Principle #2 - Careful planning is critical for achieving efficient and productive meetings and encouraging informed participation.

A common workplace complaint is there are too many meetings. I believe employees are really saying there are too many meetings that are boring and not worth their time. When participants say a meeting was great, usually, it was because they participated in making decisions or problem solving. When attendees believe their participation was appreciated and used they feel the meeting was worthwhile.

My view is meetings should accomplish three goals:

1. Make decisions or solve problems
   
2. Assign tasks as a result of those actions
   
3. Make participants feel part of a team
   

Exceptions include staff meetings informing employees of organizational business or performance evaluations.

Meetings need careful planning and have a written, prioritized agenda. The agenda should:

1. List the topics for discussion with a time estimate for each. Time limitations should be honored with flexibility for longer-than-expected discussion of priority items.
   
2. List topics to be discussed in priority order using a system such as:
   

• X - Urgent topics to be completed at this meeting;
  
• A - High priority items for which every effort should be made to complete;
  
• B - Medium priority items for completion if possible;
  
• C - Low priority items discussed only if time is left over.
  

Written materials are needed for making decisions or problem solving they should be distributed along with the agenda before the meeting. Attendees can then read, digest and assimilate the materials and ask clarifying questions. Participants should be given the same opportunity to prepare as the meeting organizer. Never wait until the meeting time to distribute materials essential for understanding the upcoming discussion. Most importantly, the distribution is an invitation for attendees to become informed, active participants. I suggest that only participants having read the distributed material be allowed to participate in the discussion. This is a courtesy to those who prepared. Moreover this sends a pointed message to the staff that informed participation is wanted and is achieved only with the required effort.

Meeting leaders should limit their own participation. For many years I led a business relationships seminar at a local university. I find when I intervene with my ideas participation stops in deference to me. It is best when participants express their thoughts and not depend on me. My most productive sessions occur when my participation is limited. The role of the meeting leader is as the title suggests. It is to lead and guide the discussion, not dominate it. He or she should interject primarily when discussion is lagging, moving off topic or overlooking something vital.

It is through meetings that superiors and their staffs have the most frequent contact. It becomes especially important certain rules be inviolate. These rules relate both to the superior and staff.

1. The superior must never be late. Being late sends a strong negative message to subordinates. It says their work and time are not valued. A leader cannot expect attendees to treat his time as valuable if he does not have a similar regard for their time.
   
2. Meetings should begin and end promptly at the designated time. Like their bosses, the staff has schedules and commitments to keep. They cannot do so if a meeting scheduled for 1 hour lasts two or more. Allowing this to happen shows a gross disregard and disrespect for their time.
   
3. Always start a meeting by reminding everyone to turn off cell phones, Blackberries and pagers. No one should accept calls during a meeting. Although it may seem important to take a call, it is rude and insensitive to others. If you are expecting an important call, ask the caller to reach you at a certain time, not during the meeting.
   
4. A meeting organizer should ask for a critique of the process at the end of each meeting. When a meeting does not go well, this may be difficult for fear of receiving negative feedback. Your critics are your best friends when aspiring to achieve legendary performance.
   
5. Don’t perform another task while attending a meeting. I recently worked with Mark who was one of the most talented people in the construction industry. He was a department head in a very large construction company. He had a wonderful understanding of the business. His projects were flawless and he successfully marketed his department. But when attending meetings he would check his mail and e-mails. The resentment of his peers and superior was palpable. Eventually he was fired. His meeting behavior was not the only cause for his dismissal but it contributed.
   

Unfortunately, I learned this lesson myself when attending a meeting as a board member of a health club company. There was no advance distribution of the important financial information. The performance numbers were projected in a dark room and were almost illegible. I was getting sleepy. So I began to do other work wrongly assuming no one would notice I wasn’t paying attention. I was wrong. After the meeting, the Chief Operating Officer let me know he was disappointed I wasn’t paying attention to his presentation.

