Management Information |
Vampire Meetings and How To Slay Them
Meetings can be like mythical vampires - sucking the life out of intelligent and creative people. And sucking the funds out of businesses. Unfortunately, there are too many of these meetings in business today. A UCLA study said the "typical" meeting includes nine people. If you have nine people in a meeting room for one hour, you have consumed one entire workday - plus some. What about the dollars associated with this? Say the average salary of meeting attendees is $40,000. Their hourly pay is about $20.00. Nine people for one hour costs $180.00. Not bad, right? But consider the implications. People don't spend just one hour a year in meetings. In a 3-M online survey in 1998, people reported spending between one and 1.5 days per week in meetings. They also said 25% to 50% of those meetings was wasted. Being conservative, let's think 25% of one day's worth of meetings?that's two hours. Per week. Times nine people. 18 hours a week. Times $20.00 an hour. 18 times 20 times 48 weeks = $17,280.00. This is a conservative number. For only nine people. How many people are in your company? And how much time do they spend in meetings each week? These figures do not include the preparation and debriefing time, their benefits, meeting and travel expense or, worst of all, opportunity cost. Really, what could these people have been doing for your business if they weren't tied up in ineffective meetings week after week? So, what can we do about these vampire meetings? Start by looking at your regularly scheduled meetings. What is the objective? Are they really necessary? Can most of the agenda be covered via paper or email? Do you need all the people there for every meeting? Or can some attend only occasionally? Once you know this meeting must be held with these (fewer, I hope) people, then set a meeting objective for each time. And share it with people before and at the start of the meeting. Post it on a flipchart if possible. Typical meeting objectives include: Generate ideas to overcome our funding problem, Find innovative ways to cut the budget without cutting service, Gain understanding of our new retirement plan, Get updates on three key projects, etc. The advantage of having a clear objective for your time together is that people will police themselves and stay on-topic. And if they don't, you can point to the objective and say something like, "We have 30 minutes left and still have to achieve this goal for this meeting." Knowing and sharing the objective is a wonderful way to manage the group's energy and focus. Another way to keep your meetings productive and efficient is to manage the people dynamics. One of the most common meeting problems is when one person talks and talks and others never get to say a word. If possible, have a meeting facilitator whose job is, among other things, to make sure everyone gets appropriate airtime. When you do not have the luxury of a content-neutral facilitator, then the chairperson must assume responsibility for managing the group. It's easier than it may seem. In this situation of one dominant personality, the chairperson can enforce brevity for all. Explain that you want everyone to give his or her thoughts in a sentence first and then elaborate on it. So, when that individual starts his/her comments with an unfocused beginning ("20 years ago, I worked at a company and we had something similar happen, except there were some differences like there was this woman named Ann?."), you have the permission to step in and say, "Could you give us your point in a sentence first, Paul, and then some background?" Being even-handed in implementing this approach is very important, obviously. Another technique to help in this situation is to paraphrase the speaker's point. Interrupt when he or she takes a breath and say, "So you're saying that?" and when they agree, you turn to the rest of the group and ask if anyone has anything to add or a different perspective. Thus you use the power of paraphrasing to help the speaker be concise while taking back the control of the group. You might even just jump in when the speaker takes a breath and say, "Good point, Paul. Does anyone else have a different perspective?" and turn your eyes to others. How you close a meeting is very important. Much like mythical vampires who fade away at sunrise, many meetings tend to sputter to a close when the allotted time runs out. We've all been in meetings where the chairperson is trying to set up another meeting while attendees bolt for the exits. For a meeting that energizes attendees, do this instead. Five minutes before the ending time, call a halt to discussion and revisit each of the agenda items and state what was decided. Then identify next steps with as many specifics as possible. "Sandy, you said you would investigate prices for printing a brochure, right? When can you have this done?" Also set the time and place for the next meeting and tell participants what they can expect from you before then (notes from this meeting, an agenda for the next one, an interim email, etc.). By pointing out what has been accomplished in the meeting, identifying next steps, and setting the next meeting (not to mention ending on time!), you will create a sense of momentum and people will feel the time they spent in the meeting was productive. Like a wooden stake, these tips will slay pale, unproductive vampire meetings and replace them with lively, effective ones. Attendees might actually look forward to your future meetings! And you will, too. Peg Kelley, MBA, has been a professional meeting facilitator for 25 years & is co-author of the booklet "39 Secrets for Effective and Enjoyable Meetings" available for $6.00 at her Facilitation Plus website at www.meetingswithmuscle.com. She publishes a free e-newsletter on Meeting Management Tips. Send your email address to her at Kelley@facplus.com if you want to receive it.
