In 1500 words or less, each post will give you something you can use TODAY to build yourself, your people and your organization whether your organization is a "for-profit" or a "not-for-profit."
As a leader it is your responsibility to make sure your associates understand what is going on, not theirs.
Clarity and transparency trump secrecy and subterfuge. Tell people what you can. If you want to build a culture of teamwork and build up your associates … trust them.
Have an agenda and a goal for your meetings, its is okay to diverge as long as the divergence is important to the organization. Ask for feedback from your associates to keep your meetings relevant and meaningful to your associates.
Talk with your associates not at your employees, it is a subtle thing but great leaders understand this.
If someone can misinterpret what you are saying they will.
Finish your meetings by asking each associate to say one of the key take-a-way points back to you as a recap.
If you ask someone if they understand, most people will say “yes” even if they do not, just to avoid looking bad in front of everyone.
Don’t be boring, plan your meetings, make them interesting, people will remember what was covered more and will pay more attention. Passion and enthusiasm are contagious, this is your company, your career, and their careers too; it should be easy to do this.
Make your meetings interactive, ask your associates questions, get them involved.
Avoid the “power point” trap, talk to each associate, ask each person at least one question, use random order instead of going around the table, move around the room when talking, keep them paying attention you.
If you are the manager or owner and you are not talking in the meeting at the moment … PAY ATTENTION!!, DO NOT BE DOING SOMETHING ELSE, it is incredibly rude and unprofessional, I don’t care if you think you are multi-tasking.
Take minutes of your meetings and make sure everyone gets a copy, including the people who were not there. So many meetings cover important points but they got lost because nobody remembered what was supposed to happen.
Start each meeting with a quick recap of the key points from the last meeting, including any assignments given to associates in the group.
