Meeting & Study Guide

  Be Prepared For Meetings How to Lead Productive Business Meeting

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  Stay On Track Meetings 

Meetings: The Benefits and the Costs

Prepare Well

Guidelines For Leaders Meeting.

How a meeting evolves depends on the problem, the participants, and the leadership.  Circumstances change, and leaders must be prepared to listen and adapt.  Consequently, no single formula can guarantee the success of a meeting, but there are guidelines and essential principles that you can use to assist you as you make judgments about how a meeting should proceed :

*  Make Participants Feel Accepted

Everyone has a need to feel important and accepted by others. Refrain from giving the impression that you think some contributions are good and others are not. Try to avoid showing impatience with the person who talks too much, too long, or has difficulty expressing his or her points. Let every member of the group know that you are honestly trying to understand what each has to say.  

Start Fast

Stay On Track

Close Decisively

Visual Aids

Problem And Cause

*  Promote an Open Atmosphere.

Avoid evaluating and judging opinions, ideas, and proposals presented by those at yours meeting - at least when those ideas are first stated. Quick countering statements often block progress.  For example, you might be tempted to make a quick reply : " Oh, we tried that last year, and it didn't work!"  If you had allowed yourself time for consideration, you might have realized that conditions had changed, that the idea had not been given a fair trial, or that new resources were available to make the old idea work.  Your quick reply could have already shut off several potential solutions

In general, you should avoid turning down ideas only because they didn't work for someone else.  The success of any idea always depends on the skill, commitment, and enthusiasm of those who have responsibility for implementing it.

*  Ask Productive Questions.

Questions are one of your most powerful tools.  Skilled leaders use them for much more than just obtaining information : 

• To open discussion. example : "Joe, your department faces this problem often. What do your experiences tell us we should do about this in the other departments?"

• To guide the course of discussion.  Examples : "We've been talking about the causes of the problem. Are we ready to move on the ideas on how to solve this one?" "What might be the result or that proposal?"

• To clarify thinking.  Examples : "Is that what you're suggesting. Mike? That.." "What do you mean by 'full' responsibility, Mary?" "Would you explain a little of just how that works for your staff, Pete?"   "Bill, what your understanding of what Betty is recommending?"

• To establish agreement.   Examples : "Is Jack's idea something we should all try?"    "Any reason why we shouldn't try this for, say, a month?"  " What conclusion should we draw from what's been said so far?"  

• To spark non-participants.  Examples : "Will that idea work for you, Mike?"  "You look very thoughtful, Susan - what's your suggestion?"

• To obtain information.   Examples : "What have been your experiences with this kind of a problem?"  "How did you solve this kind of thing at the other store?"

• To limit or end discussion.  Examples : "Have we pretty much covered this?"  "Shall we move on to another point?"  "No reason to discuss this any further now, is there?"  "Almost time for lunch - any specific action you want to take on that idea?"

Take care in how you word your questions :

#   Be brief.   Long - winded questions will confuse your listeners and obscure your point.

#   Ask only one point per question.  If you ask a general question of an individual, such as, "What do you think the advantages and disadvantages are of the plan?" most people will give a long and disorganized reply.  Instead, break the question into its ewo parts : "What are the advantages?"  and then "What are the disadvantages?"

#   Be specific.  Use technical terms and jargon only when you're sure they will be understood by everyone.  In general, short, simple words carry the most impact.

#   Phrase questions to emphasize the positive.  Instead of saying : "What's wrong with that?"  say "Can that be improved?" or "How can that be improved?"

#   Use "W" words to introduce question.  Start questions with "why", "what", "when", "where", "who", or "how"  ( an honorary "w" word ).  "W" words encourage clear and concise thinking and reduce incidents of long-winded, rambling, and irrelevant replies.

#   Generally avoid questions which can be answered with a "yes" or "no".  A question that can be answered with just a "yes" or a "no" often blocks discussion.  Ask, "Did you try that idea in your department?"  and the reply of "yes" and "no" tells you and the other members of the group little.  Usually you'll need to follow-up with another question or two, such as, "How?" or "How much?" or "In what ways?"  It is better, faster, and less confusing to ask the right question first :  "How did that idea help in your department?"

*  Keep the Group Aware.

Occasionally, little progress is made toward solving the problem under consideration. Look for areas where progress has been made. For example, group members may now feel free to discuss a problem that had previously seemed too unmanageable or too sensitive, or the group may have reached agreement on the cause of the problem.  Agreement on the definition of the problem, its extent or limits, and its impact, or achieving a clear awareness of the people or departments involved, all represent areas of potential progress.

Acknowledging small successes to often more productive that continually focusing on what has not been accomplished.  Instead of saying : "Come on, guys, we're not getting anywhere on this one, " describe the progress that's been made and chart what needs to be done.  For example : " Now, we all agree that the situation has to change, and that service representatives have been placed in an impossible position.  Now, let's start considering how different policies will affect the problems the service people are encountering."

*  Work for Consensus.

Avoid situations in which a majority vote decides what action to take or which solution to accept.  Majority voting creates winners and losers and often leaves a dissatisfied minority.  When a consensus is built, everyone agrees that the solution is the best that can be agreed upon, at least under existing conditions.

*  Plan Future Action.

As solutions evolve, decisions must be made :

• What must be done to reach a final decision?

• Who is to take the action?

• What financial and personnel resources are needed?

• In what sequence should each step be taken?

• Who should be informed about the action to be taken?

*  Build in an Evaluation Plan

How will the success or failure of the proposed action be determined?  How much time does the group think is needed to give this new idea a fair trial?  What results have to e shown to consider the new plan a success?  What failures or shortcomings will signal that the new plan should be canceled?.   For example : Assume sales of a product have leveled off, and participants of your meeting propose a direct-mail campaign - 10,000 brochures will be sent out to potential customers,  Now is the time to establish an evaluation plan.  What will constitute success?   How many sales should be mailing be expected to generate?  Should the mailing pay for itself?  Or would a high level of inquiries be considered a success?  At what point do you decide to mail the brochure to another 10,000 people?  Some customers may respond more strongly to the second mailing about a product.  Should judgment on the project be delayed until all customers have received two mailings?

Without a specific plan or basis on which to judge the success of a solution, neither success nor failure may be recognized.  Build in plan for evaluating the siccess of your idea.......  For next information ...Read More,....

1. Starting Participation.

2. Leadership.

3. Brainstorming.

4. Guideline For Leaders.

5. Listening.