MEET LIKE IT MATTERS AUGUST 2018 MEET LIKE

MEET LIKE IT MATTERS AUGUST 2018

MEET LIKE IT MATTERS We can give you a list of tips to improve meeting effectiveness. You may already know these guidelines. You understand them intellectually. Much like the fact that we all know we need to eat right and exercise for our health - the roadblock to our goal of effective meetings lies in the execution. Here’s what happens: We fall into habits. Those habits become traps. We become blind to those traps and the incredibly negative, longterm impact they have on the motivation and effectiveness of our team. We don’t ask for feedback. The result – an unmotivated, disengaged, frustrated, even angry, team who doesn’t work together or achieve success. As the leader, you have an opportunity to influence what happens. You can make the difference. Take a look at some common habits that derail meetings and what you can do about it. © 2018 Open Gate Consulting, Inc. 2

MEET LIKE IT MATTERS 04 Starting late. 09 No agenda. 15 Allowing the meeting to veer off course. © 2018 Open Gate Consulting, Inc. 3

STARTING LATE. WHY DO WE DO IT?

STARTING LATE. WHY DO WE DO IT? HABIT • Corporate culture • Reluctance to come across as a “stickler”. Desire to be the nice, fun boss. • Late ourselves – we value our own time over our team members

STARTING LATE. WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT? SOLUTION Set expectations. Model behavior. Practice accountability. SET EXPECTATIONS • Tell your team, “It’s important to respect everyone’s time. As a team, let’s move forward with the expectation that we’ll start and end meetings on time. ” • Tell your team in different ways. Keep in mind that people are overloaded with information. They need to hear a message multiple times for it to sink in. – Tell your team verbally at the meeting. – Follow up with written note or email. – Remind them again at future meetings. – Incorporate the message on the meeting document itself for a continual reminder. – Use pictures and videos. © 2018 Open Gate Consulting, Inc. 6

STARTING LATE. WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT? SOLUTION MODEL BEHAVIOR • Make sure that you are present at least a few minutes early. This allows you to great your team and be ready to go. • If you are leader that tends to arrive late, think about what message you send to your team. You are saying several things, and none of them are good: – “My time is more important than yours. ” – “The standard of arriving on time, doesn’t apply to me. ” – “I didn’t really mean it when I said we’d start and end on time. ” – “It’s okay to arrive late. ” • Be sure to end on time. Make a point of letting your team know that you’re ending on time to respect everyone’s time. If you don’t finish all the agenda items, table them until the next meeting. • When you end on time, you’re sending another message: – “I value you and your time. ” © 2018 Open Gate Consulting, Inc. 7

STARTING LATE. WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT? SOLUTION PRACTICE ACCOUNTABILITY All accountability means is that you, the leader, provide rewards and consequences for starting the meeting on time. How do you do that? • Close the door and start the meeting on time! (Often, leaders wait for everyone to show up before starting. Start the meeting on time and don’t waste team members’ time by giving a recap for late comers. A recap can be shared AFTER the meeting. After a few times, team members’ will get the message and change their behavior. • I don’t recommend calling out late comers in the meeting. It’s rarely effective to embarrass and humiliate people. However, do address chronic late comers in a one on one conversation. Let them know it’s important to change their actions. • Reward results!!! End the meeting early if at all possible. Verbally thank your team for arriving on time. Bring a treat to say thank you for being on time and prepared. © 2018 Open Gate Consulting, Inc. 8

NO AGENDA. WHY DO WE ALLOW THIS?

NO AGENDA. WHY DO WE ALLOW THIS? HABIT • We don’t make it a priority. • We don’t want to be held accountable ourselves. Agendas keep leaders accountable to be prepared and think about what needs to be discussed. • It’s more fun to talk about sports, what we did over the weekend, upcoming vacations, kids, pets…

NO AGENDA. WHY DO WE ALLOW THIS? SOLUTION Commit to it. Involve your team. Enjoy the benefits. COMMIT TO IT. 90% of the battle is in our own minds. The first step is deciding that maintaining an agenda is a worthwhile goal that will benefit you and your team. The best way to stick with a commitment is to announce it publicly. If you don’t already run meetings with an agenda, tell your team that you’re going to start. Invite their input as to what needs to be on the agenda. (AND, what should be left off. ) It will be an enlightening and fruitful discussion that will pay off with more engagement from your team. © 2018 Open Gate Consulting, Inc. 11

