How to Determine Your Focus

Posted on by Scott

lens-1209823_640Four weeks. That’s all we have left. Pretty soon, 2016 will be in the history books. Is it just me, or does it seem like we were just here – staring at the end of 2015? My, how time flies.

The month of December always presents a quandary for me. Where do I put my focus? Do I double down and work hard to finish the year strong? You know, it makes sense to use the final weeks to close in on the year’s goals, finish up loose ends, or put the finishing touches on that last project. Or do I turn my sights to next year? After all, a little planning now will help me hit the ground running come January.

The answer, invariably, is both. You absolutely can’t step off of the gas now. While others are coasting through the holidays, you could be making the most of the time that’s left to focus the team and crush this last month of the year. And while you are taking care of business like the absolute boss that you are, let your mind ruminate just a bit on how to carry the right kind of momentum forward.

That’s a tall order, I know. You’d much prefer to let dreams of sugarplum fairies occupy your mind for the foreseeable future. But you’re a winner, aren’t you. You’re not going to let this opportunity slip away. To help you out, I want to provide a handful of questions you can ponder. Answering these should point you toward the focus for the next month, and clarify some goals for the next year.

  • What do I want to accomplish? That’s easy enough to answer, right? But think deeply on this one. What does victory this month look like? What does a great 2017 look like? When the final whistle blows, what specific actions will have defined success?

Research has shown that visualization has a tremendously positive impact on performance. When you paint a picture in your mind of success – in as much detail as possible – you unconsciously activate the mental and emotional triggers for victory. Just by imagining specific images of success, you prepare yourself to win. And it works with teams too.

  • What has worked in the past? What hasn’t? You’ve probably been asked these questions before. You may even have asked them yourself. But here’s the thing – most people ignore the answers. That means that, despite having identified specific steps that worked out for them in the past, people choose not to repeat them. And, having identified specific things that led to failure in the past, people choose to travel the same exact path again.

Isn’t that the definition of insanity? If something works, do it again! In fact, ramp up your efforts. Pour more time and resources into the actions that have proven successful for you. If something doesn’t work, stop doing it! Don’t keep slogging on because it’s comfortable or popular. Figure out what works and do that – only that.

  • Who will do what by when? Ultimately, it all comes down to this question. Goals aren’t achieved without action, and the key to action is specificity. So, who is going to act? What are they going to do? When will it be done?

So many great accomplishments wither and die having never left the planning stage. When opportunity knocks, you have to answer. While people wait for the right market conditions, or the work load to let up, opportunity stops knocking and walks away. And that feeling you get – you know, the one that says “maybe I should be doing something” – that’s opportunity’s knock.

Four weeks. That’s all we have left. How will you use them?

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Make Sure Cross-Training Sticks

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checklistLet’s face it, a lot of cross-training just doesn’t stick. Despite your best efforts to provide an employee with adequate training, they just can’t seem to grasp what they need to do and when. People wind back up in the same class time after time, but forward progress is agonizingly slow.

Before we go any further, I think it’s important to point out the difference between training and coaching. Many people confuse the two, but to me there’s a huge difference. Understanding how they are distinct is key to what we’re trying to accomplish.

Training focuses on relaying information. There’s data that needs to be transferred; a base of understanding that needs to be built. This is often accomplished through classroom instruction, online courses, webinars, or even using emails and articles like this one.

The goal with training is, obviously, to increase a person’s knowledge about the given subject. We want to make sure the brain understands the what, when, why, and how. Training focuses on presenting information in a way that’s easily retained.

Often, we use some kind of assessment to gauge how much of this knowledge a person has absorbed. A product of the month quiz, for example, helps you see how much information about a product you have retained. This is the standard model used in schools and universities to gauge the level of knowledge a person has acquired regarding any particular topic.

Coaching, on the other hand, focuses on turning knowledge into action. After all, information isn’t any good if you can’t actually use it. Coaching is the process of turning information into observable steps that can be replicated. The knowledge has to travel from the brain into practical application.

