My Prelude To A Meeting And Thereafter....
Some years of experience in the field of leadership often give me a push to share some thoughts around it. My early struggles, my problems, my views and my solutions - however perfect or imperfect those may be, have clung on to me like a benign outgrowth on the surface of my body. 'Outgrowth' I say because firstly, it cannot be removed, until operated! Secondly, it shows up in a form that cannot be hidden, and hence, even the tiniest bit within it gets revealed easily.
One of the most challenging tests that comes my way, almost every day, and I have to clear it, is handling meetings. These meetings come and go periodically in my profession. These come at different times of the day and often carry great importance. One thing I try hard to pursue - I like to see these as successful and effective. And, I approach these with simple means and try to do the simple things right.
So, let us start from there. My value system compels me to believe that each meeting that I chair or is part of, must be an effective one. The invitation should be properly sent, the venue must be carefully chosen and the invitees should be appropriately selected. If we divide these meetings into two categories, the analysis gets easier. Category one: The set of the meetings where I am invited.
In a meeting called by someone else, the first thing that turns me off is the lack of agenda. A meeting that has no agenda is no meeting at all! My experience foretells me that an ad hoc meeting is sure to doom. An informal chit chat, a coffee chat or just a lunch discussion suffices instead. From lack of an agenda to insufficient or incorrect agenda - the latter is even more serious. A prelude to a meeting is basically the preparation for it. If I do not know beforehand what is expected out of me, my physical presence makes no sense. In the ideal case, if I am given the action items to prepare upfront, I am very happy. My professionalism has got off the blocks and it would produce wonders.
A proper agenda, therefore, is half the job done. Next comes the venue. Conditions in the room -- from its air conditioning, to the conferencing system, to the whiteboard, to the projection machine -- all are expected to work like a charm. I demand that the organizer must go to the venue before the meeting and check everything so that the great Murphy does not show up. Or at least, the chance of him coming in for a petty reason gets reduced. And, for once - please, do not scribble anything on the white board to explain a thing or two to the audience present on the room and make the others over the phone look like a foolish listener.
Category two : The set of meetings which I chair. Here too, I have always relied heavily on only one skill - that is to prepare. Prepare, prepare and prepare as much as possible! If it is a technical meeting, I ask myself - can I handle it on my own? If not, I call for a short preparatory meeting. Here comes the need for a meticulous planning. I must be able to understand the objective of the meeting and thereby select the areas which I should be personally aware of. I must take an expert into my confidence and drill down to the very minute details (to the level possible), so that we both are like "twin brothers" or "pilot/co-pilot".
Once the preliminary planning is done comes the next question - can I explain some of the content during the meeting? If not, I call for the expert to join me. Then - do I sound OK when I speak? Have I recovered from the bad throat problem? Will the colleagues over the phone be able to follow what I say? If the answers to these simple questions are all 'NO', I spell it out at the start of the meeting and take someone else's help. Is it a negotiation meeting? Is there a scope of any conflicts? I better seek for answers; otherwise, it might take an ugly turn. Can I call up the hardest guy before the meeting? So that I had set him up - there could not be a better alternative than this. How about going through the earlier minutes from similar meeting(s)? That might help as well! During the meeting can I close my eyes for a while and reflect - have we deviated from the topic? Why are we here? Is it to discuss who does what? Or is it to discuss - what are the next steps? Finally, five minutes more to go. Should I try to get a conclusion? Yes, I always should! Also, I must note down -- scratchy, edgy, rough, illegible -- does not matter. I must note down minutes - that is of utmost importance. The next meeting can be as important as this one. The prelude to that one starts from where we conclude the current one.
Once the new notes are there, the 'for' loop can start.
One of the most challenging tests that comes my way, almost every day, and I have to clear it, is handling meetings. These meetings come and go periodically in my profession. These come at different times of the day and often carry great importance. One thing I try hard to pursue - I like to see these as successful and effective. And, I approach these with simple means and try to do the simple things right.
So, let us start from there. My value system compels me to believe that each meeting that I chair or is part of, must be an effective one. The invitation should be properly sent, the venue must be carefully chosen and the invitees should be appropriately selected. If we divide these meetings into two categories, the analysis gets easier. Category one: The set of the meetings where I am invited.
In a meeting called by someone else, the first thing that turns me off is the lack of agenda. A meeting that has no agenda is no meeting at all! My experience foretells me that an ad hoc meeting is sure to doom. An informal chit chat, a coffee chat or just a lunch discussion suffices instead. From lack of an agenda to insufficient or incorrect agenda - the latter is even more serious. A prelude to a meeting is basically the preparation for it. If I do not know beforehand what is expected out of me, my physical presence makes no sense. In the ideal case, if I am given the action items to prepare upfront, I am very happy. My professionalism has got off the blocks and it would produce wonders.
A proper agenda, therefore, is half the job done. Next comes the venue. Conditions in the room -- from its air conditioning, to the conferencing system, to the whiteboard, to the projection machine -- all are expected to work like a charm. I demand that the organizer must go to the venue before the meeting and check everything so that the great Murphy does not show up. Or at least, the chance of him coming in for a petty reason gets reduced. And, for once - please, do not scribble anything on the white board to explain a thing or two to the audience present on the room and make the others over the phone look like a foolish listener.
Category two : The set of meetings which I chair. Here too, I have always relied heavily on only one skill - that is to prepare. Prepare, prepare and prepare as much as possible! If it is a technical meeting, I ask myself - can I handle it on my own? If not, I call for a short preparatory meeting. Here comes the need for a meticulous planning. I must be able to understand the objective of the meeting and thereby select the areas which I should be personally aware of. I must take an expert into my confidence and drill down to the very minute details (to the level possible), so that we both are like "twin brothers" or "pilot/co-pilot".
Once the preliminary planning is done comes the next question - can I explain some of the content during the meeting? If not, I call for the expert to join me. Then - do I sound OK when I speak? Have I recovered from the bad throat problem? Will the colleagues over the phone be able to follow what I say? If the answers to these simple questions are all 'NO', I spell it out at the start of the meeting and take someone else's help. Is it a negotiation meeting? Is there a scope of any conflicts? I better seek for answers; otherwise, it might take an ugly turn. Can I call up the hardest guy before the meeting? So that I had set him up - there could not be a better alternative than this. How about going through the earlier minutes from similar meeting(s)? That might help as well! During the meeting can I close my eyes for a while and reflect - have we deviated from the topic? Why are we here? Is it to discuss who does what? Or is it to discuss - what are the next steps? Finally, five minutes more to go. Should I try to get a conclusion? Yes, I always should! Also, I must note down -- scratchy, edgy, rough, illegible -- does not matter. I must note down minutes - that is of utmost importance. The next meeting can be as important as this one. The prelude to that one starts from where we conclude the current one.
Once the new notes are there, the 'for' loop can start.
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