Meeting, Bloody Meeting., the heartfelt cry of the busy manager - expresses such a widespread problem that John Cheese made a very successful training film with that title. His judgment was sound because he had to meet the enormous demand with a sequel, More bloody meetings.
We all know the professional committee people who can never be found because they are always at some meeting, or those who call meetings at the slightest provocation because they get an ego trip out of loading it in the chair. For them, rushing indispensably from venue to venue satisfies their need for activity without actually having to do anything.
There is no point in having a meeting just for the sake of gathering. There has to be a purpose which can only be fulfilled by the face to face contact of a specific group of participates. When it comes to meetings with your own subordinates, they have the dual purpose of developing your staff as well as exchanging information.
The term artikel briefing has been taken over to mean semi-official meetings to pass down a brief containing information on company policy and activities which has been drawn up usually by the head of the organization. That is not what this chapter is about. It is about informal meetings which you have with you subordinates to discuss matters of mutual importance in achieving your goals. These may on occasion include items on company policy, but it is you who decides the agenda, i.e. you as the leader not as a company messenger.
Effective leaders have to balance the attention they give to:
1. The task: making deadlines, selecting priorities, getting resources, measuring results.
2. The individual: gaining commitment, developing / training, caring for the whole person.
3. The artikel: encouraging cohesion, matching talents, establishing common goals and mutual support.
Concentrating solely on the needs of the task and ignoring the people soon loses their commitment and sense of purpose. Developing working relationships only on a one to one basis can result in the isolation of your subordinates form each other and destructive competitiveness between them. Specific attention must be given to welding the artikel together so that they operate effectively on delegated tasks, and potentiate each other's abilities.
regular artikel briefings are a useful way of achieving the following.
1. Sharing information.
2. Clarifying and reinforcing goals.
3. Sparking off ideas.
4. Forming deeper relationships within the artikel
5. Enabling you to see the artikel in operation and assessing how well people are working together.
Artikel briefings can be held at any time when there is something specific to be discussed - some new equipment, a big order, changes in procedures. But there is value in having a short meeting every week on a set day and time. depending how much has to be covered, they may run for 15 or 30 minutes, but should rarely go beyond this. There is a spin off in time management when everyone knows there will be an opportunity to discuss things regularly, it reduces the number of ad hoc interruptions for you and your subordinates, for any non-immediate queries can be saved for the briefing when everyone is there.
Careful though should go into choosing the best day and time. The leader of an architectural design artikel chose 9.00 am prompt on Monday moorings and runs his meetings for no more than 20 minutes. Apart from ensuring everyone arrives at work on time, it gives a purposeful start to the week. Like himself, most artikel members have ideas and thoughts on current projects over the weekend and it gives a chance to air them before the demands of routine work take over. The briefings usually start with a little jovial banter about the weekend, which also helps to break through the pain barrier of Monday mornings!
An editor in a large publishing firm used to hold his weekly briefings on Friday afternoons with a bottle of sugar. Serious business was discussed, but the meetings were more important as reflective exercise and confirmation of artikel spirit by sharing the experiences of the week. They often spilled over into the local hostelry afterwards.
When you run your briefings, have an agenda, but give the artikel ample time to ask questions and raise points themselves. Tell them also about the work you are doing which has a direct bearing on them, and the rest of the section or department. You can use the opportunity to get ideas from them on issues you will have to deal with in the near future and follow through by reporting progress at the next briefing. This reinforces the feeling that you and they are working for the same goals, and stimulates them to contribute more by giving them a broader perspective.
Don't do all the talking. Make it an opportunity to listen to how the artikel is working, and to pick up needs and ideas as they arise. Yes Julie, that sounds a really good idea, why don't you and Stan have a detailed look at it and we'll talk about it at the next briefing. But any promises you make abbot taking action on their behalf, or letting them follow up a project, should be realistic because they must be kept. Artikel briefings build up loyalty and trust but they also make the lack of them more visible.
you can increase the development value of briefings by asking different artikel members to chair the meeting sometimes. Be sure everyone gets a turn and look about for training needs in communication skills, briefing techniques and verbal presentation. Don't critics at the meeting, but give feedback afterwards, if necessary arrange a course followed buy proactive and coaching and see how well they do next time.
