It’s March 15th which historically has been known as the Ides of March. My father always has said we can usually expect one more snowfall in Toronto on, or around this date. I’m always happy when it gets to be this time of year as I start seeing that spring is (usually) just around the corner.
For today’s FlashbackFriday I wanted to reach back to a former blog post (in fact one from the precursor blog to Teams365 – the BizToolkit blog), on a topic which I think has major significance today – Meetings!
Meetings can be the “bane” of most employees existence, and aren’t always held effectively. It’s not uncommon for leaders I work with, scheduled into 30 or more hours of meeting a week, leaving them little time for work they need to accomplish, strategic thinking and other discussions.
Here’s what I posted in March of 2014 as Teams365 #86:
Five Ways to Keep Your Meetings on Track
Copyright Jennifer Britton, All Rights Reserved, 2013 : Originally published on the BizToolkit blog, 2013
Meetings are a huge time-consumer in today's workforce. What is the state of your meetings? How efficient are they? Today's blog post includes five ways to keep your meetings on track, so you can avoid what Patrick Lencioni describes as "Death by Meeting" syndrome.
Some key tips to keep in mind are:
1. Assign a meeting facilitator. Facilitation comes from the Latin word "facilis" or to make easy. The facilitators role is to keep an eye on the process. As the facilitator, the focus is on:
2. Have an agenda, and assign timelines to it. Does each meeting have an agenda, which has been circulated before the meeting to ensure that nothing else needs to be added? Putting time-frames on each item, and sticking to them, helps to manage time, as well as identify issues which may need to be carried into other venues. What does the agenda for your next meeting look like? How much time will it take?
3. Ensure who you need is at the table. A common challenge in effective meetings is not having who you need at the table. This may be someone who has specific information, background on a topic, or authority to sign off/give approval. Who needs to be at your meeting, based on the agenda?
4. Confirm Action Steps and Responsibilities - A common pitfall is that action steps, and who is responsible for moving things forward, is lost in the dialogue. Key action steps, and those who will take responsibility for making sure they are done, should be summarized at the end of each meeting. What are the major next steps? Who will be responsible for them?
5. Circle Back to Make sure Actions are being Actioned. What is the status of the action steps? How are they being moved forward immediately, and in the longer term. Who needs to know? Who is accountable? Action Plans are only as good as they are tracked and followed. What will support the implementation of decisions, and the reporting out of these actions?
As you consider your upcoming meetings, in which context might you be able to incorporate some of these ideas?
As much as the meeting content may have changed in the last six years, I think a lot of these pointers remain the same. What’s the one tweak you could make to your meetings which would help them become more productive and efficient?
Enjoy your conversations,
Jennifer
For today’s FlashbackFriday I wanted to reach back to a former blog post (in fact one from the precursor blog to Teams365 – the BizToolkit blog), on a topic which I think has major significance today – Meetings!
Meetings can be the “bane” of most employees existence, and aren’t always held effectively. It’s not uncommon for leaders I work with, scheduled into 30 or more hours of meeting a week, leaving them little time for work they need to accomplish, strategic thinking and other discussions.
Here’s what I posted in March of 2014 as Teams365 #86:
Five Ways to Keep Your Meetings on Track
Copyright Jennifer Britton, All Rights Reserved, 2013 : Originally published on the BizToolkit blog, 2013
Meetings are a huge time-consumer in today's workforce. What is the state of your meetings? How efficient are they? Today's blog post includes five ways to keep your meetings on track, so you can avoid what Patrick Lencioni describes as "Death by Meeting" syndrome.
Some key tips to keep in mind are:
1. Assign a meeting facilitator. Facilitation comes from the Latin word "facilis" or to make easy. The facilitators role is to keep an eye on the process. As the facilitator, the focus is on:
- starting and ending the meeting on time,
- keeping the flow moving,
- summarizing and capturing key discussion points,
- identifying issues which may need to be shifted to other events (use of a parking lot)
- summarizing key action steps
2. Have an agenda, and assign timelines to it. Does each meeting have an agenda, which has been circulated before the meeting to ensure that nothing else needs to be added? Putting time-frames on each item, and sticking to them, helps to manage time, as well as identify issues which may need to be carried into other venues. What does the agenda for your next meeting look like? How much time will it take?
3. Ensure who you need is at the table. A common challenge in effective meetings is not having who you need at the table. This may be someone who has specific information, background on a topic, or authority to sign off/give approval. Who needs to be at your meeting, based on the agenda?
4. Confirm Action Steps and Responsibilities - A common pitfall is that action steps, and who is responsible for moving things forward, is lost in the dialogue. Key action steps, and those who will take responsibility for making sure they are done, should be summarized at the end of each meeting. What are the major next steps? Who will be responsible for them?
5. Circle Back to Make sure Actions are being Actioned. What is the status of the action steps? How are they being moved forward immediately, and in the longer term. Who needs to know? Who is accountable? Action Plans are only as good as they are tracked and followed. What will support the implementation of decisions, and the reporting out of these actions?
As you consider your upcoming meetings, in which context might you be able to incorporate some of these ideas?
As much as the meeting content may have changed in the last six years, I think a lot of these pointers remain the same. What’s the one tweak you could make to your meetings which would help them become more productive and efficient?
Enjoy your conversations,
Jennifer
Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).
Check out the new 19 Tips for Productivity On-Demand Course. If this is your year to get things moving, check it out now. Join Jenn for bi-weekly live group calls until July. $129 US. Learn more and enroll here.
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).
Check out the new 19 Tips for Productivity On-Demand Course. If this is your year to get things moving, check it out now. Join Jenn for bi-weekly live group calls until July. $129 US. Learn more and enroll here.
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