1. Leading Productive Management Meetings Lectures Based on Leadership Communication By Deborah J. Barrett, Ph.D. McGraw-Hill/Irwin Copyright © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

2. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 2 Discussion Topics  Deciding when a meeting is the best forum  Planning a meeting  Conducting a productive meeting  Reviewing purpose, end products, and agenda  Establishing roles and ground rules  Using common problem-solving methods  Managing meeting problems and conflict  Ensuring meetings lead to action

3. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 3 Deciding When a Meeting is the Best Forum To determine if a meeting is the best forum, ask yourself the following questions:  What is the purpose? What do I hope to accomplish?  Will a meeting accomplish that purpose most efficiently? Most effectively?  Can I describe exactly the outcome I am seeking from the meeting?  Is our group more productive when we meet?

4. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 4 Planning a Meeting  Clarify purpose, objectives, and end products  Decide on the following:  Attendees  Location, equipment, and room layout  Materials needed before and during  Meeting timing  Decision-making approach  Create the agenda

5. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 5 Clarifying the Purpose and End Products  Before the meeting or at the beginning, write out and agree on your purpose and objectives.  Align those objectives with the expected end- products.  For example - Objective  Identify major issues in the case  Determine possible approaches to issues  Assign tasks End products  List of five issues  Written approaches or actions to find approaches  Action items with responsibility assigned

6. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 6 Sample Meeting Planning Guide Meeting called by: Attendees: Facilitator: Note taker: Objectives: Major agenda items and timing: Please read: Please bring: Observers: Resource persons: Additional Information: Creating a Planning Guide and Agenda

7. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 7 Conducting a Productive Meeting To conduct a productive meeting, you will need to do the following:  Review your purpose, end products, and agenda  Establish roles and ground rules  Use common problem-solving methods  Manage meeting problems and conflict

8. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 8 Establishing Roles and Ground Rules Sample Ground Rules Discussions are to be informal and interactive Our goal is to have open, nonjudgmental exchange of ideas No idea is a bad idea All participants are equal No sidebars are allowed Roles  Leader Facilitator  Note taker  Timekeeper

9. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 9 Using Common Problem-Solving Methods* 1.Brainstorming 2.Ranking or rating 3.Sorting by category (logical grouping) 4.Edward Debono’s Six Thinking Hats 5.Opposition analysis (is/is not, pro/con) 6.Decision trees 7.From/to 8.Force field analysis 9.The matrix 10. Frameworks *See appendix for discussions of some of the methods.

10. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 10 Managing Meeting Problems Problem 1. Confused objectives and expectations 2. Unclear roles/ responsibilities Management Approach  Create agenda that includes objectives and end products  Send agenda out ahead of time  Review agenda at the beginning of meeting  Communicate roles and responsibilities before or at the beginning of the meeting

11. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 11 Managing Meeting Problems (continued) Problem 3. Confusion between process and content 4. Drifting off topic Management Approach  Separate leader and facilitator roles  Call time outs for process checks  Stop and review objectives  If digression continues, suggest  Continuing after meeting  Placing topic on agenda for next meeting or in “parking lot”

12. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 12 Managing Meeting Problems (continued) Problem 5. Data confusion or overload 5. Repetition/ wheel spinning 6. Time violations Management Approach  Control versions of handouts  Create simplified data packs  Exclude data not relevant to objectives  Control the discussion by reminding attendees of objectives  Always start on time  Have a time keeper  Re-evaluate agenda topics/time limits and build in cushion time

13. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 13 Managing Conflict High Low Level of cooperation High Low Level of assertiveness Competing Compromising Collaborating Avoiding Accommodating Source: Adapted from Blake and Mouton, in Deborah Borisoff and David Victor, Conflict Management: A Communication Skills Approach, p. 6.

14. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 14 Ensuring Meeting Follow-up Occurs  Assign specific tasks to specific people  Review all actions and responsibilities at the end of the meeting  Provide a meeting summary with assigned deliverables included  Follow-up on action items in a reasonable time

15. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 15 Discussion Summary  Unproductive meetings may occur if a meeting is not the best forum to accomplish the tasks.  Ensuring a productive meetings means you need to plan the meeting carefully and conduct it with skilled facilitation.  Meeting problems and conflict need to be managed immediately and not allowed to linger.  To ensure needed actions occur following the meeting may require some micro-managing.

16. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 16 Appendix: Some Problem-Solving Methods

17. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 17 Traditional Brainstorming  Purpose: To generate a lot of ideas  Characteristics:  Each person is expected to contribute an idea  Ideas are not to be evaluated or judged  Ideas must be captured just as they are  Quantity is what is important, not quality  A facilitator’s role is to keep things moving and make sure the scribe captures all ideas  Brainstorming ends when the ideas stop coming or when time runs out

18. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 18  Purpose: To encourage open and complete thinking about a problem (parallel thinking)  Characteristics:  Each person figuratively wears a hat of the same color and assumes the characteristics assigned to the color  The colors are as follows:  Red = Emotions  White = Facts  Yellow = Possibilities  Black = Devil’s advocate  Green = Creative solutions  Blue = Evaluation of ideas De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats

19. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 19 The Matrix  Purpose: To evaluate or diagnose problems, establish positioning or approach, or determine level of difficulty in making changes  Characteristics:  The matrix is usually a four box configuration with each axis assigned an evaluative label  An example would be the skill/will matrix: High will Low will Low skillHigh skill

20. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 20 Force-Field Analysis  Purpose: To explore problems and develop strategies for change  Characteristics:  First, the problem is described, and then the situation as you would want it to be is described.  What emerges are two sets of forces, one driving towards the desired goal and the other pushing in the opposite direction.  When the forces are found to be in equilibrium, no change can occur.

21. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 21 From/To  Purpose: To establish accurate description of a current situation with a matching list of desired changes  Characteristics:  Particularly useful in a change situation  Helps uncover problems and improvements  Very useful in a team situation or idea generating workshop FromTo

22. Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 7 - 22 Frameworks  Purpose: To simplify or make a complex idea more manageable, to capture visually the elements of a complex problem, or to force greater analysis  Characteristics:  Can be original (the best usually are since then they are tailored to the problem)  However, numerous frameworks exist, which can save valuable time and ensure comprehensiveness; thus, they should be part of every manager’s tool kit.