PowerPoint presentations can be boring to the point of being lethal. If PowerPoint is required, the presenter should try to enliven the content. He shouldn’t just read the bullet points on the screen. Those points can be brought to life through back-up materials and stories. I know of one speaker who enlivens his PowerPoint presentations by asking questions during the display. He gives small prizes for correct answers. This may sound juvenile but I have seen it work wonders in a group.

If a presentation requires a map or other illustration, check that the audience can understand it. My graduate degree is in law but I always wished I attended a college emphasizing the humanities. I wanted to study great literature and visited a college having such a program. I sat in on a lecture to evaluate their graduate program. The lecturer had an extensive set of notes and accompanying maps. To my amazement she simply read from her notes, took no questions and the maps were too small to follow. Along with a number of others I quickly became bored and left after the first break. I tried to convince myself to try another lecture, but that one lecture had an indelible effect. My interest in that college ended early.

Yet another example illustrates the dangers inherent in PowerPoint presentations. I went with a client to a presentation by a software vendor. My client’s company wanted to buy the new software package. The presenter started by distributing a poorly drafted memo. Then while everyone started to read it the salesman began his PowerPoint presentation. No one knew whether to listen to him or read the memo. The print used in the PowerPoint presentation was too small to be read. After a half hour the presenter was informed we were running out of time.  But he would not be deterred. He continued a strong sales pitch the client didn’t want to hear. An assured sale was in jeopardy because the potential buyer wasn’t sure he could work with such an insensitive vendor. At least three important rules for conducting a meeting had been violated: 1) Lack of sensitivity to the expressed needs, desires and time limitations of the participants; 2) Failure to ensure the PowerPoint presentation would be read and understood; 3) Not providing in advance written materials needed for the discussion.

Principle Two Summary

Before the Meeting:

1. Meetings should be carefully planned with a written agenda prepared and distributed early enough before a meeting to permit it to be read by participants.
   
2. Agendas should list topics to be discussed, relative priority and the time allotted for discussion of each topic.
   
3. All written materials to be considered should also be distributed well before the meeting.
   
4. No one, including the leader, should be late for a meeting.

During the Meeting:

1. The meeting leader should carefully limit his active participation. His proper role is to moderate, lead and control the discussion.
   
2. Meetings should begin and end at the designated time.
   
3. Participants should be asked to critique meetings.
   
4. Do not perform other tasks during a meeting.
   
5. A PowerPoint presenter reading from the screen is the lazy approach and lethal for attendees. The presenter must be certain the content on the screen is clear and readable.
   

 

 

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Principle #1 – Speaking well is the first step toward achieving legendary stature

Your use of language instantaneously speaks volumes about you. It is a strong indicator of how you are performing at work.

When speaking try to put on the ears of the listener. Then the objective of talking, communication is more likely to be achieved. I suggest six steps to quickly improve your speaking skills.

1. Use words the listener understands. Don’t use words that simply show you have an extensive vocabulary. It is the listener that matters.
2. Give the listener only as much information as can be absorbed at one time.
3. Speak slowly you will be better understood.
4. Watch the listener’s face. This will indicate if he or she received the information. Often the listener shuts down when overloaded.
5. Think before speaking. People often talk before thinking and their words are perceived as silly, hurtful or even without merit.
6. Develop the habit of not saying something unless there is a reason to say it. Being careful of what one says gives an aura of positive presence. People having positive presence send powerful messages and appear prepared to use that power.

In the wonderful movie Being There, Chauncey, a simple gardener played by Peter Sellers, was invited by chance to join an elite group of wealthy educated persons. He was not well educated, but he spoke sparingly. Shortly everyone became extremely interested in whatever he said. They attributed great wisdom to his words. His image grew simply because he rarely spoke without a good reason.

In the famous play My Fair Lady, Professor Henry Higgins takes an ordinary flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, and makes her presentable to high society. It is noteworthy that the first lesson the professor teaches her is to speak well.

