David Baddiel, Collaborative Intelligence and Word Perfect

Do you like the work of David Baddiel? What are you doing on 3rd July? That’s when I will be in conversation with him in London (and online). This was originally planned for May but, thanks to the delay,?we will be able to talk about his brilliant new book, ‘My Family: The Memoir’, published the following day.

'Laugh out loud funny … The read of the summer.’ THE SUNDAY TIMES

If you attend in person you can buy copies and David will sign them. But it’s also live-streaming. And it’s all for a good cause. See the link in Comments to buy tickets.

Here are this month’s three business tips:-

***Stop complaining about virtual meetings and make them more engaging.

*Bring a smile.

*Break the ice by chatting to people about what you can see behind them (un-blur backgrounds where possible).

*Have everyone speak early, even if it’s just to say what they have on their feet (brogues, kitten heels, slippers… nothing?)

*If it’s hybrid, include those who are remote. Place the camera (and yourselves) so they can actually see people in the room. Give the camera plenty of eye contact when addressing the group. Speak up so they can hear properly. Keep the meeting short. Share useful info/documents before and after the meeting, in a timely manner.

***Collaboration can be productive but it is not an end in itself.

I am often called in to help teams - because #improv is a great ‘technology’ (thanks Adam Kingl ) for working better together but beware the dangers. Search ‘Collaboration Overload’ and you’ll see what I mean. What are the possible costs people fear?

*More meetings

*Nothing gets done

*Dithering instead of decisions

*Resentment over unfair allocation of work/resources/bonuses

*The go-to ‘good guys' (actually it’s often women), who are open to helping others, can become overloaded.

In the chapter on #Collaboration in my book #InTheMoment, published by Kogan Page Publishing , I address the issues of not just how to collaborate better but when it may be effective and when not.

**When presenting don’t learn it off by heart. That’s what actors do, but their skill is to make it look like they're making it up.

Most of the time, I have to encourage leaders to rehearse, but lately I have come across people who rote learned each word - but then feel constrained in front of their audience. So keep it conversational.?I heard the excellent Graham Davies once suggest that we shouldn’t be ‘word perfect’ but just aim to keep it about 80% the same each time you rehearse.

So...

*You still need to rehearse, so you keep to time, make it your own and don't end up waffling.

*Handwrite bullet points on (numbered) index cards.

*Use Voice Memo (or Recorder) on your smartphone - to create some soundbites to kick-start your writing process. Then, later once you’ve got a flow you’re happy with, record the whole piece and listen back it as you sit on the train/do the cooking/pump iron.

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