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Category Archives: Meetings

Mixed message

Thursday, May 29, 2008

I witnessed a peculiar event just the other day. It was a talk given by a foreign expert in a specific professional topic area, hosted by another, local, expert. It was a huge success. But there was one odd thing. . .

Also filed in Culture | | Comments (0)

A bit of slack

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Whether you keep your juniors on a short leash, or give them plenty of rope to hang themselves with, it’s worth remembering that you’re still left holding the other end. Ultimately, the CSI team is going to find you there. What have you been doing at your end of things?

Also filed in Communication, Delegation, Management Skills | | Comments (0)

Are you sure we were at the same meeting?

Thursday, November 29, 2007

You’ve held the best meeting anyone’s ever attended. It closed to actual applause, and everyone came up afterward to congratulate you. Clearly, a job well done, right? Not yet. . .

Also filed in Communication | | Comments (4)

Managing your meeting

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Some people think that plans that are especially well done will somehow execute of their own accord. This is particularly true of meetings. But remember that these are especially sensitive venues, filled with both promise and danger for everyone attending – many will want to subvert it to their own ends. Others may join the struggle. If you don’t take charge, the whole thing may end up in the ditch. So, take charge, and make no apologies about it. . .

Also filed in Organizational Leadership | | Comments (8)

Making your meeting

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Suppose you have determined that a meeting is exactly the right step to take at the right time, and that you’ve successfully marketed it to the key attendees whose participation is key to its success. But you still have what the software industry used to call “airware” – something you’ve sold, but not yet created. So, it’s time to get busy with that. . .

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Can we fit this in somewhere?

Monday, November 26, 2007

Deciding on whether to schedule yet another meeting requires analysis just as deliberately conducted as would be routinely performed for so intense a use of any other organizational asset. There are actually two levels on which to pursue this. One is related to the putative benefit of the meeting, and the other to the costs it will exact. . .

Also filed in Management Skills | | Comments (7)

Meetings – what are they all about?

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

If meetings are so vital to planning and coordinating our efforts at work, why do we dread them so much? We’ve discussed some of the reasons for this over the past several days. But there’s another, even more common problem with meetings: they, simply, aren’t well done. This is a huge, and hugely important, topic, and we can’t cover it in detail. But we will go over some of the principles related to the above points over the next several days. In the meanwhile, there are at least two ways you can protect yourself from meeting-overload . . .

Also filed in Communication, Management Skills, Women in Management | | Comments (4)