1. Richard Strand Olympic College Fall 2010

2. + -  Collaboration  Social connection  Shared commitment  Spread the word  Get buy-in  Gage resistance  Bridge gaps between silos  ??????  Consumes TIME  Little accomplished  Breeds more meetings  One person dominates  Personal agendas drive discussion  One-on-ones tend to dominate conversation  ??????

3.  “If I didn’t have to go to meetings I’d like my job more.”  “If only I had nickel for every minute I’ve wasted in meetings _________________.”  According to Patrick Lencioni—Death by Meeting “For those of us who lead and manage organizations, meetings are pretty much all we do.”

4.  Why are we meeting? ◦ Most meeting occur informally. ◦ Wisdom of crowds.  Where are we meeting? ◦ Most meetings occur in offices, hallways, by the cooler.  What do we expect to accomplish? ◦ And who gets to decide what we expect to accomplish? ◦ How will we know we’ve succeeded?

5.  Sin #1—We don’t take meetings seriously— ◦ Signals--arrive late, leave early, spend most of our ◦ time doodling. ◦ Salvation—Adopt the mind-set that meetings are work, need to be disciplined, focused, hold people accountable.  Sin #2—Meetings are TOO long! ◦ Signals—Meetings accomplish half as much in twice the time. ◦ Salvation—Consider time is money, track the cost of your meeting—limit to 90 minutes.

6.  Sin #3—People wander off the topic. ◦ Signals—People spend more time digressing than discussing. ◦ Salvation—Get serious about agendas, store distractions in the “parking lot.”  Sin #4—Nothing happens when meeting is over. ◦ Signals—People don’t convert discussion into decisions and decisions into ACTION. ◦ Salvation—Convert from “meeting” to “doing.”

7.  Sin#5—People don’t tell the truth. ◦ Signals—Plenty of conversation, not much candor. ◦ Salvation—Embrace Anonymity.  Sin #6—Postponing action. ◦ Signals—Insufficient input, desire for better data. ◦ Salvation—Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good enough, plan ahead, do your homework.  Sin #7—Meetings NEVER get any better. ◦ Signals—We accept bad meeting behavior, we keep making the same mistakes. ◦ Salvation—Practice, monitor, be accountable.

8.  BE.....  Punctual—Be on time, model the way, reward timeliness.  Prepared—BOTH the facilitator and the attendees need to be prepared, create agenda, follow the plan.  Participatory—Monitor interactions, assign duties (timekeeper, rotate facilitator), etc.  Positive—Keep conversations positive as ideas are being shared, opinions shaped.

9.  BE....  Productive—Have a goal, work to achieve it.  Polite—Turn off phones, limit electronic distractions, take turns speaking, listen.  Proactive—Review agenda, focus conversation, assign tasks, track time, reward progress.  Professional—Your conduct is on display for ALL to judge—it will either serve to encourage or discourage REAL progress.

10. 90+% of CommunicationIS NON VERBAL  We don’t have time for that.  Don’t be ridiculous.  We tried that before.  We’ve never done that before.  It costs too much.  That’s beyond our responsibility.  That will take too long.  Not our problem.  If it ain’t broke, why bother....  Let’s form a committee.  That’s years away.  We’re not equipped to do that.  The rules won’t allow for that.  But the President (boss) wants this...

11.  List the options  Assign point values  Rate options by preference ◦ Anonymous Votes ◦ Discuss most favored choices ◦ What led to lowest scores?  Tally points and eliminate low scores  Focus conversation on the remaining choices  Take another vote to finalize choice.

12. The ProblemThe Solution TimelinessAppoint a timekeeper, stick to agenda Right people aren’t thereFormal invites, reminders, homework Conversation wandersHave an agenda, time discussion, call for the question Participants don’t listen, participate, or talk too much Establish ground rules, review them periodically, assess expectations Participants don’t follow thru on assignments Recorder reviews assignments as meeting closes, document in minutes/notes, remind those assigned, request interim progress reports

13.  Team leader ◦ Manages and coordinates team activity, provides resources, oversees activities  Facilitator ◦ Prepares agenda, facilitates discussion, listens  Recorder ◦ Captures key points, provides working documents  Timekeeper ◦ Keeps us on track, moves agenda forward  Team Member ◦ Contributes to meeting discussion, shares burden

14.  Behaviors to celebrate— ◦ Timeliness, participation, confidentiality, language, interruptions.  Shared responsibility for success— ◦ Attendance, wandering discussions, rotation of roles.  Framework for progress— ◦ Agendas, minutes, formalities, reaching consensus, closure, plan to CELEBRATE progress.