Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Is Your Meeting Effective

I am sure many of you have experience in chairing the meeting or attended meeting. Before the meeting, the organizer prepare the previous minutes, print out and distribute to others. We had the meeting started with the chairman welcome speech, and then confirmation of previous meeting minutes.

All of the while, the meeting will start half an hour late because of the poor attendance, this is most commonly in the association or any private organization. Everyone will start chit chatting for a while before they start the meeting. some of them will rise some issue for discussion and some of them will argue on the point, it is not wrong to bring out your own point of view and ideas for discussion, the only things is, sometime people don’t feel comfortable when others query his idea or need more clarification. They feel offended, they feel not respected. They think they are the boss, so everyone must follow his idea and eventually, that is not for discussion but an instruction. Someone may said, he or she is a strong and powerful leader, everybody follow and support his idea, whenever he rise a proposal. His idea is always the gold directive.

Meeting can be an hour, a day or few days, depend on the tropics and the level of the meeting. Normal people hold meeting for few hours, to discuss on the management issue, new project, training or corrective action. Business man discuss about the investment, business trend, economic tropics or entertainment, they may took half day or one day, and community leader discuss about the social and community issue, public relationship, security, investment , employment, education and so on.

Some boss hold meeting for few hours and their staff standing there for few hours too, they are not discussing but scolding, there is no such things as idea changing, problem solving, but just to listen to him because he is the boss, he pay salary. He never allow his staff to sit down and discuss the problem, the process problem, the quality problem, he said he is the best, whatever he said “is good” means good. I know one boss, a manufacturer as well as investor at few Asian countries. He is the type of boss that; his word is law, whatever he said, his staff must follow, he give instruction in the meeting and most of the time he is the only one talking. Someone will get scolding if trying to point out the problem. Therefore, the meeting is always no solution, there is no value created in the meeting for the issue discussed. Waste of time and frustrating. His philosophy is “tighten it day after day, squeezes them until nothing left.”

I never said meeting must not discuss everything and go through everything carefully. But the meeting should be friendly, idea changing, and create value. I always believe that respecting others is just respecting ourselves. We should explain our ideas and persuade other to accept them but not using the power and force to accept it. An ideal being carry out with acceptance from the heart will produce a better result then forcing them to accept and implement.

Time is gold, try to avoid delay and wasting time on some minor issues. Discuss on the urgent and important issues and settle them fast with accuracy. Bring out the implementing schedule and format for the people so that they won’t feel difficulty in implementing them.
Another important issue should be remember in the meeting is not to throw paper, throw table and chair, these will cause trouble and accident can happen at any time. Just because this is not our culture. Human should not behave like animal. Never use your power to threaten other or putting this in your mouth always “I am the boss”.

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