How to Avoid Facilitating Your Meetings as a Lion Tamer

Business owners - want to have fewer yet more productive meetings?  

Welcome to “Conversations every business owner has with their team.”  And today’s topic is how to have your people in fewer more productive meetings without you having to be a facilitation lion tamer.  

Situation - “Another meeting, I don’t have time for a meeting.”  “We never accomplish anything.”  You get the sentiments.   Yet you must have meetings to exchange ideas, engage your group, problem solve or coordinate action.  

Let’s assume you’ve done the meeting basics - clear agenda and purpose and invited the right people to participate.

 

Here’s a simple tip to keep your group more productive and engaged at your next meeting or work session.

The crux of the solution is a large sign.  It has an arrow pointing up corresponding to constructive and a down arrow siting a destructive comment or question.  Participants ask themselves to which degree their comment or question moves the agenda forward.  You get the picture.  With these two arrows they can test whether they are about to suggest adding or subtracting from the agendas purpose.  

This doesn’t mean that important or negative views or news is not spoken, quite the contrary.  It’s saying, “Stay on the agendas topic.”  

A simple pointing to or looking at the arrows keep participants on topic.

A Hierarchy of Constructive Comments or Questions are described as:

Destructive  comments or questions are increasingly detrimental if?  

Introduce these arrows and descriptors at your next meeting, explain the meeting ‘rules of the game’ and you’ll improve productivity, increase moral and leave with clear next steps.  That’s everyone’s definition of progress!

Still having challenges making your meeting as productive and positive as possible, then let’s talk.  I offer a complimentary 60 to 90 min session to understand your team dynamics.

I guarantee you at least a half dozen implementable ideas to maximize your time by reducing the number of meetings and improving the effectiveness of the ones held.

Call me at ph:  972 709 6776 or Email:  StephenMarino@ActionCOACH.com

Let’s get started...building and operation as a high quality team.  You’ll work less and make more.