Effective high performance meetings: the new year’s resolution.

There are simple ways to make your meetings more effective and efficient. When you can, you should to plan the meeting. This is more than just doing an agenda that includes only a topic and someone’s name. Your agenda should be an action agenda. This means that if your team needs to make a decision then an agenda item should include not just the topic for the decision-making, but should also include the method or process you intend to use to help the group make the decision. So if your group needs to select the best marketing approach, you may want to have each person present a marketing model and have the total team follow a very specific approach while reviewing each model. For example, during each marketing presentation the rule should be that each person listens and takes notes, but does not interrupt the presenter. Once the presentation is complete then the listeners can ask questions, but rhetorical questions are not allowed. Once the questions have been answered, you can have each participant provide a PIN assessment of the marketing plan. Basically each team member will say what he or she believes is positive, interesting and negative about the marketing plan. Once every one has provided their PIN and the results have been recorded, you’ll follow the same approach for the next marketing presentation. Once a complete around of PIN’s have been done for all marketing presentations The group will be able to make a better fact based decision about which plan to select or which plans to modify, merge or reject. The website for Microburst Learning, http://www.microburstlearning.com/ contains indepth training and information on ways to hold an effective meeting.