The goal with coaching then, is a change in behavior. The result of coaching should be the observable implementation of what’s been learned. Since I can’t look inside your mind to see what you know, I have to rely on what I can see – the way you perform – to ascertain whether or not the knowledge that’s been shared is having an impact.

Therefore, the measure of success when it comes to coaching is the successful achievement of a goal. The change in behavior should lead to the attainment of desired performance outcomes. That means I have to have something to measure against. There has to be a benchmark of some kind.

Cross-training requires both of these components. You can’t have someone attend a webinar and say they’ve been cross-trained. You can’t just show someone the mechanics and assume they understand why they’re doing what they’re doing. Effective cross-training happens when the learner can successfully demonstrate the desired skill under the appropriate circumstances, and understands why it’s important to do so.

This all means that cross-training is a process. For it to work, cross-training has to be carefully planned and methodically conducted. Here are some quick tips to help make sure your next cross-training effort goes smoothly.

  1. Identify the key steps that need to be learned. Zero in on the four or five actionable parts of the process to be learned and write them down. Spell them out in basic terms. Describe the action to be taken, point out why it’s important, then explain the specific steps.
  2. Assign the best possible teacher. Pick out a member of the team that’s an expert and ask them to coach the new kid. Pick a top performer – someone who gets it right. Don’t leave cross-training to someone whose own performance is sketchy.
  3. Put the learner in charge. Provide the person learning a new skill with a checklist of your key steps. Give them questions to answer and problems to solve. Cross-training should end when the learner feels they’ve accomplished their goal, not when the teacher decides to stop.
  4. Provide some structure. Make sure both the teacher and the learner understand the rules of the game. Give them both a copy of the skills to be shared. Walk through particulars regarding when the cross-training is to take place. Explain what success looks like.
  5. Ask for proof. Ultimately, you have to witness the new skill in action for cross-training to have successfully taken place. Ask the learner to complete the steps in your presence. Have them explain to you what they are doing and why.

Developing the team is a key aspect of leadership. The care and attention you provide to the growth of your crew speaks to your level of commitment to their success. Don’t leave this one to chance, and they won’t leave you hanging.

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Where to Find Time for Cross-Training

Posted on by Scott

clock-95330_640Last week, I shared some of the most common reasons well-intentioned managers aren’t able to make cross-training happen. Toward the end of that article, I suggested that, instead of shutting the business down in order to schedule this one-on-one time, it’s better to take advantage of naturally occurring opportunities to cross-train. Use the bits and pieces of time that pop up to help your staff acquire new skills.

For instance, even the busiest location or department encounters periods of down-time. When there’s a lull in customer traffic, or a break between projects, this is a good time to engage in some cross-training. There’s a saying in the restaurant business: “If there’s time to lean, there’s time to clean.” I’m not saying that people don’t deserve a rest, or that every second needs to be devoted to a specific agenda. But if you find yourself needing to cross-train someone on the team, take advantage of the opportunity when it’s presented. You may get interrupted, but that’s ok. Just pick back up when the next opening comes along.

Another useful place for some cross-training is during your team meetings. If you already have time set aside for team discussion, focus one of your agenda items on a skill that needs to be shared. Have the resident expert lead a mini class. It might take several meetings to get through, but there’s some dedicated time you can use to grow the team.

Team-ups is essentially a mentoring relationship. Take someone who needs to learn a skill and pair them with someone who’s an expert. Set a time frame, provide the necessary resources, and communicate your expectation that a successful team-up results in the newbie demonstrating a mastery of the new skill.

Finally, look for drive-by training opportunities. These are spur-of-the-moment chances to share knowledge and skill. I’m reminded of an old friend of mine named Daniel. He and I were both team leaders in the same company and had to generate a number of sales reports each month. Neither of us had any formal education with Microsoft Excel, so most of our knowledge came from trial and error. But as we looked for new ways to slice and dice the data, we developed a habit of sharing things with each other. I’d walk by and see Daniel working on a spreadsheet and ask him to show me what he was doing. Sometimes I’d discover a handy formula and would call him over to see it in action.

