| |
| |
|
Management Information |
|
|
|
Meetings: Don't Just Show Up, Stand Out and Shine
Meetings, whether they're regularly scheduled routines in your company or now-and-then get-togethers, can be a place for you to gain positive visibility and to showcase your capabilities. Here are three strategies that will help you stand out and shine. Do your advance work. If it's your supervisor or team leader who is calling the staff or group together and has left the focus a bit loose, you might offer to prepare an agenda by saying: "This could save time and help the staff / team come prepared and provide useful input." Be seen as someone who knows how to make meetings effective. This ability is a real career asset, especially in team-based organizations. Polish your act. Here's where your observations at prior meetings are critical. Do people speak up freely or wait to be called on by the meeting leader? Are presentations made formally, perhaps by standing at a podium or do people stay seated, interjecting comments when there's an opening? Determine how the most effective members make their points, and how does the leader react to various presentation styles. Use this information as a model for your presentations. If your meeting is more formal---perhaps, an annual sales conference---it's vital to rehearse your presentation several times. Reading a report causes people to lose interest. But that doesn't mean you must memorize the entire thing. Rather, try writing a 'grabber' sentence for your opener and another for a strong ending. Know these two sentences by heart, then condense the rest of your thoughts to an outline, using short 'trigger' phrases. Record your presentation and listen for places where you should change pace, volume or expression. Also, imagine the kinds of questions that may come from the audience and also decide on your possible answers. Preparation is the key. Follow up and follow through. Even if someone else is taking minutes, make brief notes about each agenda item. If you're the leader, prepare and distribute your own summary with a list of who will do what by when. If the leader omits this step, you can volunteer afterward to prepare the summary. Then offer a succinct wrap-up instead of verbatim minutes. Meeting follow ups can give you great opportunities for building a reputation for leadership. You might, for example, offer to present the group's concern for more flexible scheduling to your department head, then follow through in getting a response. Do this in a way that it is not seen as getting 'brownie' points but rather as dependable follow-up. What happens if you get an idea after the meeting? What you can do is develop a post meeting proposal and have it on the leader's or your boss's desk the next day. Work up a brief outline of the discussed issue and suggestions you have. Include background information, financials, pro's and con's and other relevant information. Yes, it may mean burning the midnight oil, but if this is a vital issue, you'll be seen as a problem solver and valuable contributor. If you take an active role before, during, and after meetings, you will demonstrate your ability to get a job done and your willingness to participate in a team effort. As you discover better ways for achieving better meeting results, you'll be displaying your leadership talent and you'll be seen as a high performing professional. Marcia Zidle, the 'people smarts' coach, works with business leaders to quickly solve their people management headaches so they can concentrate on their #1 job to grow and increase profits. She offers free help through Leadership Briefing, a weekly e-newsletter with practical tips on leadership style, employee motivation, recruitment and retention and relationship management. Subscribe by going to http://leadershiphooks.com/ and get the bonus report "61 Leadership Time Savers and Life Savers". Marcia is the author of the What Really Works Handbooks resources for managers on the front line and the Power-by-the-Hour programs fast, convenient, real life, affordable courses for leadership and staff development. She is available for media interviews, conference presentations and panel discussions on the hottest issues affecting the workplace today. Contact Marcia at 800-971-7619.
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
The Compliance Officers Killer Application It used to be that only the largest multi-nationals needed a Compliance Officer. Today most practices, regardless of size, would be wise to charge someone within their organisation with the responsibility of keeping abreast and managing the compliance process. Whadda Jerk! If one does not understand a person, one tends to regard him as a fool. Carl Jung Sadly, public discourse today seems to have degenerated into warring parties spitting epithets at one another. Is Chess Good for Management? The game of chess has been applauded and taught in business school as a game that gingers creative intelligence.Chess is a game involving kings, queens, bishops, knights, castles, and pawns like a real life. Resistance - How to Handle It Do you ever meet with resistance from other people - I bet you do! It might be a customer, a colleague, a member of your team or even someone in your personal life. Dealing with resistance or objections is one of the biggest challenges faced by business people; so let's consider why we get resistance and how we can handle it. What Makes A Good Media Story? Media relations can be difficult, but also rewarding. And the lessons we learn from working with newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and online publications should increase the effectiveness of all our communication initiatives. Rapport - How to Build it with Your Team I've often heard managers say - "My door is always open, come and talk to me anytime."You have to accept the fact that your team won't always do that. So, You Want to be in Management? Five Essential Factors that Will Determine Your Chances The following information is based upon over 500 interviews with senior executives with whom I conducted over the past four years. These senior executives represent a variety of industries and organizations. Stomp Out Leeches In Your Company Recently, I felt appalled to see a political candidate running on the motto of "Demand More!" That motto oozes extreme nerve, and implies some people think it is o.k. Process and Procedures Investments - How to Get Money Back In September 2004, President Bush signed the $146 billion tax cut bill restoring the recently expired business Research & Experimentation Tax Credit. The 18-month renewal of the research and experimentation tax credit, which expired June 30 2004, was the most expensive item with an expected $7. PR Still a Mystery to Some Unfortunately, there are managers who define public relations by its applications. Which explains neither its underlying strengths nor what PR is all about. Success at Work : People Skills : Dealing with New Ideas Re-organizing, re-engineering, re-training, down-sizing, outsourcing, changing-changing-changing. Organizations today think they need to be constantly changing or they will perish. Performance Management Made Easy Performance Management is a process that both employer and employee often fear!Why is this so!There is much misinformation about the performance management process and performance appraisals in management circles today. We often think that best practice demands that we must performance appraise 'no matter what'. 5 Management Decision Making Lessons from a Long Shot. A Heartening Belmont Victory Like many, I watched the 134th Belmont Stakes hoping to see the first Triple Crown in 24 years. Instead, I saw the 70-1 long shot, Sarava, appear from nowhere to win. Turbo-Charge Your Rollout with ERM Employees are the often-neglected stakeholders in the success or failure of a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) initiative. But employees don't always resist new ways of doing business. One Simple Idea to Grow Your Business Perhaps the most common theme I've heard in working with business owners or managers is that they rarely have time to plan for the future. They are so busy with day to day tasks and responsibilities, just getting through their weekly "To Do" list or fighting fires consumes all their time and energy, and then some. Take Control of Your Paper in 3 Easy Steps Do you have piles of paper on your desk. Many do and don't know how to deal with them. Einstein, The Universe, And Leadership Every since serving a hitch in the military, I have been nagged by the question that's been hanging around leadership since time immemorial: How can some leaders persuade people to believe in them and follow them and other leaders can't? But it wasn't the military that provided me with a framework to answer that question. It was Albert Einstein and his quest for the unified field theory of the universe. Are You Using the Right Form of Energy? As we near the end of summer, here is a question I have for you, "Are you using the right form of energy to grow your business?" Are you having trouble growing your small business as fast as you want? Are you making all the right moves and still the business just inches forward? Read this article and see if you are using the right form of energy to grow your small business?Head EnergyMy consulting experiences have taught me there are two types of business energy. I call the first type "head energy". Executive Humor at Meetings I don't encourage managers to wear funny hats, appear in self-deprecating skits, or otherwise emulate Saturday Night Live in an attempt to manufacture an image as, "Look, folks! I'm just one a' the guys!" If clients insist, I do what I can to help. I want the money. Employee Motivation: Make Everyone A Cheerleader For Your Company Do you manage by walking around? What do you see? People excited about their job or people just going through the motions? Here are seven ways, that do not cost much if anything, to turn the "it's just a job" employee into one that is powered up and willing to give their best every day.Spend time out in the field.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
