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Your initial Newsletter Your Associates
| Meaningful Meetings I have attended at least 2500 meetings throughout my career in the hospitality industry. Some actual real work has taken place in some of them. Others, not so much. We all find ourselves there: Weekly staff meetings, BEO meetings, sales meetings, morning huddles, quarterly budget sessions. (I’m not counting the training workshops that I’ve conducted.) They can become the necessary evils of our work week. Something we have to endure until we can “get back to work”. Unless we change the design. There is no job in our business that can be done in a vacuum…without the assistance and participation of other people. So let’s plan for the right mixture of people and process to make these rituals called meetings more productive and meaningful. Why Am I in This Meeting? Different kinds of meetings require different kinds of discussions. The three most common are:
Everyone needs to know the objective of the meeting. Otherwise, you’ll run into the typical problems that have given meetings a bad rap all these years. When the outcome is clear, you can then impose a certain amount of discipline to stay on track. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that everyone automatically knows the agenda. Ask for people’s input. If they have no involvement in what’s to be discussed, they’ll be less prepared or motivated to contribute. Keep the agenda short with discussion items prioritized. Don’t get stuck on any one talking point. Time your local TV news pieces to see how long you can stand listening to one person before you “tune out”. Rules of Engagement Ground rules are created to help people get the real work done in meetings. Most people come to a meeting with expectations of how others should act. Make no assumptions. Translate implicit expectations into explicit agreements. Ask them “What would make our meetings productive? How do we want to act?” These rules give people a chance to design how they treat one another in meetings. They shine the light on possible grandstanding, closed-minded, unproductive, competitive, aimless behaviors and bans them up front. Minutes Please Want notes to be taken? Consider focusing on three main categories of information: decisions reached, action items that people need to follow up on and open issues. You’ll keep the scribe from going crazy and people will sharpen the quality of their participation. Good Facilitation When you call a meeting, your job description includes: Traffic Manager: Your job is to make it all work and keep it all moving smoothly. The Nonverbal Since 55% of our communication is non-verbal, make sure you are congruent with your message. If you’re leading a meeting and people expect you to move the group toward a decision, then sit at the head of the table to signal “I’m in charge.” If the meeting needs to be collaborative, ask one of your associates to run the meeting and select a chair on the side of the table. It’s amazing how small, nonverbal behaviors can influence what you are trying to achieve. The Beginning and the End People remember what is said in the first and last few minutes of each meeting. Here are some questions to help you design a truly productive meeting. Start with: “Is there anything that people need to say in order to be ‘present’ at this meeting?” People can show up to meetings with their bodies and with this question you let them clear their minds and focus. To end your sessions, occasionally ask “What did we do at this meeting that really worked well?” This will help you build a strong design for productive meetings. .
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