Management Monthly February 2012

Management Monthly

A monthly source of management theory, thoughts, tips and best practices

February 2012

This Month’s Tip:

Minute-by-Minute Recognition - Less than 60 seconds. That’s all it takes to make someone’s day, using on-the-spot recognition. The next time you notice an employee doing something right, immediately follow these four simple steps:

1. Tell them exactly what they did that was right (“Wanda, I noticed that you picked up the phones today, since Bess was sick.”)
2. Tell them what value or goal they met. (“That shows a lot of teamwork.”)
3. Explain how that impacts the company. (“We might have missed that emergency call from our biggest customer without your help.”
4. Express appreciation. (“Thanks so much.”)

Note: In less time than it took you to read this page, you could have recognized someone. Now, how easy is that!

(Article reprinted from A Carrot a Week email newsletter from Carrots.com)

How to run an Effective Meeting

Good meetings don’t happen by accident. They happen because someone has taken the time to prepare themselves and their meeting participants. When you have a well planned meeting - magic happens. They begin (and end) on-time; massive action takes place during shorter meeting time frames; and people walk away with a sense of purpose and accomplishment. And when you have a poorly planned meeting – you can get the meeting from hell.

Here are some ideas to help run a high-powered, results-focused meeting.

Before Meeting

• Define the purpose
• Define the specific outcome (e.g., inform, make a decision, provide status, a working meeting to complete a deliverable, etc.)
• Identify the attendees (i.e., who needs to attend, why and what’s their role?)
• Create the agenda
• Send the agenda and any associated background materials prior to meeting – this allows participants to be more prepared
• Send a confirmation notice one day prior to meeting, along with the agenda and any associated materials (Yes – repetition is the mother of memory)

During Meeting

• Set aside a few minutes at the beginning for idle small talk – building rapport can help set the tone of collaboration and partnership
• Kick-off meeting by reviewing the purpose of the meeting; the desired outcome of the meeting; and walk through the agenda along with proposed timing for each agenda item
• Have the purpose and desired outcome visible for all to see – this provides a great visual aide for everyone to reference during the meeting
• Stick to the agenda
• Encourage group discussion and feedback by asking questions
• Look to gain consensus on key decisions
• When assigning action items, make sure you answer the specific question of, “Who is agreeing to do what and when are they expected to complete it?”
• Call out time-checks and/or reference the agenda and desired outcome to ensure the meeting is moving in right direction
• Summarize key agreements and any action items during the “wrap-up” portion of the meeting
• Identify if you need to meet again. If so, when should that meeting occur
• If the meeting is going over its time, set a time-limit so people have an idea of when they can expect to end (e.g., “Can we go another 10 minutes, then if we need more time, we can reschedule?”, etc.)
• Thank your attendees for preparing and participating in your meeting

After Meeting

To reinforce the importance of a meeting and ensure momentum, try the following:

• Send out a follow-up email with reminders of key decisions made and/or any follow-up action items
• Add any reminders to your calendar to follow-up on any assigned action items

At first, these steps may seem like a significant effort. However, with some diligence and practice, you will find these steps can quickly become habit. More importantly, you will find the time spent to prepare will mean your meetings will have more engagement, energy, momentum, and stuff getting done!

(Article by Chuck Hebert and reprinted from management411.net website)