Som ni vet så är jag sidekick i Tommys podcast “Really effective“Where we talk partly about entrepreneurship and leadership / leadership but also in general about how to become more efficient as a person. In this section, we go through effective meetings.
Tommy drives Peragenda which helps companies with just implementation power - become more efficient and work towards their goals.
Now we have released a new episode! :)
Listen to the episode:
Ni kan lyssna direkt här i bloggen eller söka på “Really effective”Where podcasts are available. The podcast is available on Acast, Podcasts and all the most common places, but not on Spotify.
I have also made a slightly summarized post on the subject below, so you can choose to listen, read or both :) The post is not the same as the podcast so both are rewarding I would think!
Talk about problems is good - to a certain extent
We're really great at talking about problems. We highlight the problems, discuss, twist and turn. The problem is that we do it over and over again. Meeting after meeting without any effective meetings. If same problem!
Why? Antagligen (undermedvetet) p.g.a. att det är ganska bekvämt. Alla vet om problemen men ingen vet vilka lösningar som är bäst. Det är bekvämare att säga “all employees will kick back” eller “customers will not like it” eller “but how are we going to make it, it will take a very long time“.
Effects: Resultatet blir ofta “yeah we can not get hold of it now it has to wait until the fall” och så skjuter man upp, skjuter upp och skjuter upp. Sen undrar man “varför nådde vi inte vår målbild det här året heller?”.
What to do then?
- Vi måste prata om problem, men inte hur länge som helst. Till slut måste vi stanna upp och fråga “how can we solve it?“
- Have short regular meetings and make a joint to-do list.
- Gör en bit i taget! Problemet känns ofta för stort för att ta tag i, men om man bryter ner det stegvis “vad kan du göra till nästa möte om 2 veckor?” så kommer man med tiden sakta och metodiskt att lösa hela det stora problemet.
- Involve the staff too! Use the local expertise as Tommy usually says :) Teamwork and the fact that everyone is involved contributes so much!
- Follow up! Next meeting (or before) it is important to follow up so that all items on the list are checked.
Beware of the how-box!
When you go from problem to action, you often get quite pissed, things happen! Solutions are discussed and then consequential questions and circumstances often arise which are discussed further indefinitely.
Then you sit there in the middle of the precious meeting while one person sits and emails and another sits and googles. You simply waste time from the meeting.
Skriv upp allt sånt direkt på handlingsplanen istället! Skriv “Helena should contact xxx and ask blablabla” och “Miska should check out what is really the difference between that brand and the other brand“.
I often interrupt the meeting as soon as we talk too much about exactly how vi ska lösa saker och säger “now we've been in the how-box for too long. How do we formulate it into a point on the action plan?“.
Example:
The problem: We take too few before and after pictures and the ones we take have poor light, which results in poorer marketing. Followed by a lot of chatter about why it is so: You do not have time, you forget, you feel awkward with customers, we have bad light, the camera is difficult to understand, etc.
Beware of the how-box: Helena suddenly has a lecture about how she takes photos, explains how the camera works, about angles, light and ideas on how everyone can send pictures to her. There is talk of dropbox, watermarks, instagram format and whether customers should close their eyes or not when taking eyebrows.
A more efficient way: Innan man hamnar i hur-lådan så borde man pausat och sagt “what points can we write on the action plan?And list points on what everyone can do and who who will do it:
- Book 5 minutes with each person where Helena shows how the camera works.
- Find a way to improve the photo light at each treatment site. Reorient lamps? Buy lamps? Test photograph what works best.
- Sätt upp en kom-ihåg-lapp “take a role model”On his work plate.
- Make a smooth routine for photo management (send - cut together - publication) that everyone should follow.
Suddenly we have sorted everyone's thoughts, made them clear to-do points that we know will be made because we will follow it up to the next meeting! :)
I received this message the other day, I was so happy !!!
Hope you liked the podcast about effective meetings! You can also read Tommy's post on the subject here!
A thousand hugs to all of you ♥ :)
Also read: Podcasts - Corona, Terminations and Reorganization
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