Train your team to share with each other like this “in the moment.” Create a culture where people naturally involve others as they work on projects so that skills spread around. Foster an environment where people ask each other “How did you do that?” because they know their teammate will respond by teaching them. When you do that, you create a coaching culture.

We tend to think of training in terms of specific events. A skill is introduced and explained, beginning to end, all in the same session. But mastering a skill doesn’t work that way. It takes practice, over time and ideally with an appropriate level of oversight to ensure success. Rethink your approach to developing the members of your team. Train yourself to see cross-training as a routine part of the job rather than a one-time event.

How do you approach cross-training with your team? I’d love to learn about any practices you’ve found particularly useful.

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Getting Past the Barriers to Cross-Training

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road-block-340196_640Over the years, I’ve worked with a lot of different managers. If there’s an excuse for not getting something done, I’ve probably heard it. And truth be told…I’ve used most of them myself. When it comes to cross-training, here are the most common reasons we just haven’t been able to get it done. 

It could be that we just don’t know how to do the job ourselves. It’s kind of hard to teach someone a skill you don’t possess yourself. And let’s be honest, there’s plenty that we don’t know – or at least plenty that we don’t feel competent enough in to act as a teacher for someone else.

Now, you might think the answer to this is bone up on your own skills. But let’s face it. There’s a limit to what any one person, even a manager, can do. And despite what some people think, your job as manager is NOT to be the expert at everything.

So, when you’re faced with the need to cross-train an associate on a skill you don’t have, the best move is to delegate that responsibility to someone else. Let another associate take the reins on a co-worker’s skill development. One way to motivate certain people is to give them responsibility. This could be just the opportunity to show someone how valuable they are to you. In fact, even if you could do the cross-training yourself, I encourage you to empower a member of your team to take that on whenever possible.

Another reason cross-training falls to the side is because we’re holding on to a task we like doing. Everybody has their pet projects. Everybody has some routine chore that they hold onto like it’s their baby. We complain about it, and struggle to find time to get it done properly, but we resist handing it off to someone else.

We have to force ourselves to consider the cost of holding onto these pet projects. As managers, there are only a few tasks that we absolutely must do ourselves. Most the work that gets done each day could be handled by someone else on the team. When we refuse to let go of certain things, we’re stealing time from those responsibilities that ought to be front and center for us. We should put our time and energy toward those things that will best move the team forward and grow the business – that’s what we’re here for.

Plus, when we hold on to those things that could be handled by someone else, we rob them of the opportunity to grow. We make them less able to contribute to the team. We need to cross-train people so they can realize their full potential.

A third reason cross-training doesn’t happen is that we often don’t believe their associates are capable of getting the job done. Perhaps they’ve dropped the ball in the past. Maybe we just don’t trust them or like them.

In any case, we need to be careful about putting artificial limits on members of the team. I found out long ago that people can surprise you – in good ways. And time after time, when I’ve made the decision to challenge someone to stretch their capabilities, they’ve come through. Remember that people want to do a good job – and they want to do a good job for you, the boss. Believe in them even more than they believe in themselves and watch them blossom.

Probably the most common reason we don’t get around to cross-training people properly is that we just don’t have the time. We’re shorthanded, behind the curve, and just trying to get everything done. Who has time for cross-training – or any other meaningful leadership activity for that matter?

Well, believe me, I get this one. We’re all being asked to do more with less and the tasks just keep piling up. That’s actually one of the best reasons to make cross-training a priority. But I don’t necessarily think the answer is reshuffling schedules or putting off important jobs to focus on cross-training.

