Tips for holding effective meetings at work

Meetings are often the backbone of most managers’ days. But they have a habit of descending into a spiral of existing just for the sake of it, and can actually end up hampering productivity and performance instead of enhancing it.

Most managers tend to fall into two groups when it comes to meetings. Some love them and hold them frequently, while others avoid them like the plague. The reasons for the often strong reactions for and against meetings all make sense when you consider their uses and how they can be abused.

On the plus side meetings can help to promote a dialogue between co-workers, and bring to light any issues or problems that managers may not previously have been aware of. On the negative side meetings that are poorly planned or even unnecessary can waste valuable time that could be better spent doing something else.

It helps to have some kind of policy in place with regards to meetings – even if it is only for your own personal use. Some kind of regular meeting to touch base with your co-workers is always a good idea, but this should be held no more than once a week.

Every time you consider holding a new meeting, ask yourself what the purpose of that meeting is. Is there a new contract or job that your team needs to be properly briefed on? If so make sure you have time to prepare and set an appropriate time and date for the meeting to take place.

If on the other hand you simply need to alert your co-workers to some new general information, is there really a need to hold a meeting at all? A simple memo would probably do away with a significant amount of the smaller meetings that take place countrywide every single day.

The golden rule for planning any meeting is to ask yourself whether the time you will be taking away from the working day is better spent in the meeting. If it is then you know there is a need for it. If the answer is no, then at least you can stop short of planning a meeting that isn’t required.

For those meetings you do go ahead with, time should still be of the essence. Letting even the most vital meetings run on longer than necessary can be counterproductive. Making sure you stay focused and concentrate only on the subject in hand will help you to conduct better, faster and more productive meetings every single time.

Time Management and Flexible Working

It seems it’s time to have a serious rethink about the way we work. According to a recent article in People Management Online (http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk) working in an office may actually be severely hampering our productivity and passion for our careers.

While more and more businesses are becoming aware of this, and moving towards allowing more freedom to work from home as a way of getting more work done, not everyone is as forward thinking.

So what should you do if the people in the upper echelons of your business can’t see the way forward and still insist that everyone works nine to five at their desk?

While you may not have the ultimate power to be able to allow employees to work more freely, you can still have an effect on the way time is managed within your department. The best way to do this is to get everyone involved and seek suggestions as to what progress can be made.

It is not unheard of for the powers that be within a business to rethink their approach to flexible working once they see there is a real desire and need for it – so long as it can be proved that the business will not suffer as a result. If you can demonstrate that things may actually improve then so much the better.

There are two methods of asking people to input their own ideas into how the business – and more appropriately your department – can manage its time more effectively. Firstly you may wish to call a meeting with a view to discussing what people would like to change and improve. There may be methods of exchanging information and dealing with issues that are currently long winded, and could be made far simpler if everyone got together and hashed out a new plan.

Secondly, if a face to face meeting doesn’t seem to fit the bill you could put together a questionnaire for your employees to fill in. This can be anonymous if you wish – you may get more honest opinions if this is the case.

Opening up a dialogue with your employees can help in two ways. Not only does it help you to keep in touch with the everyday challenges and issues which arise (not all of which you may be aware of) but it also creates an open, two way method of communication with the people you work with every day.

This will lead to improved methods of working, better time management and better understanding of the roles everyone has in both the short and the long term.

And it may also raise a flag in favour of flexible working – one which the higher powers may see and take note of.

© Copyright Hannah McNamara 2008

How to build your business and still take time off!

We all know people who are like human dynamos. They seem to make an art form of building their business and still enjoy quality time with friends and family. It isn’t magic, you can do it too.

The world of business ownership or management is inhabited by two main personality types. There are people who never miss deadlines, who can be replied upon to deliver the goods whatever the odds and, who seem to thrive under pressure. Then there are people who achieve very little and yet seem to be permanently in a rush.

The first group actually manage to build their business or practice and do even more, whilst the others often struggle to stay afloat. So how can you learn from those who are able to create success while they still take time out for holidays and quality family time?

Consider your working time. You can spend it in two ways. You can be working in your business or, you can be working on your business.

Working in the business means doing whatever is necessary to provide your products or services to existing clients. Working on your business is the creative time that you spend developing a clear strategy for the future, planning the tactics that will make it happen and, building relationships with clients. You will be well rewarded if you take some regular time away to think clearly about this business building.

There is a wide variety of branded ‘time management systems’, many of them will be used during an initial flush of enthusiasm and then end up as very expensive bookends or doorstops. The reason is obvious. Time management is a false description of self management. There are some very simple techniques that you can start using today to build your business and still enjoy time off. Use them as you consider your ‘in business’ tasks and then your ‘on business’ activity.

Consider the task
Is it necessary to do it at all?
If it is a major task, ‘chunk it down’ into smaller elements or steps
Is each step necessary?
What is the result or outcome of doing it?
How else could this result be achieved?
What is the cost of not doing it?

Even if this step seems too simple to be effective, almost every organisation, large or small, perpetuates time consuming tasks that are no longer needed. There is little point in demanding a log of every photocopy made in an office if nobody ever checks it. Do you spend time on needless meetings, memos and emails when you could deal with a matter in a brief phone call?

Consider the person
Who does it?
Why that person?
Who else could do it?
Why that person?
Who else should do it?

The objective here is to delegate downwards to the lowest level with the ability to perform the task satisfactorily. It is pointless to send a highly paid PA to the Post Office if the office junior can take your outgoing mail there just as easily. Better still, investigate the possibility of having your outgoing mail collected. Remember the old adage that ‘nobody is indispensable’. Examine ways to take time out from your business, secure in the knowledge that it will run just as well when you are not there.

Consider the place
Where is the task done?
Why there?
Where else could it be done?
Why there?
Where should it be done?

Perhaps your printer has just delivered your latest brochure for final proof reading. You need a quiet environment with no distractions. Go home an hour earlier to do it in peace. If your home environment is noisy, find a quiet lay-by or car park.

Out of the dilemma
Of course, it is easy to consider aspects of what, who, why, when, where and how …when you have time for yourself. And that creates a Catch 22 situation. You will not have the time until you do it, and you cannot do it until you have the time.

Fortunately, there is a practical and effective way out of this dilemma. You invite a business coach to help you. All coaches are not equal. Some are specialists in the art and science of self management and developing a sound balance between leisure and work. HRM Coaching Ltd has a wide network of experienced and qualified coaches and can select the specialist who is most appropriate for your situation. An initial discussion is totally free of cost or obligation.

Call Hannah McNamara on 020 7939 9910 for more information. This could be your first significant step towards building your business and still taking time off.