Say goodbye to boring & ineffective meetings!
Debra Chantry-Taylor
Certified EOS Implementer ? | Accredited Family Business Advisor -Family Business Association | EOS? Business Coach New Zealand & Australia | Speaker & Author | Better Business Better Life | Business Action & Traction ?
Hi,
I apologise that this newsletter is a couple of weeks late.
I’ve had a bit of a cancer scare & so that took up a fair bit of my time & also my brain capacity.
The good news is that they were able to remove it all through surgery. I’ve been given the all-clear, it should be ok going forward & so we’re back!
This week, I’m excited about sharing one of my favourite EOS tools – the Level 10 Meeting.
BUSINESS TOOLS & REAL-LIFE LESSONS
Meetings got you down? Let’s talk about making them less crappy & more productive.
Level 10 meetings are so named because they’re designed to get your team to love their meetings & rating them a 10/10.
When I ask my clients, before they start the EOS journey, how they generally rate the effectiveness of their meetings, they usually give it a 3 or 4, out of 10.
Why is that??
Well, there are at least 7 reasons, maybe more:
I remember when I worked at Council (PS: It was the worst 18 months of my life!!) & we added up how much time I spent in meetings – it was around 35 hours per week.?
Given that the average work week is supposed to be 37.5 hours, that didn’t leave much time to do actual work & at least another 5 of the issues above existed as well!
So, I fell in love with the EOS Level 10 Meetings when I got introduced to them around 7 years ago.
There are lots of articles & tools that can help you run more effective & enjoyable meetings using the Level 10 methodology – some of them are listed below.
This article is about the 3 most common real-life pitfalls & where, even with the best intentions, Level 10 Meetings don’t quite work as they were intended.
The first 25 minutes are all about checking in & reporting, especially around the scorecard & rocks being on track or off track & identifying all possible issues.
Everything that is off-track is meant to be dropped down to the issues list & then discussed in terms of order of priority.
The challenge is that some people will want to tell you at the reporting stage why they are off track.
They will go into the story of what’s going on. They might even try to solve whatever the issue is by suggesting how it can be fixed.
I’m not saying that they shouldn’t have an opportunity to explain, but what if you spend 15-20 minutes (And I’ve seen longer!) talking about this ‘issue’, only to find there’s a way more important issue in the business & you have run out of time to IDS it?
I see this at almost all of the first lot of Level 10 Meetings that I observe with the leadership teams I work with.
It’s just a learning & discipline thing that can be easily corrected.
The solution is to hold each other to the task. Stop your fellow team members from hopping into the story & force it to be pushed down to the Issues List so that you can discuss it at Issue Solving time, if & only if it’s one of the most important issues.
Stick to reporting only at reporting time & you’ll find you have much more productive meetings.
2. Not solving issues at the root cause.
As humans, we love to jump to solving an issue really quickly. It’s human nature – we don’t want to waste time.
The challenge is that often, we don’t get to the root cause. And then the issue often reappears over & over again. The most important part of IDSing is the Identification or 'I’ part.
In general terms, I suggest spending around 65% of your time asking questions to get to the real cause of the issue.
Ask clarifying questions like Why (up to 5 times), What, Who, When, How?
Etc etc.
For more info, you can watch the Harvard video on the 5 whys . Watch here.
But for some real-life examples, feel free to drop me an email & I’ll happily spend half an hour with you, sharing several examples & showing you how they could have been solved better.
The next downfall is not exploring ALL of the options in the Discuss part.
I would suggest around 30% of the time, asking how we could solve this. And what else? And what else? Until you have all the possible options on the table.
Then, you can discuss the merits & cons of each option before making a decision as a team.
The final part, the Solve, should be the quickest part & it must be an action item for the next 7 days. A bit size chunk that can take you some way towards resolving the issue.
The solve doesn’t necessarily have to solve the full issue – it’s the first step towards solving.
3. Not preparing properly for the meeting.
I once sat through a level 10 meeting where one of the Leadership Team spent almost all of the 60 minutes of IDS, taking us through a spreadsheet & report line by line.