The answer lies in finding natural opportunities to make cross-training happen. Instead of blocking out chunks of time dedicated to showing someone every step of the process, maybe the answer is to take advantage of nooks and crannies of time. There are some naturally occurring teachable moments we can tap into if we try.

If you’re one of those managers for whom cross-training just always seems out of reach, take a few minutes to rethink your approach. Delegate some responsibility. Let go of pet projects that don’t require your involvement. Challenge your perception of the team’s potential, and look for ways to incorporate cross-training into the day-to-day routine. You just might surprise yourself.

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Try a Little Exercise at Work

Posted on by Scott

gymer-1126999_640Long ago, elite athletes determined that by augmenting their normal training regimen with activities pulled from other sports, they could improve performance in their own. Focusing on a limited set of movements and skills left them vulnerable to injury when something unexpected came along. By spending a portion of their workouts engaged in other sports, an athlete improves their overall strength and conditioning, providing a firmer foundation upon which to perform.

This is called cross-training. While it’s become standard practice in sports, it’s not quite as common in the business world. Too often, employees are pigeon-holed into silos of responsibility. In addition to leaving the team vulnerable to events like absences, revised deadlines, or surges in customer traffic, it leaves individual workers at a disadvantage. That’s because, like an athlete, we can improve performance in our core duties by engaging in a bit of cross-training. Cross-training flexes the mind just like it does any other muscle.

Cross-training provides variety. When we do the same things repeatedly, the brain starts to develop neural pathways that make it easier for us to get the job done. Actions become automatic and we do thing without even thinking about them. This muscle-memory can be useful. I don’t have to think about putting my seatbelt on each time I get in the car – it just happens. But when work becomes routine, our minds begin to wander. We disengage. We get bored.

When we tackle a different kind of work, we’re exposed to a different set of circumstances. We have new variables to consider and new decisions to make. Our brains start firing in new ways and we are forced to think, and act, in ways we otherwise wouldn’t have. Work becomes challenging and interesting. Cross-training keeps us from becoming bored.

Cross-training provides insight. Encased in the bubble of sameness presented by our siloed work environments, it’s hard to see the bigger picture. Our actions have ripple effects that we can’t see because our focus is so narrow. There are others working hard to solve problems we could help solve if we’d only look outside the bubble.

When we engage in work typically done by others, we start to connect the dots between our job and theirs. We begin to see relationships that expand our understanding of the organization’s mission. We learn to appreciate the struggles others face and the value they provide. We begin to understand the meaning of the word “team.” Cross-training keeps us from becoming isolated.

Cross-training provides perspective. When we do the same job day after day, we develop systems that become habits. Like a trail in the woods, a rut starts to form. Before long, the ruts become so deep that we adopt the edges as the boundaries of our ability. We can’t see any other way to get the job done because we’ve gotten comfortable living in the rut.

When we take on a new task, it’s like blazing a new trail. We see things differently because we must. There’s no established rut to follow. We’re free to ask questions and explore new ways of thinking. As we learn the what, why, and how of a new task, we start to question the boundaries of our own responsibilities. We start to see the ruts we’ve created from the outside. This new view helps us identify new and better ways of performing our own job. Cross-training keeps us from becoming short-sighted.

Cross-training has numerous benefits for the team. The flexibility of having multiple people capable of performing any given task is obvious. However, the greatest benefit may to the individual who steps up to try something new.

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How to Keep Your Meetings (And Your Team) Moving Forward

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rails-253134_640Over the past few weeks, I’ve been writing on the topic of team meetings. This series of articles started with a review of 3 meetings you should stop having. That was followed by 4 meeting types that you should be having. I touched on 3 elements that make for a productive meeting, and then last week the focus was on using questions to prepare for a meeting – regardless of whether you are the meeting’s organizer or a participant.

