The owner can follow the progress of preparations with live data to track progress.
    3. Focus the precious meeting time on the hotspots! If all have given an approval it should directly be lifted to a status Accepted and not discussed during the meeting. Take decisions and work through the lists. Remember only to lift things that have a conscious and documented decision.

This workflow can be used for any review meetings, from change control boards to specification reviews.

Would you like to see a demo of this process? Would you need help in setting it up for your organisation? – We at Taipuva are there for you, so just reach out to us!

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