The Importance of Language in Business

I am a consultant to two Chief Operating Officers deeply concerned about the language used by their staff. One heads a technology company and is so interested in using English correctly he regularly recommends employees attend an English class at a local university. His view is that correct language use is particularly important in the technology field. His business is doing well, and the success, I believe, is in no small part due to this instruction. Technology can be difficult to understand because of its unique professional jargon. Yet, university science and technology curricula generally fail to emphasize English and other humanities courses.

Another client has come to recognize the value of proper word usage. He is an entrepreneur whose principal business is building and managing office buildings. At staff meetings, the agenda includes a discussion of improving language.

Larry Wolf was a vice president and head of the leasing department for a development company. He was nationally recognized for uniquely and successfully leasing famous landmarks including Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston and the South Street Seaport Museum in New York. Larry had a reputation as an excellent communicator and speaker. He attributed his business success to what he called his “little secret.” He told me the secret was to always prepare an outline before speaking to a client or an employee. Also, he was frequently called upon to address large groups. He felt he had to spend one hour preparing for every minute of his speech. He was famous for finding the perfect words to express his point.

I suggest reading classical literature for pleasure. Generally, the classics are well written and I find my language use improves when reading well composed texts.

I also recommend evening college courses. Just participating in an academic environment helps language use.

Although it may take some effort to improve your speaking skills, that effort will undoubtedly produce huge rewards.

Introduction

Achieving Legendary Performance, I first spoke those words when I introduced myself to Chad Cooley, an employee of a client company whose primary focus was housing development. Chad had been head of the company's information technology (I.T.) department. Realizing this position was not central to the organization's efforts and therefore it offered limited possibility for advancement, he requested a transfer to the Real Estate Development Department. He was offered the position of Asset Manager overseeing company owned apartment projects. It was not exactly in the real estate development area, but it was in the right direction. He took it, even though he was not sure what an Asset Manager did. He then contacted me and told me the specific duties management expected him to perform. Though I had never before worked closely with an Asset Manager, I was willing to see if I could help. I told Chad that if he and I worked together, our goal should be for him to perform the job in such a way that he "achieved legendary performance." He agreed.

We found that management wanted Chad to visit the properties to see if they were being maintained properly. If additional maintenance was required, he was to recommend changes; prepare a budget for the work; arrange for it to be performed; and oversee the work's completion. We decided Chad's first step in achieving legendary performance in this new role was to develop a detailed checklist that he would use to assure that everything was in order when he visited an apartment complex. The checklist worked so well that on occasion the process could be overseen by his support person/secretary.  He could then use the time to take on other duties. At this point, he had only been working in the new job for two months, and with me, only a month. We then initiated a written monthly report to his superior. It was a simple, two-page report that gave a general overview of each property with important sections highlighted for quick perusal by his superior. His boss loved the new monthly update.

When I next met with Chad he informed me that management had assigned him two new outside projects. He was told that he was given the responsibility because the projects were important to the organization and needed to be done correctly and that he had proven that he could take on new work and make it happen. There was a great deal of money at risk, and the company knew Chad was someone they could trust to do the projects correctly. This case showed me what is possible when aiming to achieve legendary performance. A young man took on a new job, for which he was not trained, and in a few months was recognized by his superiors and given additional responsibilities.

My many years in industry have shown me there are certain principles that lead to success. The dictionary (cite) defines Principle as "an important underlying law or assumption required in a system of thought". The principles outlined in this book are part of a system of thought which, when put into action, can enable the reader to reach new heights in a career or organization. This book shares those principles through concrete business examples. If one aspires to the ordinary, the results are limited to ordinary, but if one aspires to become legendary, the results are limitless.

 

         

Principles needed to Achieve Legendary in the Workplace

Having more than half a century in the workplace as a management consultant I find that Achieving Legendary Performance is not easy. This Blog will regularly list principles that I have found to be helpful in achieving that lofty place. Commentary is welcomed.