Today, I’m wrapping up the series with a look at meeting effectiveness. How can you be sure your meeting actually helps move the team forward? That’s really the reason why we have meetings in the first place, isn’t it … to help move things along? If people are spending their time in a meeting rather than engaged in performing the actual job tasks they were hired to do, then the meeting ought to help improve the way they perform those tasks. For example, if my job is selling widgets, any time spent away from that specific task (like attending a meeting) should serve to make me a better widget sales person.

It’s critical that we start here. You have to understand that meetings are a disruption. They keep people from completing their core job responsibilities. I’m not saying meetings aren’t important; they absolutely are. But too many managers put more planning and energy into a meeting than they do the work our meetings are intended to support. We have to keep meetings in their proper place. The first and most critical step to better meetings is to view them as a vehicle that enables people to do their best work. When you start looking at meetings through this lens, the rest of your meeting-related decisions become much easier.

Starting with the belief that a meeting’s purpose is to improve the ability of people to perform, here are three ways to ensure the right things happen once the meeting is adjourned.

Expect active participation from everyone. Effective meetings do not have attendees, they have participants. If your meeting is considered a spectator sport, it’s time to clarify expectations. Active participation includes asking questions, taking notes, and sharing personal insights to improve everyone’s understanding of whatever topic is on the table. Active participation requires preparation, such as reviewing related material or completing pre-meeting assignments.

Active participation does not include looking at your phone, holding side conversations, or multi-tasking. These are signs that people are bored, uninterested, or simply disrespectful. If the meeting organizer has done their part to prepare an engaging agenda, then the rest of the team should honor that commitment by participating.

Focus on what’s important. Effective meetings stay focused. Inevitably, participants will bring up tangential topics. It’s like browsing the internet – you start off searching for something very specific, but get distracted by links to other topics that are somewhat related. Before you know it, your search for a good apple pie recipe has morphed into an hour-long review of bad plastic surgery pics. To keep your meeting on track, you have to recognize when things are getting off topic and step in before it goes too far.

Keep a running list of “parking lot” items; topics that come up, but aren’t germane to the core discussion. These can be tackled offline, or added to the next meeting’s agenda. I once worked with an organization that kept a small bell in the middle of the conference room table. Each participant in a meeting had permission to ring the bell when they felt a discussion was drifting too far off-topic. They then made a note on a white board so the related-but-separate concept wasn’t lost and pulled the team back on track.

Hold people accountable. Discussion of each agenda item should conclude with the assignment of next steps. If a topic doesn’t inherently require one or more specific actions, then it shouldn’t be on the agenda. Simply sharing general information shouldn’t be the focus of a meeting discussion – it should be an email. Remember, the purpose of a meeting is to enable participants to better perform their core job tasks.

If a topic is on your team’s meeting agenda, meaning it’s taking people away from their job, it’s because people need to start (or stop) doing something related to that job. End each meeting with a review of action items. Use this format to keep assignments clear: [Who] will [do what] by [when]. Start each subsequent meeting with a review of the action items from the prior one. Do this consistently, and hold people accountable for fulfilling their commitments.

Workplace meetings aren’t going away anytime soon. Most people consider them a necessary evil. Top teams see them as a critical way to stay focused, united, and moving in the right direction. How your meetings are perceived, and how productive they are, is up to you.

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To Prepare for Your Next Meeting, Just Ask Questions

Posted on by Scott

questions-2110967_640I’m constantly amazed at how ill-prepared people are for meetings. It doesn’t matter what the meeting is about, who’s in attendance, or what their particular role is – someone always shows up having not done their homework. In my opinion, a lack of preparation indicates a level of disrespect for the organization, the task at hand, and other peoples’ time. It also makes you look foolish.

There may indeed be instances when preparation is difficult. Last minute additions to the agenda, for instance, can put you at a disadvantage. Unclear expectations can lead you to focus on the wrong kind of preparation. Sometimes, you just have a hard time getting your hands on the necessary information. But, far too often, a lack of preparation isn’t due to any of these; it’s simply something people neglect to do. We assume we can walk into a meeting and wing it. Sometimes it works out. Many times, it doesn’t.

