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Profit in a Page
March 1, 2008 By: Ben Markens Paperboard PackagingThe Tried-and-True Approach
Sometimes it's the simple things that make the most impact. I meet many executives who never have regular staff meetings with their team. Now, I hate meetings as much as the next guy. But not everything can be done ad hoc. And properly run staff meetings are critical to the long-term success of a team.
 Ben Markens |
Here's what I recommend. First, choose a meeting frequency that works best for you. While some clients feel that weekly seems to be too often, it isn't if you have a lot to accomplish and the business unit is facing many problems. In my opinion, less than once a month is too infrequent. Set a time limit and stick to it as much as possible. Having food, such as serving lunch, is a nice touch.
I often suggest that the chair function be separated from the scribe function. Either or both can rotate. Rotating the chair function allows for individual growth. However, some people are not good chairs or facilitators. Usually, the scribe position should not rotate. Find a competent and thorough scribe and then stick with him or her.
If your team is geographically dispersed, conference calls work great. We use WebMeetPro. They gave a low monthly cost for unlimited calls that we set up whenever we want. The sound quality is excellent. We also invested in a good quality speakerphone.
 Miracle Packaging Planning Meeting To-Do's May 1, 2008 |
Next, set an agenda. I like to start the meeting by having each person make a short opening comment about his or her area of responsibility. Then it's on to old business. For old business, I feel nothing works as well as the good old-fashioned to-do list. We like the format that shows in the example below. Critical elements are the assignment, the champion and the completion date.
To be clear, the champion is not responsible to accomplish the action item alone, but he or she is the individual that the team holds responsible to make certain that it gets done.
The completion date is critical. I hate it when people just miss their completion dates without asking for permission and getting it reset.
As you can see, I like color-coding. On this example, it's easy to identify that two items are complete, while three others have been started but not yet finished. All the others are not begun. If you like this format and want a copy in Excel, drop me an email and I'll be happy to send it to you.
When new business is discussed, I use the to-do list as a topic-ender. When it feels like a problem has been properly identified, I ask, "Does this need a to-do?" If not, then it was just informational and is not something that needs to be fixed. If fixing is required, I require a to-do. We immediately add it to the to-do list with a champion and a completion date — and as much info as possible to remind the champion of precisely what was agreed upon.
Be careful when setting dates for completion. Many teams just add an item and do not consider how critical the to-do is. You'll see on the exhibit that we use an A, B or C convention to set the basic priority. Critical things must be fixed immediately (within days or weeks). Important things should be addressed within the next 90 days. The interesting things should be done after 90 days. I leave these "interesting" items on the list without a specific date.
One final thing about to-dos. If you are the leader, don't allow too many action items to list you as the champion. The best way for your team to grow is for them to solve the problems, although they may still need your assistance on occasion.
Before ending a meeting, I usually confirm the next meeting date and time. I always try to close the meeting as we began, with individual comments.
Ben Markens is president of The Markens Group Inc., a boutique consulting guiding business toward excellence. He also is director of the PPC Financial Executives Institute. He can be reached at 413-562-8405 or ben@markens.com . Sign up to hear his weekly audio tips about business at www.markens.com/tipoftheweek.php.
