Sometimes you have to spend time, money, or resources up front in order to save in the long run. It’s kind of like insurance. Every time I pay the house, car, life, health, business insurance premiums I think of how much more ready cash I would have if I didn’t make these payments. However, I know in the long run I am wiser and prudent by making these payments. Just have one real need for any of these types of coverage and you are delighted you made those payments. I was raised with this philosophy as my father whom I revered and respected tremendously was a life insurance executive.
The same holds true for many of the good management practices we know we should practice, but often don’t. Preparing and conducting meetings, writing policies and procedures, following checklists, dedicating time to proper hiring and training, establishing and following communications methods to keep staff well informed, and on and on and on.
Here is a valuable, thought-provoking way to look at preparing for and conducting meetings that is unique, but has some solid wisdom behind it. I credit Seth Godin, best-selling author of more than 12 books, for the essence of these ideas. He offers tips on how to ensure meetings are short, focused and productive which I have slightly added to. You can find Seth’s complete text on his blog at http://sethgodin.typepad.com.
* Plan ahead by ensuring you get the right people and only the right people in the room. The right people are primarily those that need to be there because they 1) have a vested interest in the topic/decisions being made 2) have information necessary to the decision. Don’t waste the time and talent of others by unnecessarily inviting others to the meeting. If you or the attendees can’t state why they are being included, they likely don’t need to be there.
* Ensure meetings start on time and end when the end needs to occur not when the calendar or conference room schedule says they should be ending. Give everyone the gift of time by ending early or give the organization the gift of a good discussion and decision if the meeting needs to go a bit longer. Timeliness honors and respects those who arrive on time. Become known as a person who starts on time and can be relied upon to manage a meeting efficiently and produces results.
* Make sure you publish the purpose, desired outcomes and expectations before the meeting and you conduct the meeting toward these purposes.
* Set the stage as necessary – make introductions, make the environment welcoming and appropriate, state the intended outcomes as you start the meeting.
* If equipment is needed, set everything up and ensure it is fully functioning before everyone arrives. This is not only efficient it is a clear sign of respect for the time of others.
* Keep an action log. This is a simple document that records any action item that was assigned during the meeting. Send the Action Log to all attendees via an email following the meeting so everyone knows the outcomes, expectations and timelines for the next steps. This simple step exponentially increases the probability that action items will get done. And after all isn’t taking action against a need of the organization why you called the meeting in the first place?
Often times the best way to change an organization that may have fallen into sloppy habits is to simply start doing things differently. It isn’t necessary to state that you’re going to ‘run meetings differently around here’. Just start running meetings differently. Pretty soon you’ll have people noticing and appreciating the difference. This is one New Year’s Resolution you can do that costs you only a bit of preparation time and gains you significant rewards in productivity, effectiveness, respect and in the long run saves money. Start today by spending to save!
Joyce Friel
Peak Performance Consulting, LLC
11353 E. Raintree Drive
Scottsdale, AZ 85255
480 236 4266