meetings | made effective

Effective meetings come from a variety of methods which need to be matched to your intended message, audience and outcome. However, challenging your meeting with a few questions first before it even gets scheduled is essential to its success. Like: Do we even need to have a meeting? Are you having a meeting just because, or is it essential to the success and support of the people required to attend? If it is essential, then carry on. However, if you doubt the true productivity from the event – rethink your intentions.

 
Does this need to be a meeting, or should I hold a training workshop? How will I actually enrich what employees really want and need?

 Is my intended content/message best for the entire group? How will it impact those who are actually proficient in the subject matter already? Would this message be better ingested in multiple one offs?

 Will my staff leave this ‘event’ with a sensation that they do not want to miss the next one due to the importance they felt this time?

 Is this my meeting or their meeting? Could a speaker other than myself enrich the same message more effectively? If so who?

Is the environment/location of the meeting conducive of my intended purpose and message?

Did the event show respect for their time? How do I make it fun/enjoyable?Did we celebrate? (Who doesn’t like to celebrate right!?)

 My staff; are they required to be at the meeting, or are they a vital part of the meeting?

 P5 | Poor Preparation Promises Poor Participation

• Plan the meeting

Ensure you get the most ‘bang for your buck’. The hour or so you have with your entire team in one captivated setting is precious. Treat it as such by planning your meeting well in advance to maximize the time invested. Detail an agenda for the event and distribute it in advance to maximize your staff’s ability to engage and participate.

• Stick to the plan

Your agenda is designed to focus everyone’s attention and efforts during the allotted time. Your plan should be complete with the time you plan to spend on each topic. Do not allow late comers to impact those who were on time. Capture non agenda topics that arise on a ‘Parking lot’ to be covered at a later time.

• Analyze it afterwards – with honesty 

We’ve all been to bad meetings, admit when yours is less than stellar and adjust. The best gauge for whether or not your message is hitting home is to observe your audience. Do they arrive on time, or late? Are they on the edge of their seats or falling asleep? Do they contribute and ask questions or sit silently waiting for the hour to come to an end? Take 10 minutes post meeting to reflect on its impact and now your next meeting has the potential to be even better.

tools

Meeting Planning Worksheet  |  Meeting PAL (deliverable)   |  Parking Lot  |  Plus/Delta collection sheet

10 ideas to motiv your meetings

 Consider: What’s the risk of a non-engaging meeting that occurs week after week? What happens to the perception and credentials of the leader who holds the unexciting event?

 Use the following ideas to help create engaging events that enable the transfer of information and learning over to your staff effectively.

1. Turn the meeting into a competitive game- Jeopardy is a powerfully fun way to communicate and solidify new learning points, news and updates.
2. Give hilarious prizes to those who participate, give correct answers or add value to the meeting. Nothing motivates and energizes a half sleep crowd like a Napoleon Dynamite Trapper Keeper folder.
3.  Assign rotating lead/speaking roles to staff members- Give topics (and direction) in advance to individuals so that they facilitate a portion of the meeting from their own point of view. Peer to peer communication is often times comprehended and respected greater than that from a leader.
4.  20/20 group coaching- Hind sight is always 20/20 we say. So look back at the past weeks performance and undress what happened, why it happened and what the upcoming week’s performance can benefit from after reviewing it. Good and bad occurrences provide learning equally.
5. Require prerequisite work to attend- Bring your numbers, your goals, your ideas, your questions around (this weeks topic) we will be discussing them all at our next meeting. Now the meeting truly is made by the staff and is better suited for the staff, not to mention their buy in to the meeting discussion.
6. Recognition based of success – which leads to training- Select a top performer in a metric or skill to demo what they do to maintain success in that category and make it a functional working practice session for all to learn from.
7. Challenge your team- Rather than tell them what you know they are not proficient in, skillfully ask them questions in a group setting which require them to demo the skillset. If they can’t do it in our safe zone, the likelihood they can do it on game day is slim to none. Get it out in the open now, and encourage the team to support the demonstrated need. {Ask me about the hotel story, I’ll challenge you}
8. Explain the Why- Often times we roll out new procedures or practices after we get the instructions from the powers that be, however the reasons behind the change is unknown to the staff. Give them a sneak peek into the exciting world of middle management so that they know why the change has come and how they are a valuable asset to its success – not the mention the WIIFM!
9. Trivia- Humans love trivia and the opportunity to show off what they know. Make it fun and reward them as individuals or as teams for accurate information/demonstrated skills. (If people will go to bars and do it, they will love to do it at work)
10. Thank Them- Show appreciation for their timely attendance and productive engagement and they will be more likely to return again. It’s how humans operate.

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