Why Meetings?

Let’s book a meeting. Let’s talk about it on the conference call. Let’s reconvene at next week’s meeting. Let’s discuss the next time we have a team call. Here’s a thought, let’s figure out why we have so many meetings and calls in the first place.

I have a colleague who attends an all-day full team status meeting once a week. Once a week?! Full day!?! I am a huge supporter of collaboration and teamwork. It’s critical that your company is strong inside before it can be strong outside, but an entire day in a meeting? I challenge there could be a better way.

Do you know why you are attending your meetings today?

Has the reason for each been clearly articulated? Is there an obvious summary of desired outcomes? Will a decision be made on who does what by when? Will the call start and end on time? Do you know why you’re in the meeting at all?

I work with a guy who never has a phone call last more than 10 minutes. We get a ton accomplished in that time and move on. If we realize we've missed something or an item needs more clarification, we get back on the phone. Each of us has our agenda ready, action items listed, and we get to work.

Try this for a week

Cut the time allotted for each meeting and conference call by 50%. Then in a few weeks, cut them in half again. So the one-hour session you have this afternoon would become 15 minutes. You may claim that’s impossible. Have you tried it?

More meetings do not mean more efficiency or alignment. In a matter of a few short weeks, you will realize you are giving everyone more time to think and create rather than prepare and attend meetings and calls. You will see more collaboration, more impromptu discussions, and more ideas being shared.

Or you could stop reading and get to you next meeting.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership and management consultant helping leaders, teams, and companies get clear on their goals and results.

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The Art of a Great Meeting

It’s easy to do. There’s a lot on the go and what better way to ensure alignment than to have a meeting and discuss expectations and deliverables. But how often have you attended a meeting that resolved nothing? It happens too often and we can fix it. If "the boss" likes meetings, show her a way to have less of them, make each one effective, and create a much more focused team.

Here are six simple rules we've all broken more times than we can count that will instantly improve your virtual or in person meetings. These will improve culture, efficiencies, collaboration and results.

If everyone involved adheres to the rules, alignment will happen quickly.

1. Meetings begin and end on time
2. The person instigating the meeting sends a brief and concise outline
3. Only those essential are involved and prepare ahead of time
4. Each meeting begins with a clear outline of expectations
5. No meeting lasts more than an hour
6. Meetings conclude with clear indication of who does what by when

Bonus for adventurous leaders
7. Remove all chairs from the room

Follow these simple steps and count how many hours you reclaim each week while more critical work gets done.

Kneale Mann | Leadership and Culture Strategist, Writer, Speaker, Executive Coach helping leaders create dynamic culture and improved results.

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13 Lucky Thoughts

Step on a crack, break your momma’s back. Walk under a ladder and let the black cat cross your path. It’s just a number yet today being the 13th; millions will do whatever they can to avoid its apparent unluckiness.

I believe leadership is 10% about the work and 90% about the people and those times when we appear to have been lucky quite often are the culmination of a lot of help from others. Some don’t believe in luck at all.

In keeping with the spirit of today, here are 13 inspirational ideas.

If you want more luck, take more chances, be more active, show up more often.
Brian Tracy

The deepest thing in any one is the conviction of the bad luck that follows boasting.
Gertrude Stein

The meeting of preparation with opportunity generates the offspring we call luck.
Tony Robbins

Good luck is a residue of preparation.
Jack Youngblood

If one is lucky, a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities.
Maya Angelou

I am a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.
Stephen Leacock

The amount of good luck coming your way depends on your willingness to act.
Barbara Sher

Luck is believing you 're lucky.
Tennessee Williams

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt

When it comes to luck, you make your own.
Bruce Springsteen

Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you are successful, it is because somewhere, sometime, someone gave you a life or an idea that started you in the right direction.
Melinda Gates

Diligence is the mother of good luck.
Benjamin Franklin

Good luck!

Kneale Mann

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How Are Your Meetings?

It’s easy to do. There’s a lot on the go and what better way to ensure alignment than to have a meeting and discuss expectations and deliverables. But how often have you attended a meeting that resolved nothing? It happens too often and we can fix it. If "the boss" likes meetings, show her a way to have less of them, make each one effective, and create a much more focused team.

Here are six simple rules we've all broken more times than we can count that will instantly improve your virtual or in person meetings. If everyone involved adheres to the rules, alignment will happen quickly.

1. Meetings begin and end on time
2. The person instigating the meeting sends a brief and concise outline
3. Only those essential are involved and prepare ahead of time
4. Each meeting begins with a clear outline of expectations
5. No meeting lasts more than an hour
6. Meetings conclude with clear indication of who does what by when

Good luck and if you need a hand, I’m happy to help.

Kneale Mann

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It's Tougher Than It Looks

A New Appreciation

When someone does something well, we often admire their talent and the ease with which it appears they accomplish it. But we often quickly forget how much work was involved to get to there.

I worked for a guy who navigated the coaching process with grace and fairness.

We had a situation where a staff member had to be reprimanded and it could have gotten ugly. Instead, we had an adult and professional discussion.

I remarked on that and he reminded me that he had been doing it a long time and learned from great mentors how to lead, not boss.


Step Up To The Mic.

This week, I was asked to speak at two events and though I realize I am very tough on myself all in all it went fairly well. I can beat myself up elsewhere. But the strange thing was the nerves. It reminded me of my early radio days when I would be petrified when the microphone light went on. I did not see that coming.

It does get better but unfortunately an audience has to watch while you are improving over time. That is the same with clients in any setting. And we have to remember it's rarely as bad as it is in our heads.

I do want to thank the fantastic team at Social Media Breakfast Waterloo Region as well as the wonderful people at Wellington County Public Health
for their hospitality.

If you do business presentations, you know what that feels like. You prepare the material and all seems like it will go well – until there are real humans watching you. But the only way to improve is to do them more often.

Business is a team sport.

If one of your stakeholders appears to be having some difficulty with a task you expect them to master, remember that the moment we think we’ve nailed it will be the exact moment we are reminded not to get too far ahead of ourselves.

Do you think it may be valuable to stop once in a while and make certain everyone is receiving all they need to do – and more importantly – learn and improve their work?

knealemann
work with me: contact

image credit: getty

Preparing The Preparation

A friend was lamenting the other day that she had nothing to add to the social media discussion. She raises her family and posts insightful and hilarious updates on Twitter and she doesn't even realize it. What I reminded her was, she is adding to the discussion!

If all we do is talk about talking about talking with each other and share stories of how we should share – we are what my dad always calls “preparing for your preparation”. If you've ever been through a meeting where nothing is resolved, where every item is pushed to next meeting, and no one knows who does what by when, that is talking about talking.

I love Chris Brogan's blog entitled Share Share Share or as Jeff Parks says; there are no secrets, just information you don’t know yet. I think most of us had to get our heads around truly sharing because someone in our past stole an idea and took credit for it.

I wrote a media industry article last year that was published in the U.S. and Canada. A former colleague called the day it was published to give me praise. I mentioned that I had included some of the discussions he and I had had over the years and I guess I had stolen some content. He reminded me that he shared stuff he had picked up from others over the years - that's how it works.

James Cridland, Mitch Joel, Chris Brogan, Guy Kawasaki, Jeff Parks, Robert Scoble, Seth Godin, Jeff Pulver, Joseph Jaffe, Leigh Himel, Jeremiah Owyang and countless others share with me every day.

I received an email yesterday from a great friend who reminded me that I need to do my part. I am always better at boasting about my partners and my colleagues all the while they are complaining that I need to share more about me. So here goes ...ahem

...more tomorrow

km