ITLP Tuesday Readings

Today's reading is a July 17, 2011 column "'Let's Meet' doesn't have to be death knell for productivity" by Boston Globe columnist, Scott Kirsner. Kirsner is the author of the book The Future of Web Video, editor of The Convergence Guide: Life Sciences in New England, and a contributor to The Good City: Writers Explore 21st Century Boston.

Grant Freeland, a senior partner at the Boston Consulting Group says "If I had to rate the average meeting in business it would be a C-." "There are too many of them. They don't have agendas or clear goals."

So how do you hold meetings that accomplish something, without wasting time. Kirsner has identified a number of good tactics from his conversations with business leaders:

1. Focus on the basics. Start with a goal. Have an agenda. Ruthlessly manage time and topics.

2. Nix the chairs - stand up. The meeting will be more to the point and shorter.

3. Start at an odd-time. It cuts down on late arrivals, and makes it easier to start on time.

4. Limit the size. Smaller is more effective. Not everyone who wants to come, needs to be there.

5. Bring a tennis ball. With a larger group, having a token that gets passed from speaker to speaker makes it clear who and ONLY who has the floor.

6. Define the objective. What's your desired outcome for each agenda item. It's really helpful to note these on the agenda.

7. Get people off the fence early. Ask attendees to rank the options early to move discussions along.

8. Avoid PowerPoint. While PowerPoint slides can be helpful to set up the issue to be discussed, a seemingly endless stream of dense slides being read is numbing.

9. Try whiteboards and rapid prototypes. Use whiteboards when brainstorming, document the ideas (i.e., take and circulate pictures), advance the ideas between meetings to get ready for the next set of discussions.

10. Make one day meeting-free. A meeting-free day gives people time to catch up and work on projects.

11. Change it up. Not all meetings have to have the same format or venue.

So, take a for look at the meetings you are responsible for and use these ideas to make them more effective.

Have a great summer week. . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 6:24 PM | Permalink

"One who fears failure limits his activities. Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again." ~ Henry Ford

What have you wanted to do or accomplish in the past, or wish you could do now and in the future? Make a list. What are you excuses for not trying? Challenge them.

What lessons have you learned from things that didn't go well in the past? What is the worst that can happen? What is the best?

Posted by Jim Hall at 1:32 PM | Permalink

Today's Reading, "The Right Response is Not Always Instant", is from the pen of Ron Ashkenas, managing partner of Schaffer Consulting and a co-author of "The GE Work-Out." His latest book is "Simply Effective."

Too many of the flood of messages we receive each day have an implied, or sometime stated, urgency that suggests, requires, or even demands that we drop everything and address the request. You have to wonder, with seemingly everything "labeled" urgent whether anything really is.

Ashkenas suggests that while there are no easy answers, there are approaches that can help. Here are three:

1. Dont assume that "urgent" really means urgent. Explore what is required, what the requestor is really trying to accomplish. Sometimes the sense of urgency is just a way of conveying the person's importance or power, or even a reflexion of personal anxiety.

2. Try to distinguish between an urgent crisis and an urgent request. Sometimes there is a crisis and the right response is to address it now. Probe for what is really required. Perhaps, a commitment to resolve the issue by a date certain will be sufficient.

3. Be prepared to say NO. Good service doesn't necessarily mean doing everything that is wanted. It does mean what is doing the best of everyone -- the customer, your staff, and both of your organizations. So, talk through the implications and the outcomes and do what is right.

So, carefully stop and evaluate those "urgent" requests and only then act.

Have a wonderful week. . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 11:15 AM | Permalink

"The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant" ~ Max DePree

Did you take pride in your work when you first started? Were you recognized for it? Are you honest with everyone regarding strategies and status? They can't accomplish or change what they don't know.

Are you "on the balcony" where you can recognize that each individual worker and task is what makes the University run successfully. What do you need to do to be clear and honor your fellow workers? Make a list and start.

Posted by Jim Hall at 11:48 AM | Permalink

This week's reading comes from an interview Robert Mcgarvey had with Larry Bossidy that appeared in the July 2003 issue of the AmericanWay - "It's All In The Follow-through" - about the time Bossidy's book Execution was published. Of particular attention is the sidebar at the very end of the piece.

Bossidy is the former chair of Honeywell International Inc. and before that second-in-command to Jack Welch at General Electric. Most Leaders Program alumni know him from his book on "Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done" (co-authored with Ram Charan an advisor to CEOs of Fortune 100 companies) which is referenced in the Results segment of the program.

In the book Bossidy and Charan list seven must-have behaviors for any leader who wants to focus on getting results:

1. Know your people and your business; get down to the nitty-gritty.

2. Insist on realism; delusions don't produce results.

3. Set clear goals and priorities.

4. Follow through; make follow-through a daily commitment.

5. Reward the doers, those who deliver results.

6. Expand people's capabilities, everyone's on the continuous improvement path, including you.

7. Know yourself.

The regime dictated by these seven must-have behaviors isn't easy but it will help you lead you lead your organization to a practice of delivering results. To start, pick one of the behaviors to work on until it becomes a practice and then move on to the next behavior.

Have a great week. . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 9:09 AM | Permalink

John Baldoni is an internationally known leadership educator, coach, author, and speaker. Today's reading, a recent BNET blog post, is "'I Don't Have Time' and Other Excuses Managers Give for Not Coaching".

Baldoni notes that most leaders know that coaching is part of their job. And, companies that have strong leadership cultures develop people at every level. Yet many leaders ignore this part of their responsibilities. Their boss doesn't insist on it; they find the idea uncomfortable, particularly when correction is necessary; and they make excuses.

Baldoni's list of the most common excuses he's heard include:

1. I don't like getting personal with my employees. Coaching is a conversation about performance in the workplace, not an employee's personal life.

2. I am a manager, not a therapist. Coaching is not therapy. If there is an issue requiring therapy, work with HR to assist the employee in finding appropriate help.

3. I don't have time. The leader's job is to deliver the right results on time, every time. That only happens if you find and develop the right people for the job.

4. I don't like to dwell on negatives. So, you'd rather be comfortable than have a staff that works as a team and delivers first class results.

5. I don't want my people feeling too secure about their jobs. Exit interviews show that employees leave because they believe they are not valued. Coaching is one way to show a person that you value him or her.

Are you coaching your staff? If not, why not? What's your excuse? As a leader, this is something that you really need to make a practice. Why not begin today.

Have a great week. . . . jim

Posted by Jim Hall at 11:28 AM | Permalink