Posts made in June, 2014

Planning Business Meetings

Posted by Theresa Lutge-Smith on Jun 4, 2014 in Blog | 0 comments

Make Business Meetings fun and revitalizing! Planning business meetings revolve around achieving corporate excellence in today’s competitive business environment. It is as simple as shifting the traditional rules of running a meeting to bringing in new tactics that focus on one issue at a time, and encourage contentious dialogue around the constant development of a forward-looking identity, lean management and shared vision for the organization. Purpose-driven meetings are empowering, offer members a dedicated platform for constructive communication, the opportunity to develop work skills and leadership, and are morale boosting. Banish Deadly Meetings Eradicate habitual views such as ‘people don’t take meetings seriously; they arrive late, leave early, and spend most of their time in absent-minded doodling’ by structuring a proactive agenda that groups topics that match the aim of the gathering so people can leave the meeting when their area under discussion is complete. This tactic will greatly facilitate efficient productivity since people complain that ‘meetings are too long, cover issues that are irrelevant to them, and encroach on their normal work obligations’. Initiate Lively Meetings Every business, whether it has two employees or 500 and more, set regular meetings as a strategy to plan the organization’s goals and determine who will do what by when. Meetings are an important way for management and employees to collaborate, explore innovative proposals and delegate work to employees. It is vital that employees are provided with the right level of support to get the job done well, including a clear outline of the task and expectations, access to relevant primary information, resources and training; the designated employee must be held accountable to deliver the pre-determined outcomes. Every employee must feel inspired to perform at their best and confident to act on own initiative to get the job done well. It is important to dispel the negative belief many employees have of meetings, ‘that nothing happens once the meeting ends and that people don’t convert decisions into action’. After each presentation, take a two-minute break It is important that people at the meeting stay alert. Make sure the room is well lit and ventilated. Here are some ideas to help them remain attentive: Get everyone to stand up, jump on the spot for 10 seconds, and stretch their arms above their head, lean to the left, lean to the right, lean forward to touch their toes [or knees] and to sit back down. Play up-tempo music so that individuals can move to the rhythm. Get everyone to participate in tossing a beach ball randomly to people standing around the boardroom table. Hand out a clump of play dough to each person and have them make something, anything. Play ‘What’s in the Box’ and have each person imagine what they are holding before removing the item from the box. Fill the box with items such as sandpaper, felt, golf ball, sock, comb, calculator, stress ball, candle, bulldog clip, and mouse pad. Value the power of food at a meeting: Food helps people sustain positive energy levels. Offer snack food such as fruit [apples, berries], yoghurt, nuts [walnuts and almonds], sunflower seeds, and bottled water. An idea for a healthy light lunch: garden salad [lettuce, tomato, cucumber, avocado, grilled chicken strips or tuna], wholegrain or rye bread, coffee and dark chocolate bonbons. Pick the right person The assumption ‘that nothing happens once the meeting ends and that people don’t convert decisions into action’ rarely occurs because employees lack enthusiasm or have a poor work ethic; in most instances they leave a meeting with a conflicting analysis of what was discussed and decided upon and don’t know what should happen next. The best way to avoid any misunderstanding is to...