To avoid the issues of embarrassment, wasted time, and meaningless discussions, meeting organizers would do well to structure their gatherings appropriately. This includes having the right kind of meeting, as well as incorporating the right elements throughout. But to foster effective communication, everyone should engage in at least a modest level of preparation for each meeting topic. All you have to do is focus on the basics. Just ask, and answer, a series of questions.

Questions are the primary tool of an effective leader. By simply asking questions, we open up discussion, inspire new ways of thinking, and invite change. It’s not those who provide answers who create engagement, but those who ask questions. And there’s no better place to ask questions than during your team meetings. Here are a few you might consider.

WHO: Who are the key players in this task or project? Who are influencers? Who are detractors? Who has a particular role to play or information to provide?

WHAT: What is going on? What are the significant events that brought us to this discussion? What needs to change? What steps need to be taken going forward?

WHEN: When did significant events take place? When do we have to make a decision? When can we expect members to complete their assigned tasks?

WHERE: Where can information be found? Where should our focus be? Where do our significant opportunities and challenges lie?

WHY: Why is this topic important? Why is action warranted? Why should we care? Why is the right person to handle it?

HOW: How should we approach this? How can we make this continues or ceases to take place? How can we ensure compliance or action? How can we take advantage of the situation we’re in?

The next time you facilitate a meeting, try asking more than you tell. Before you attend your next meeting as a participant, prepare by reviewing the available materials and asking some questions. Jot them down…and ask them.

How well is questioning used in your team meetings? Do you have some go-to questions that help stimulate discussion and discovery? How else do you prepare for an effective meeting? I invite you to share your experience.

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Do Your Meetings Disappoint? Try Adding These 3 Elements

Posted on by Scott

king-penguin-384252_640I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of bad meetings. I’m tired of listening to a talking head drone on about topics I already know about, have no interest in, or have no influence over. I’m tired of being bored, uninspired, and generally less informed than when the meeting started. In short, I’m tired of wasting my time in unproductive meetings.

And I’m talking about my meetings.

That’s right, the meetings I’ve presided over lately have been some of the worst. My team counts on me for direction, information, and motivation. As their leader, it’s my job to ensure that our interactions provide them with what they need to enthusiastically conquer the world, or at least their weekly objectives. And to this point, I’ve generally failed them. I’ve allowed our weekly meetings to devolve into something we all tolerate rather than something we look forward to.

That’s unfortunate, because team members should look forward to the opportunity to gather together. Team meetings should be sacred – events cherished for their ability to unite the team, recharge the batteries, and refine the mission. They should be something people enjoy, not something they endure. That’s my charge as the leader. I’m the one who has to make sure that happens.

In particular, there are three elements that have been missing from most of my team meetings. These elements are concepts that I preach about on a regular basis, but have failed to consistently incorporate into my team’s meetings. Shame on me.

  1. Focus: If there’s any one thing that defines leadership, it’s providing focus. Most people spend their day in one of two ways. They either rush from task to task, desperately trying to put out fires; or they wander from task to task, aimlessly wiling away the hours until it’s time to head home. Without focus, people are left to figure out on their own what’s most important at any given time. It’s the job of the leader to provide that focus. Team meetings are a key vehicle to accomplish that. Meetings present an opportunity to align the efforts of the team, to get the group’s collective effort channeled in the right direction. It’s a chance for everyone to hear, right from the horse’s mouth, what their priorities should be right now. Focus clears away the clutter and confusion that accompanies competing agendas. Meetings should always clarify focus.
  2. Interaction: A team cannot succeed together unless they work together. Working together requires communication. Whether your team’s focus is the accomplishment of sales goals, completing a project, or solving a particular problem; interaction is critical. Team members who don’t regularly interact with each other miss out on the whole purpose of having a team. Team members are meant to work with each other. Not just in close proximity to each other or just on related projects, but with each other. That requires interaction, and team meetings are a great way to facilitate that. Meetings should be a time when people come together to learn from each other and collaborate. Nothing solidifies the bonds of a team more than working together to solve the same problem or achieve the same goal. Meetings should always foster interaction.
  3. Accountability: Another core aspect of leadership is the application of accountability. Without it, commitments are often forgotten, ignored, or minimized. Top performers love to win. They love moving forward and achieving the goal. For that reason, they relish accountability. Want to see your best employees scale back their efforts? Drop the ball when it comes to accountability. Letting things slide is a surefire way to lose the commitment of your top performers. Why should they continue working so hard when others are regularly let off the hook? Team meetings are a great way to establish a culture of accountability. Make sure to clarify expectations before the meeting is adjourned. Follow up as necessary and be prepared to conduct an accountability check as part of the next one. When everyone is held accountable, everyone will be. Meetings should always provide accountability.