We all know the professional committee people who can never be found because they are always at some meeting, or those who call meetings at the slightest provocation because they get an ego trip out of loading it in the chair. For them, rushing indispensably from venue to venue satisfies their need for activity without actually having to do anything.
There is no point in having a meeting just for the sake of gathering. There has to be a purpose which can only be fulfilled by the face to face contact of a specific group of participates. When it comes to meetings with your own subordinates, they have the dual purpose of developing your staff as well as exchanging information.
The term artikel briefing has been taken over to mean semi-official meetings to pass down a brief containing information on company policy and activities which has been drawn up usually by the head of the organization. That is not what this chapter is about. It is about informal meetings which you have with you subordinates to discuss matters of mutual importance in achieving your goals. These may on occasion include items on company policy, but it is you who decides the agenda, i.e. you as the leader not as a company messenger.
Effective leaders have to balance the attention they give to:
1. The task: making deadlines, selecting priorities, getting resources, measuring results.
2. The individual: gaining commitment, developing / training, caring for the whole person.
3. The artikel: encouraging cohesion, matching talents, establishing common goals and mutual support.
Concentrating solely on the needs of the task and ignoring the people soon loses their commitment and sense of purpose. Developing working relationships only on a one to one basis can result in the isolation of your subordinates form each other and destructive competitiveness between them. Specific attention must be given to welding the artikel together so that they operate effectively on delegated tasks, and potentiate each other's abilities.
regular artikel briefings are a useful way of achieving the following.
1. Sharing information.
2. Clarifying and reinforcing goals.
3. Sparking off ideas.
4. Forming deeper relationships within the artikel
5. Enabling you to see the artikel in operation and assessing how well people are working together.
Artikel briefings can be held at any time when there is something specific to be discussed - some new equipment, a big order, changes in procedures. But there is value in having a short meeting every week on a set day and time. depending how much has to be covered, they may run for 15 or 30 minutes, but should rarely go beyond this. There is a spin off in time management when everyone knows there will be an opportunity to discuss things regularly, it reduces the number of ad hoc interruptions for you and your subordinates, for any non-immediate queries can be saved for the briefing when everyone is there.
Careful though should go into choosing the best day and time. The leader of an architectural design artikel chose 9.00 am prompt on Monday moorings and runs his meetings for no more than 20 minutes. Apart from ensuring everyone arrives at work on time, it gives a purposeful start to the week. Like himself, most artikel members have ideas and thoughts on current projects over the weekend and it gives a chance to air them before the demands of routine work take over. The briefings usually start with a little jovial banter about the weekend, which also helps to break through the pain barrier of Monday mornings!
An editor in a large publishing firm used to hold his weekly briefings on Friday afternoons with a bottle of sugar. Serious business was discussed, but the meetings were more important as reflective exercise and confirmation of artikel spirit by sharing the experiences of the week. They often spilled over into the local hostelry afterwards.
When you run your briefings, have an agenda, but give the artikel ample time to ask questions and raise points themselves. Tell them also about the work you are doing which has a direct bearing on them, and the rest of the section or department. You can use the opportunity to get ideas from them on issues you will have to deal with in the near future and follow through by reporting progress at the next briefing. This reinforces the feeling that you and they are working for the same goals, and stimulates them to contribute more by giving them a broader perspective.
Don't do all the talking. Make it an opportunity to listen to how the artikel is working, and to pick up needs and ideas as they arise. Yes Julie, that sounds a really good idea, why don't you and Stan have a detailed look at it and we'll talk about it at the next briefing. But any promises you make abbot taking action on their behalf, or letting them follow up a project, should be realistic because they must be kept. Artikel briefings build up loyalty and trust but they also make the lack of them more visible.
you can increase the development value of briefings by asking different artikel members to chair the meeting sometimes. Be sure everyone gets a turn and look about for training needs in communication skills, briefing techniques and verbal presentation. Don't critics at the meeting, but give feedback afterwards, if necessary arrange a course followed buy proactive and coaching and see how well they do next time.
