BONUS TIPS TO MAKE GREAT MEETINGS YOUR SUPER POWER

“Meetings at work present great opportunities to showcase your talent. Do not let them go to waste.”

Abhishek RatnaNo Parking. No Halt. Success Non Stop!

Welcome to the fourth and final issue in our Great Meeting series.  Having covered the essentials of meeting preparation, facilitation and follow-up, this week we turn our attention to a grab bag of other tips and techniques – from soup to nuts – that can help you and your team increase the efficacy of meetings.  Most of these lessons learnt came from my time on what to date is still the most high-performing team I’ve had the privilege to lead or observe at work – i.e. the HR Department at ABI Holdings Ltd.

Creative Formats – Introducing the ABI HR Huddle

You’ve probably heard of the stand-up meeting being used as an incentive for participants to keep things short and to the point.  I have a successful history of using a variation of that which might be of interest to you. Allow me to introduce the ABI HR Huddle.  Here’s how my HR team and I used it to secure alignment, preserve a sense of urgency and eliminate busy, non-productive work.

Every morning, we would gather in the common area of our department and take turns answering the following questions:

  1. What’s on your plate (agenda) for today?
  2. How does that link in/align with the department’s strategic objectives?
  3. What assistance/support do you require in order to achieve your goals?

Depending on each person’s responses to these questions, we might take a decision to request that persons defer their planned agenda in order to pitch in and assist a colleague with a task that was more pressing/time sensitive.

In addition to helping us remain productive and focused, the huddles ensured that we were all aware of what was happening.  This amped up our department’s efficiency as it enabled us to pinch hit for each other.  It also built camaraderie as persons with slim agendas readily volunteered to help out their peers knowing that their colleagues would reciprocate when the shoe was on the other foot.

NB: To download a complimentary job aid to help you stage your own team huddle, click .

Establish and Communicate Ground Rules Well in Advance

During the meeting is the time for rule enforcement – not rule establishment.  Otherwise, you risk having your agenda go sideways as participants debate whether they consider the rule(s) in question acceptable.  In fact, depending on the culture within your organization or the mind-set of your stakeholder invitees, you may wish to adopt alternative language and refer to terms of engagement as opposed to rules.  Some folks – especially persons over whom you have no legitimate authority – may have an almost visceral response to being presented with rules.

Find the Sweet Spot

When it comes to follow-up, the goal is to find the sweet spot between micro-managing and achieving accountability. Once you’ve prepared and confirmed the plan of action including task owners, reporting schedules, required support/resources and due dates, you’ve laid the foundation for your participants to execute.  However, that doesn’t mean that you can sit back and trust that cruise control will get you to the desired destination.  Rather, what is required is vigilance and a light touch on the steering wheel/controls to adjust as required based on any course deviations resulting from unforeseen circumstances.  This light-touch follow up also sends a clear signal to your colleagues that their contribution is important and that you’re committed to supporting them in a way that is free of judgment yet fully committed to the desired outcomes.

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That brings us to the end of our four-part series on Great Meetings. Thanks to those who provided feedback either via comments on the website or social media or via direct messages.  UTDS is glad to have contributed to your individual and/or organizational development in this key area.  We continue to welcome your questions, comments and suggestions for other issues you’d like to see addressed in future blogs.

PS: Some readers have indicated that it would be helpful to have the information contained in this blog series in a single place/resource. We have considered that request and are pleased to announce that we will be publishing a Great Meetings e-book later this year. To sign up for updates on that publication, simply e-mail info@utdsinc.com and type Great Meetings in the subject line.

 



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