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
Minimising Conflict With Effective Communication Did you know there are 5 types of communication that lead to conflict? Let's look at them.. Project Management - Its Just A Button I once worked with a developer who showed up at every product demo and constantly suggested improvements for the product. Don't get me wrong. Business Innovation - Organizational Structure Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are other useful definitions in this field, for example, creativity can be defined as consisting of a number of ideas, a number of diverse ideas and a number of novel ideas. Holding Effective Meetings Can Be Easier than You Think! I'm sure you've experienced those typical "headache" meetings! You know the kind I'm talking about -- the ones where the key players are running late, no one knows exactly why the meeting was called, and there's not a single agenda in sight. Everyone's sitting around wondering, "Will this last 20 minutes or will we be here all day?" It's impossible to tell!Then, once the meeting finally gets off the ground, the real pandemonium starts. Employee Success! - 7 Ways Feedback Works By sharing how well you are doing and how well your expectations are met, your people get to understand better. So, frequent, realistic, objective feedback is not seen as criticism, more a way of each in your team helping each other get better, building on the success you already have. How to Make a Difference Every Day Every day, everyone can make the world a better place. It's simple; it's quick and it is free. Innovation Management - idea selection, development and commercialisation, what are the differences? Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem identification and idea generation and, similarly, distinct processes that enhance idea selection, development and commercialisation. Successful Managing Through Delegation Managers should avoid the tendency to constantly delegate to the same one or two capable individuals. This practice only overloads the best personnel while slighting all others. How to Attract and Retain the Right People If you're one of the many executives struggling with finding and keeping the right people to propel your business forward, you'll find these insights helpful.If you're frustrated by trying to motivate people, work instead to develop a company where people are self-motivated - where they do things because they want to. Bar Charts Brought to Life: Index of Interactive Information for HTML and PDF Bar Charts and the Information ChallengeWhether one is an unknown entrepreneur or Donald Trump, an elementary school teacher or a university president, a 6th grader researching other countries or a government leader visiting them, each person in any capacity has at least one thing in common: information.Let me explain why I use bar charts as an example. How Invisible Communication Barriers Kill Productivity Many kinds of interferences or disturbances can confuse a message. Communication specialists call them ''noise. Million Dollar Support System For You and For Your Business Whether you are a consultant, coach, business owner, doctor, professional, corporate elite or student, whatever your profession is, moving towards your dream requires taking courageous steps. Making long-lasting changes requires us to create a network of support. How To Learn Great Management from Our Kids Learning comes from many places. And one of the most wondrous opportunities is right in front of us. Understand What Flows Through Your Business to Find Improvement I remember once seeing a cartoon which showed two people working a counter. On the wall behind them was a sign which read, "Quality Work, Low Price, Fast Service - Pick Two. Turnover is Not a Problem "Ha!" you say. "For someone to make a statement like that, they obviously haven't worked in the real world and certainly have never had to run a company. Top Ten Tips About Communicating with Your Employees Effectively Communication is the basis of who you are as a manager/leader in business. The rules are simple and the good news is that you can learn them and develop your skills. Cultural Differences: Making it Work Virtually Working virtually adds a whole new dimension to the phrase "cultural differences". It immediately becomes apparent how different people around the world work, live and network. 4 Tips on How to Avoid Communication Lines Breakdown For example, in a small, two-person company, there is often the greatest opportunity for direct conversation and discussion throughout the day. There are only two possibilities for verbal communication and it's usually quick, easy and descriptive. Real Costs in Distribution and What it Means To Your Company Ever feel that all the lawyers in thh Country need to give their lives up for our freedom, by exiting the planet forthwith? Yes, me too. In an article in CCJ-Commercial Carrier Journal entitled "Ticking Away" The Insurance Time Bomb. How To Get What You Really Want As a small business owner, entrepreneur or independentprofessional, it's important to make plans. It's also important to have the time to let things happen. |
home | site map | contact us |