Creating more effective meetings!

My clients constantly complain about having to attend “useless” meetings. These meetings not only obliterate large chucks of valuable time, they also damage morale.

How can we improve our meetings?

1. First, we must eliminate all unnecessary meetings! This will require a major paradigm shift. Ask yourself: Am I only giving information to my group? If so, use email. Worried that they won’t read your email? Ask them to respond to you within a certain time. (BTW- how do you know they’re listening at a “data dump” meeting? Believe me, they aren’t. ) Even if you can’t eliminate a meeting, you should be able to shorten it significantly. No part of a meeting should be a data dump. That is what emails are for.

2. Only call a meeting when an idea or news requires discussion. If you’re presenting controversial or upsetting information (layoffs, etc.) DO NOT use email. A meeting will allow the listeners to express their feelings, concerns, questions, and thoughts. This is a great use for a meeting.

If you have a problem to be solved or a process to be improved, meetings are an ideal use of the team’s time. But do you know how to lead a discussion so that they best ideas are produced and your time is used effectively?

I’ll tackle this question in my next post. © 2009 Laura Lewis-Barr all rights reserved

Quote for the Day

Always raise the bar. Hire people who are smarter and more capable than you, and make sure all your employees do the same. As your company grows, early employees should find themselves thinking "Wow, if I interviewed today, I would never get a job here!"

DFJ Frontier Management Company

Gen Y, Social Media, and Empathy

Reading "IBrain" again. Have social media & our heavy-use of computers hurt our abilities 2 develop empathy & other social skills?

Thank you to trainer Chuck Nemer for this list.

An Ideal List—Character Traits to Develop for Work and Life
Do What’s Right
Deference:
- Ability to yield to the opinions or desires of another
Integrity:
- Having appearances and actions consistent with what you really are- “What you see is what you get.”
Reverence:
- Having a deep respect, tinged with awe, for life, nature, and property
Trustworthiness:
- Reliability in keeping promises and following through on commitments

Do Your Best
Cleanliness:
- Respect for one’s self and surroundings
Competence:
- Possession of the capabilities needed to do the job, and the effective performance of one’s responsibilities
Confidence:
- A belief in one’s own abilities to make a difference
Creativity:
- Using the instinctive ability that we all possess, to combine and recombine past experience in a way that results in new patterns, new configurations, or new arrangements that better serve some need
Diligence:
- Persevering and careful work
Motivation:
- An inner drive or impulse that causes one to act
Optimism:
- The tendency to take the most hopeful view of matters

Treat Others as You Would Like to be Treated
Enthusiasm:
- Lively interest; eagerness
Compassion:
- Demonstrating concern for others equal to one’s concern for oneself
Loyalty:
- The ability to be true to another beyond promises and commitments, based on your relationship
Openness:
- Being approachable
Patience:
- Perseverance and persistence
Respectfulness/Considerateness:
- The ability to withhold judgment until you can appreciate the uniqueness in each other

Great Mind Mapping Video

This is a wonderfully practical video on mind mapping, to help us remember content and to access hidden gems of knowledge.

Every Emotion has a Purpose

Every Emotion has a Purpose is a basic tenet of Emotional Intelligence. I thought of this today when I heard about a study quoted on national news:
“Bad moods can actually be good for you, with an Australian study finding that being sad makes people less gullible, improves their ability to judge others and also boosts memory.”

Here’s another quote:
“…research suggests that sadness … promotes information processing strategies best suited to dealing with more demanding situations.”

Good to know that my moods can provide some benefits at work!

You can read the entire article here.

Motivation Tip

You spend 4 hours doing a report. You give it to your boss and hear nothing back about it.

In the future, how motivated will you be to write reports?

Motivation Tip--Give Timely Feedback. Both positive and constructive.

If near Elgin, IL--Join us for this Class in Motivating Others.

Motivating Your Team
November 12, 1-4pm $99 includes materials. visit www.elgin.edu/corporatetraining to register or for more info.

Did you know that employee disengagement may affect 80% of your workforce?
How do we remain enthused about our work? How do we inspire others? Explore new research in cognitive science & emotional intelligence; as well as Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Examine habits of thinking & motivation. Key points in the session include:
· The best & most effective ways to motivate others
· “Flow” and how to achieve it
· The many benefits of an optimistic attitude and how to maintain a positive mind set.
· Effective communication techniques to motivate and inspire your team.

Watch for Dates for this Exciting New Program in 2010.

If you'd like to be on the mailing list to receive more info on this or other programs, visit www.training4breakthroughs.com

Express Your Potential!™ Two-Day Workshop.

• Understand the Hidden Messages in your non-verbal signals.
• Build Messages of Authenticity.
• Expand Awareness of your Inner World--Thoughts and Feelings.
• Enhance Your Ability to Express Yourself.
• Develop Charisma.
• Boost your Freedom of Expressiveness--Vocally and Physically.
• Increase Mindfulness, and the Ability to Focus.
• Improve Problem solving, Imagination, Spontaneity, and Creativity.

Using Insights from Emotional Intelligence and exercises from the Theatre, this two-day workshop will transform your communication skills--both intra-personally and inter-personally. Explore your skills in nonverbal communication. Understand your habits and thought patterns. Bring out your best! Meant for all levels. No performance experience necessary. Guaranteed to bring a new understanding of your communication styles and empower you to be more charismatic and authentic.