I’ve never claimed to be a great leader, but I’m working on it. I’m going to give more attention to the way I conduct my team meetings going forward. I know that by using them as a vehicle to clarify the team’s focus, foster interaction between the fantastic individuals that make up the staff, and providing an appropriate level of accountability; I can help move the whole group forward. That’s what leadership is all about.

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Four Meetings You Should Be Having Now

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workplace-1245776_640Just as there are plenty of meetings that don’t need to take place, there are times when it’s vitally important to bring the team together. Certain things need to be handled in a group setting, not via email or a series of one-on-one conversations. For these, you need to hold a meeting.

You may need to hold an information-sharing meeting. In this case, you have something that needs to be communicated in a way that ensures everyone gets the same message. Emails can be interpreted in a variety of ways. There’s no way to gauge the intensity of emotion while merely reading an email. Individual conversations can easily veer off into the weeds. Discussion of unrelated topics could alter or cloud the information being discussed.

By disseminating information during a meeting, you can ensure everyone hears the same message. You only need one conversation and can easily check for understanding by asking questions as well as gauging body language and facial expressions. Attendees have the opportunity to ask clarifying questions and the entire group benefits from hearing the answers.

You may need to hold a decision-making meeting. Here, there’s a problem to solve and you are looking to gather input. Those in attendance have a stake in the outcome of this decision and should therefore be willing to help make sure all necessary information is provided so that the best possible move can be settled on. The interaction of the group is important. Stakeholders will have differing opinions and the interplay of various viewpoints allows everyone to understand the bigger picture.

Decisions could be made by the group, via a vote or compromise, or by the leader after considering all potential inputs. Attendees should understand the role they are to play and the timeline of the decision being made so that critical information is not withheld or delayed. By including everyone in the meeting, no feels left out and all should agree to support the decision once made.

You may need to hold a brainstorming meeting. These meetings are designed to generate ideas and bring out the creativity in people. A meeting such as this could be held as a precursor to making a decision or to help specify details related to decisions already made. Allowing people to innovate in a group setting helps solidify team bonds, boost engagement, and ramp up energy levels.

Brainstorming can be difficult to facilitate, especially if participants have no foreknowledge of the task. Be sure to prepare people ahead of time by providing as much information as possible and allowing time for individuals to research and develop ideas on their own. Once the group is together, this will provide a head start to idea generation and fertile ground for group interaction.

You may need to hold a skill-development meeting. Team meetings are a great opportunity for coaching. Participants can improve their skill set either by taking an active role in skill practice or by observing and providing feedback. Learning from the example of peers is a great way to speed up skill development, especially when the trial-and-error aspect of practice is shared.

Facilitating skill-development meetings can be tricky and requires adequate preparation on the part of the meeting facilitator. Make sure to plan enough time for everyone to participate. Ensure any job aids or necessary materials are on hand. And be ready to demonstrate the skill yourself in order to provide attendees with an example to work from.

