I’m going to share 2 stories. Both about time. Story 1. I was speaking at a business association and the issue of time management came up. I asked this question: “How late is it OK to be for a business appointment? The answers ranged from 10 minutes early through to a staggering 30 minutes after […]
High performance meetings are always safe
The best performing teams have one thing in common – psychological safety. It’s exactly the same in meetings. In your meetings, how willing are people to speak up when they have a different point of view? How willing are they to disagree? How willing are they to offer new ideas? How willing are they to […]
How we shortened a 2 hour meeting down to 15 minutes and still covered everything.
I had a client who had a requirement to formally meet with the workforce once a week. It could best be described as a cross between a toolbox meeting and a safety meeting. These meetings lasted for over an hour and the boss thought they could be shorter, much shorter. I asked him how […]
Halve your meeting frequency & double productivity
Here’s an idea to put in your toaster and see what pops up. Halve the frequency of your meetings. Right now. Just try it. If you currently meet every week, try meeting every 2 weeks. If you currently meet every 2 weeks, try meeting every month or every 3 weeks. If you currently meet every […]
Respected leaders are decisive
There is a really interesting piece of research that was done with 400 CEOs. This is what they were asked….. “Of all the decisions that have been made in your organization, either by themselves or their Senior Management team, how many ended up being successful?” Amazingly the results were almost universal, and that is, about […]
This may explain why things aren’t moving forward
Are you and your team “Yes but” people, or “Yes and” people? Do you naturally tend to say “yes and” or do you naturally say “yes but“? The answer to that question can define your decision-making style and even your style of work generally. But let’s dive deeper. Think about your meetings – all of them. […]
Who is the drummer in your meetings? Who sets the pace?
Every meeting has a rhythm, a pace, sometimes called the cadence. Surprisingly, it’s not always the person running the meeting. But it should be. In almost every piece of music, the drummer is the first to start playing. There’s a reason for that. The drummer sets the rhythm. Everyone else takes their timing and rhythm […]
Is it nepotism if a husband and wife serve together on the same committee?
QUESTION – A vacancy occurred on a committee and a man said his wife would be happy to fill it. The committee was in need of new members, so the group was happy to accept her. Is this good for the organisation? ANSWER From a governance perspective, there is technically nothing which disallows a husband […]
Biting the bullet on the people who are deadwood in your organisation
Bite the bullet on people who are deadwood in your organisation Recently I was working with a client and had an interesting conversation with a senior manager. The client was a very large organisation which employed thousands of people. The topic of deadwood came up – people who were not performing satisfactorily. I asked him […]
Use the Traffic Light Principle to improve your meetings
The humble traffic light – green, amber, red – is a quick and powerful way to find out what people really think about the meetings they attend. It’s simple. Ask your team members to simply rank what they think of the meetings they attend using the traffic light principle – it’s quick, easy and effective. […]