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.

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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?

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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.

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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”

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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.

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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.

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

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter  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

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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.

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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

Leadership Communication by Deborah J. Barrett Chapter 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.