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Dateline: 09/14/97 Making Teams and Meetings Work ``The Lord had the wonderful advantage of being Meetings and teamwork are a necessary and vital aspect of working in professional services, yet it's hard to find one person who doesn't complain about the number of meetings they have to attend or the waste of time they are. There are three important aspects of meetings and team building that need to be addressed if you want to achieve your objectives: Paperwork, Process and People. Paperwork You know the old saying, if you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there. Meetings need focus and purpose. Even if it's just a meeting to recap recent activities or keep the team focused on a particular project, an agenda ensures that all the important topics get covered in the allotted time. If you want your team to believe you, always stick to the time limits you set for the meeting. If you ask them for one hour, be sure that you finish in an hour. Prepare your agendas in advance and post them in the meeting room, or copy them and distribute them to the attendees at least half an hour before the meeting. This shows you are serious, that you respect their time and need to prepare, and it makes you appear highly organized. Allow time on the agenda for Q&A. Process What you want to accomplish with the meeting governs what style of meeting it is. If it's a recap on a work in process, then have each person give a 60 second overview of what they are doing and anything interesting that may have happened since the last update. Make sure everyone knows they are expected to contribute something in advance. If it's a kickoff of work for a new client or a new activity, you may want a more formal lecture type meeting with slides or handouts to help reinforce your key messages. If it's a brainstorming session, let the attendees know well in advance what the subjects being covered include, and encourage them to think ``outside the box" to generate new approaches. People Humanity may seem a strange addition to the mix, yet it may be the most important. Sy Seymour, a well-respected fundraiser in the 1970s said ``Everyone wants to be a worthwhile member of a worthwhile organization." This is the key to a successful team--find a way to make each person feel worthwhile. This can be as simple as making sure everyone has a task related to the project and that they are held accountable for it. Even the person in charge of keeping the files complete and up-to-date should have an opportunity to speak about his/her work and anything that they might want to tell the others about innovations or ways to make the job easier. In each meeting, be sure that everyone at the table speaks. Give your team focus, keep bringing them together to communicate their successes and progress, and reward them with praise for their progress, their effort or their attention to detail. They may sound trite, but they still work, and they will help your team to function a step above the average. That will be a good reflection on you. Next week's feature: Civic and Community Participation--does it pay off? Look here for more information The Art of Delegation How to Effectively Influence Groups The Three Most Important Secrets of Successful Meetings Agenda Building Characteristics of Effective Team Members How To Control A Meeting Dealing with Game Players Task Delegation: A Team Approach Copyright 1997 by Kaye Vivian (kvivian@cloud9.net). All rights reserved. Permission to reprint is granted provided this article is not altered and the copyright notice remains attached |
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