If this report was part of a solution from a previous issue – let’s say the action point was to do some more research or produce a report for the Leadership Team for the next meeting – then it’s probably best to circulate this report before the meeting, ask for the team to read it & tell them what you want them to give you as a result of reading this:
Whatever it is, circulate it beforehand, move straight to questions & then get the decision that you need.
And make sure that you have done some decent prep work before you come into the meeting, on all of the agenda items.
Good preparation for a meeting means that you have:
I hope this has been helpful – I’m always more than happy to answer your questions about Level 10 Meetings – they’re one of my favourite EOS tools!
LINKS TO USEFUL STUFF
This section gives you quick access to 9 links - to articles, blogs, podcasts & stuff that will help you to create a better business & lead a better life.
Better Business Articles
2. Level 10 Meeting? - Streamline weekly meetings & eliminate wasted time.
3. What Does The Perfect Level 10 Meeting Look Like?? - It’s called Level 10 for a reason. So what makes it a 10/10?
领英推荐
Podcast
2. Guitar Breaks: How a Business Leader Found Harmony in Work and Life | Julia Ewert - Discover the harmony between work and life.
3. Insights from EOS Implementation and Personal Growth | Jonathan Smith - Unlock the secrets of entrepreneurship with EOS.
Better Life
2. 22 Tools Productive People Use to Finish Work Faster, Reach Their Goals, and Reduce Stress - Unlock the secrets to effective time management with 22 productivity tools.
3. 5 Productivity Hacks for Busy Entrepreneurs- Uncover the secrets to maximising productivity as an entrepreneur with expert advice and actionable tips!
MEET OUR TEAM
In this section, I will be introducing the team & our Trusted Partners.
This week, I'm excited to introduce someone truly special to you all – my good friend business partner, Adam Harris!
Ever met someone who simply loves t ask questions? (Except for me!)?
That's Adam for you… He’s my brother from another mother.??
With an inquisitive mind that never rests, Adam delves deep, peeling away layers to help individuals and teams grasp different perspectives and challenge assumptions.
We’re both passionate about empowering leaders to create impact.
Adam works with me in our Business Action & Integrated Executives businesses, but he also has his own consulting business (Frank & Fearless) as well as his own podcast & newsletter.
How do you help people?
I just love asking questions; my inquisitive, wondering mind means I like to dig deep and peel away the layers. Helping an individual or team understand a different perspective, view or assumption, and the result of the change or difference is Why I love it.
Why did you get into what you are doing?
I was looking at becoming a member of a CEO mastermind group. www.tec.com.au, when I was no longer a CEO, I was invited to become a chair and run a group; I fell in love with experiential learning and chaired a group for 10 years; I came across EOS and fell in Love and going through the process ourselves, decided a move to NZ was living our true EOS live.
What do you love about it?
I love holding space and facilitating a room to give individuals and teams permission to play, be comfortably uncomfortable and have 'Frank and Fearless' conversations. This allows for the hard work to be done, and the results for all are great to see; the impact on purpose-driven organisations is so rewarding.
What do you do in your spare time, pursuing other passions?
I perform regularly in an 'Improv' group, I am a regular at the gym or out walking, and I love watching my beloved Football team, Nottingham Forest (irrespective of the time).
Tell us something that very few people know about you?
I am a qualified butcher, baker, and candlestick maker. I used to be a professional lookalike and had a business with 10,000 blowup dolls!
FIND OF THE WEEK
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Dr V. was brought over to NZ to help with the formulation of this product.
Here is the official information on it:
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In short, Nutrient Rescue's Double Shot delivers on its promise of convenient, effective nutrition & it tastes good. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking a simple way to enhance their health.
I order it on a monthly subscription, but you can also buy it casually - click here.
We are here to help you live a better life by creating a better business. We are real-life business owners with years of experience & a strong desire to make a huge difference in entrepreneurs' lives.
If anything here resonates with you or you would like our help, then please get in contact. Just reply to this newsletter & let us know who you would like to speak to.... Or visit our webpage & contact any of our team from their pages.
If you know someone who would benefit from reading this, then please forward it to them ??
Debra Chantry-Taylor
Certified EOS Implementer | Accredited Family Business Advisor | Entrepreneurial Leadership & Business Coach | Speaker & Workshop Facilitator
You can check out previous newsletters here.
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