There are definitely times when a meeting is not the right solution; but there are plenty of times when a meeting is just what the team needs. Use meetings effectively so that your team responds enthusiastically, contributing more than just their presence. Do you have regularly-scheduled team meetings? What aspects could be improved?

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Three Meetings You Should Stop Having Now

Posted on by Scott

conference-room-768441_640It’s an event everyone, including the organizer, approaches with apprehension, dread; perhaps even a touch of fear. It’s the regularly scheduled work meeting. Historically dry and boring, yet generally regarded as a necessary evil, meetings have become something we suffer through rather than look forward to. “Death by meeting” has even entered the professional vocabulary as a way to describe the disappointment felt by those forced to endure a regular diet of face-to-face or teleconference snooze fests.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Meetings can, and should, be one of the most engaging and productive activities your team partakes in. Planned and conducted appropriately, meetings can serve to educate, inspire, and even motivate the team. As a result, they can perform more efficiently collaborate more readily, and produce more quickly. But to be successful, meetings with the team must receive the same care and attention as a meeting with a highly prized client or prospect.

Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to explore some of the elements that make up good meetings. Today, let’s start by cutting away the fat. Here are three kinds of meetings you shouldn’t even be having in the first place.

  • The meeting held for the sake of having a meeting. I once worked with an executive who insisted on having quarterly management meetings. Every couple of months he would gather up his core team to decide on a date, time-frame, and venue. He would send out an email announcing the meeting to the organization’s management structure to ensure it was on everyone’s calendar. Then, after everything else was set, he would frantically solicit ideas for filling the agenda.

Regularly scheduled meetings aren’t necessarily a bad thing. One function of a well-designed meeting is to provide an opportunity for people to bond, network, and further the relationships that smooth the way for work to happen. But simply having a meeting because “we haven’t had one in a while” is never a good idea. It speaks to a lack of organization and focus. When a meeting begins as a blank slate of time that has to be filled, you wind up latching onto anything that will get the job done. If attendees are regularly subjected to ill-prepared speakers who have little or nothing to offer because they were dragged in to fill a 15 minute slot, then you’ve missed the mark.

Meetings should be created as a result of something meaningful that needs to be accomplished. There has to be a purpose behind gathering people together and pulling them away from their regular jobs. In other words, have a reason to meet before you call a meeting. If one doesn’t exist, don’t schedule it.

  • The meeting held without an agenda. Why do managers insist on scheduling a meeting without an agenda? I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been summoned to a meeting without the vaguest notion of what’s going to be discussed. Without any expectation, people are left to fill in the blanks and can assume any number of things will take place. Most of them turn out to be wrong.

Having an agenda helps people prepare. It allows the organizer to construct a meaningful flow of discussion from one topic to the next. It helps attendees prepare, if only mentally, for what they’re about to experience. It helps structure the meeting so that discussions are less likely to veer off-topic and keep people focused on the same objective. If you’ve decided that a meeting is necessary, then an agenda should be a given. Line out the topics and expected outcomes before sending the meeting invitation. Then be prepared to follow the agenda that you’ve prepared.

  • The meeting that should have been an email. I recently had to stay after work for an all-employee meeting. No one knew what it was about, so everyone made wild guesses while grumbling about having to work late. It turns out that the purpose of the meeting was to announce a new program that was so simple an email would have sufficed. The team was gathered for only 15 minutes while the manager read from a piece of paper that could and should have been distributed to the staff instead.

Meetings should be reserved for advancing the team’s understanding in a way that only group interaction can accomplish. If the topic you plan to cover at your meeting is so simple that an email could convey the information, then just go that route. If there’s additional work to be done – work or discussion that can’t best be handled via email – then structure your meeting to accomplish that. Send the email in advance, but refrain from going over the same information again.

Time is a limited resource. We have to use it wisely. Make a point to avoid wasting time – yours and the team’s – by eliminating some unnecessary meetings from the calendar. Use the time and energy saved to make the occasions when you do come together that much more meaningful and effective.

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