How Productive are your Meetings?
As a agent, one of my favorite movies is "Planes, Trains and Automobiles"
featuring Steve Martin as an commercial executive trying to return to Chicago
during the Thanksgiving holidays. The movie opens with Martin attending a
affair fact New York City where he is pitching an ad attack to the President of
a ample corporation, played by William Windom. The meeting is rather long
and boring as Windom quietly agonizes over the layout of Martin's proposed
ads. All of the meeting attendees sit agilely and patiently as they delay for
Windom to make a accommodation (which he never makes). As it is the holiday
season, they all have other things they want to do (in Martin's case, it is to
acknowledgment home to Chicago). Ultimately, the meeting is a colossal decay of time
for all of the attendees.
Post scheduled meetings to calendars and, whenever possible, send
out reminders at atomic one day in advance.
How the meeting should be conducted (this is critical). Should it be held
on-site or off-site to minimize distractions? Who should lead the meeting?
How should the meeting room be bureaucracy, such as required audio-video
equipment, flipcharts/blackboards, computer equipment, podiums, and the
setup of tables and chairs. A classroom setup is fine for lectures and
presentations but not necessarily conducive if the participants are going to
work in teams. For dialogs and action sessions, a roundtable or u-shaped
blueprint is better. Even the chairs are important; anybody likes comfort
but if you wish to accumulate people's attention, there is nothing amiss with
harder chairs that force the participants to sit-up and yield apprehension during the
meeting.
Again, know your audience - speak in agreement your audience will
understand. An affecting vocabulary ability be impressive, but it
may also intimidate and confuse the attendees (beware of the
"verbosity of bullshit" phenomenon). Also, read the body language
of the attendees to see if they are paying attention.
Mastering the execution of an able meeting requires a little
planning, a little alignment, and a lot of management. Bottom-line,
how do you know if your meeting was a success? People do not beef
if you alarm the next one.
Introductions are important so participants know the cast of characters
involved and their interests. But do not waste an inordinate bulk of
time actuality. Also,Tennessee Titans jerseys, name tags or name cards are useful to abstain the
embarrassment of apathy names and titles.
Your admirers - Be abiding to understand the targeted admirers, their interests,
their work assignments,nfl jersey, and their attention span.
"Unless someone is looking for an excuse to duck a work
assignment, nobody wants to attend an inconsequential meeting."
- Bryce's Law
If you are assertive of the necessity of the meeting,Philadelphia Eagles jersey, you will charge to know
three things:
Remarkably, there are a lot of people who don't accept the basics of
running a productive meeting, appropriately the botheration as exemplified by
Martin's movie. There is nothing magical about administering a good meeting. It
just requires a little preparation, forth with some administration and anatomy during
its execution. Here are some simple guidelines to follow:
PREPARATION
Having a strong and fair baton for the meeting is capital for its success. This may
or may not be the main apostle. Nevertheless,Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys, the leader has to play the role
of traffic cop so the meeting doesn't get sidetracked and stays on schedule. Knowing
when to adjourn peripheral discussions to a after time or abode (such as afterwards the
meeting) is important to keep everyone focused on the capital mission of the
meeting. Being the traffic cop often requires skills in tact and diplomacy so
the meeting doesn't circuit out of control.
First, determine the necessity of the meeting itself. Do you really have something
important to discuss or do you just want to artlessly "chew the fat." Meetings are nice
but we should never forget they distract people from their work assignments. Therefore,
we should only hold a meeting if it is going to account the attendees and abetment them
in their plan effort. Let us not overlook there are abounding other advice cars
at our disposal: memos, e-mails, web pages (including blogs and discussion groups),
acquaint notices, accepted broadcasts over a PA system, etc.
Your cold - Is the purpose of the meeting to acquaint a accurate
bulletin, develop a chat and reach accord, educate/train people, or
to offer a simple diversion for the attendees? People do not want to apprehend the
boss pontificate on some trivial address (a la Dilbert). Make sure you have a
close butt of the purpose of the meeting and what you achievement to achieve. Ask
yourself how the attendees will benefit from the meeting.
Here are some other items to consider:
EXECUTION
All meetings should be advised, either formally or informally, to determine
the success of the meeting. Informal reviews are used for short meetings to
actuate action items to be followed up on. Formal reviews should be
considered for all diffuse meetings. Standard appraisal sheets should be
used for attendees and the leader to evaluate the meeting. Prepare a
arbitrary and evaluate the meeting's success. More importantly, apprentice
from the comments received. There is little point of going through the
motions of a analysis if you accept no ambition of acting on it.
CONCLUSION
We've all been involved with such meetings where the being active it is
either aloof to the needs of the attendees or the subject matter is acutely
arid. It should come as no surprise that excessive or pointless meetings are
apparently the number one cause for decreased abundance in organizations, be
it corporate or nonprofit (as Dilbert has pointed out to us time and afresh).
Understand this,Discount Ravens jersey, unless someone is looking for an alibi to avoid a work
appointment, nobody wants to attend an inconsequential meeting.
INTRODUCTION
I am not a big fan of assuming. Many advisers like people to get up,
amplitude, agitate hands with everyone or hold a group hug. This can be
downright awkward to people. Get to the point and move on.
REVIEW
Print up agendas in advance so everyone knows the meeting's purpose,
the items to be discussed, the timetable, and what is needed for
preparation. It is not uncommon to also advise the dress cipher for
the meeting. If possible, forward agendas and any other items in beforehand
for the attendees to abundantly prepare themselves for the meeting.
This will save considerable time during the meeting.
Follow the old aggressive principle of: "Tell them what you are going to acquaint
them; Tell them, and then; Tell them what you've told them."
Developing a punchlist of action items at the cessation of the meeting
can be actual useful for certain situations.
Stick to the agenda. Start and end on time and maintain adjustment.
Got a gavel? Do not alternate to use it judiciously. Maintain civility and
decorum. Allow people to have their say but know when issues are accepting
out of hand or sidetracked.
Make the meeting advantageous. Keep it absorbing and informative;
Heck, make it fun if you can. Make it so the attendees feel that they
are not wasting their time.

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