NO AGENDA. WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT? SOLUTION INVOLVE YOUR TEAM. Many leaders have the mistaken belief that setting the agenda is their responsibility. It becomes ONE MORE task to do on an already overloaded plate. You will get far more benefit if you ask your team for help. You can invite your super organized team member to develop an agenda template. Decide together as a team how it should look, what you want to track, who will maintain the archive copies. (Although recommend you keep your own as well. ) (Remember to reward that person for going the extra step. Even small gestures such as a gift card for coffee go a long way. ) You can also involve your team in running the meeting itself. There is no rule that says the manager has to be the meeting facilitator. You can rotate that responsibility among team members. © 2018 Open Gate Consulting, Inc. 12

NO AGENDA. WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT? SOLUTION That one simple change has many benefits: • You provide developmental opportunities for your team. They get to practice public speaking, meeting facilitation, time management, and conflict resolution. • You, as the leader, are there to provide back up and support when needed. Development is one of the top engagement drivers and a grand way to retain valuable people on YOUR team. • With a team member facilitating, you as the leader get to observe the dynamics of your team. It can be a powerful tool and eyeopening experience. • The change in facilitators keeps things fresh and novel for your team – reducing meeting boredom. On the flip side, this approach can have challenges. Some team members may not want the opportunity. Others may need a lot of help being effective facilitators. Their facilitation style may rankle the team. That means you’ll want to up your game coaching and mentoring those individuals. And, consider exempting anyone who simply doesn’t want the opportunity. © 2018 Open Gate Consulting, Inc. 13

NO AGENDA. WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT? SOLUTION ENJOY THE BENEFITS. • Your meetings will be more efficient. • Team members will be happier. • You stand a better chance of accomplishing your goals as a team. © 2018 Open Gate Consulting, Inc. 14

ALLOWING THE MEETING TO VEER OFF COURSE. THIS IS A TRICKY ONE.

ALLOWING THE MEETING TO VEER OFF COURSE. THIS IS A TRICKY ONE. HABIT This is arguably the toughest habit to break. Why? Because it can be hard to identify when a meeting has gone off track. And, sometimes it is beneficial to allow a meeting conversation to wander. Facilitating a group discussion is not an easy task. You’re dealing with different personalities, agendas, and communication styles. It takes a great deal of skill to wrangle all these competing factors. Finally, we simply may notice that the conversation has wandered off track.

ALLOWING THE MEETING TO VEER OFF COURSE. WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT? SOLUTION Pay attention. Be observant. Invite feedback. PAY ATTENTION. The most critical facilitation skill leaders can learn is to pay attention. We tend to focus on delivering the message – making sure we’re communicating clearly and effectively. All that takes a lot of brain power. That leaves little left to observe how people are reacting. Train yourself to watch facial expressions and body language. Listen for tone of voice that indicates irritation and boredom. Listen for sighs, nervous laughter, sarcasm. All of these are clues and indicators to help you know when to shift course. BE OBSERVANT. That’s another way of saying – pay attention. It’s such an important behavior for leaders to embrace that we want to emphasize it twice. © 2018 Open Gate Consulting, Inc. 17

ALLOWING THE MEETING TO VEER OFF COURSE. WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT? SOLUTION INVITE FEEDBACK. Look for ways to get feedback about how the meetings are going. This can be an uncomfortable thing for leaders to do. But, by confidently inviting feedback, you are demonstrating a critical leadership trait – courage. It takes courage to ask for feedback knowing that it might not all be rosy. But, strong, effective leaders do this. And, you can too. Some ways to get feedback: • Ask. Have conversations with your team, both individually and collectively. Invite feedback and take it in. Resist the urge to become defensive. • Survey. A more methodical method is to create a short survey inviting feedback from your team. This can be done electronically or the old fashioned way with paper and pencil. Have a neutral person administer. • Get outside input. Invite a neutral person to observe your meetings and give feedback. This could be your manager, a peer manager, someone from your Human Resources team, or someone outside the organization.

MEET LIKE IT MATTERS We talked about three habits that tend to derail effective meetings: starting late, no agenda, and allowing the meeting to veer off course. I encourage you sincerely to try the solutions outlined here. Let us know how they work. We look forward to hearing from you. Nancy Maki nmaki@opengateresources. com 206 -512 -7109 © 2018 Open Gate Consulting, Inc.