MAMA (Meeting as an AMA)

Conducting an AMA (Ask Me Anything) as a meeting is referred to as MAMA (Meeting as an AMA).

Overview

We organize meetings lasting from 15 to 60 minutes, entirely dedicated to AMA.

AMA stands for Ask Me Anything. Originally a concept from Reddit culture, it involved people asking a host numerous questions starting with "I'm a [blank], ask me anything". In MAMA, there's a slight twist. MAMA sets only one respondent and allows anyone to ask as many questions as they want to this individual. The protagonist does not change. If you want a different respondent, you need to organize a new MAMA.

The number of participants can be small or large. With a small group, such as a few people, the same person can ask multiple questions and delve deeper. On the other hand, with a large group, while you can't delve as deep, a variety of perspectives can be explored through the questions asked.

Here are some examples of MAMA:

• A business leader hosts a MAMA to take questions from employees.
• A manager hosts a MAMA to address concerns or queries from subordinates.
• A project improvement leader holds a MAMA to gather hopes and requests from team members while conveying their own stance and values through responses.

Merits

The merit of MAMA is that it is member-driven.

A common anti-pattern is the one-sided presentation from superiors or promoters, which frequently fails to make an impact. At times, it may even be considered unwelcome interference. Just as customer feedback is vital in business, the voices of members are essential in an organization or project. MAMA is an ideal platform to bring out those voices.

Discussion

Let's organize common discussions in a Q&A format.

Q: What if no one asks questions?

Ans: Remove penalties and show incentives.

If there's a penalty, like "You'll get in trouble for asking something foolish", naturally no one will ask questions.

Even if there's a fair amount of psychological safety, if there isn't a clear benefit, it's just "a hassle", so questions still won't be asked. The only exception is when information is being shared that people do not know yet, as obtaining this information itself becomes the incentive, making additional incentives unnecessary.

However, from the questioner's perspective, more than just knowing the answers, they are interested in whether the answers will translate into action. They want specific decision-making and commitments as answers. The fact and trust that the respondent will take such actions become the incentive.

Q: Is preparation needed for MAMA?

Ans: Yes, it is necessary.

Decide in advance who will receive questions, from what position, and about what topic they can be questioned, and include this information when organizing the meeting. Also, determine whether it will be a small group with in-depth questions or a large group with broad and shallow questions. For the former, make sure to limit the number of participants.

It is preferable to announce the meeting at least a day before to give participants (questioners) time to think about their questions.

Q: We've run out of questions in MAMA. What should we do?

Ans: Continue until the time is up.

Think of it like brainstorming. Even if you run out of questions, persist. Important questions often surface in such instances. In fact, the real discussion begins after questions dry up. In my experience, critical questions tend to emerge more easily at this point.

Q: What if MAMA becomes a casual chat in the middle, interrupting the Q&A mood?

Ans: Facilitate the session.

MAMA is a place focused on Q&A, not a casual discussion platform. It simply repeats the cycle of asking a question and receiving an answer.

I recommend having a kitchen timer handy. If the conversation drifts into casual chat, the facilitator (usually the respondent) sets a 30-second timer. Once the timer rings, return forcibly to the Q&A. If the conversation returns to Q&A within 30 seconds, that is fine too (there is no need to force waiting for the full 30 seconds).

Q: How should facilitation be managed for who asks questions and when?

Ans: Feel free to decide.

The healthy indicator for MAMA is that silence does not occur at all or only very briefly. If silence continues for a notable period, it indicates the MAMA is immature. We call this state Silentless.

Thus, to achieve Silentless, facilitate the session accordingly. If Silentless is achieved naturally, no need for intervention. However, if silence arises without facilitation, a more structured approach may be required—such as rotating a question token among participants or organizing a stack or queue to collect questions.

Conclusion

We introduced MAMA, a meeting format centered on AMA.

It serves as highly effective member-driven communication, offering great potential as an alternative or successor to one-on-one sessions. Please utilize it and see you next time.