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     KEYZINE: An e-zine for LEADERS:
   ABOUT THE PEOPLE PART OF BUSINESS
             Volume 10, January 2002
    Publisher: © Key Associates, LLC, 2002
           http://www.mkkey.com

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This Issue is on "Meetings"

Contents:

• What's Hot in Leadership
• Maintaining Yourself as a Leader
• Frequently Asked Questions from Leaders
• Educational Opportunities
• Useful Websites
• Articles/Publications

    
"(D)ialogue of discovery is where you speak
so that you can hear...you don't merely exchange
views with others; rather, you change your own
views."
              -Howard & Barton, Thinking Together

"The circle is the fundamental geometry of
open human communication."
             -Harrison Owen, Open Space Technology

"In times of change, all norms and customs that
people count on are stripped away.  Communication
fills that gap."
                                         -Tim Cohen, Consultant

                                 
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WHAT'S HOT IN LEADERSHIP
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USING NEW MEETING FORMATS:

• Ask Me Meetings: Basic Q&A.
• CEO Viewpoint Sessions: Allows groups 
  of employees to to voice concerns, raise 
  questions and share ideas with the CEO.
• Greenhouse Meetings: Tackle difficult 
  problems and come up with innovative solutions 
  that managers are responsible for implementing
• Marathon Meetings: Keeping participants 
  at the meeting until a decision is reached.
• Problem-finding Meetings: The only agenda 
  is to identify issues and problems, not solve them.
• Results Review Meetings: Conclusions are 
  drawn and plans made from review of data.
• Sound off Meetings: Participants vent their 
  feelings, with the guidelines: no name calling, 
  participation by all, listening to others and 
  acceptance of others' feelings.
• Whine and Cheese Party: A Sound Off with 
  a festive flair.  Additional guideline is that 
  after the party, no more whining.
• Vertical Meetings: Held with no chairs.
• 10-10: A format made famous by Logansport 
  Memorial Hospital.  A vertical meeting held 
  for 10 minutes every Tuesday at 10 o'clock to
  update all managers.
• Walking Meetings:  Meetings on the hoof.  
  People are more creative standing and moving.
• Workout Meetings: Made popular by Jack Welch, 
  these sessions evaluate organizational practices 
  and aim to eliminate unnecessary work.
• Brag Sessions: A forum for handing out public 
  kudos and accolades.
• Grapevine Sessions: Regular, open meetings
  where items from the rumor mill are discussed.

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MAINTAINING YOURSELF AS A LEADER
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Chances are good that you will find your 
professional life glutted with meetings.  This
may be true for your entire organization.  We
have a tendency to layer initiatives and never 
take anything away, in our work.  So clean
up: conduct an audit of every committee, task
force and convention of people.  Ask:

1. What is the aim of the meeting?
2. What does it produce and for whom
   (i.e., who is the customer)?
3. What is the minimum membership that
   could produce that?
4. Talk to the customer.  Do they use
   the output?  What do they really need?
5. Consider meeting input through other
   means.  Virtual meetings, guest 
   appearances, quick conferences.

If the meeting doesn't have a purpose,
an output and a customer, put it to rest.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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What do you do with interruptions, when people 
are all talking in the meeting at the same time?  
Use a variation of the Native American Talking
Stick.  No one can speak unless they are holding
the real or imaginary object.  If it's a large
group, tape off a square on the floor, and
name it the Speakers' Platform.  You have
to stand there to be heard.

We never start on time and have to deal with 
stragglers.  Ideas?
Begin on time anyway, but be sure and schedule
meetings with transit time. There was a reason
for the "10 after" start time in college classes.
One CEO charged his staff a dollar a minute
for lateness, and at Christmas time, they chose a 
charity to give it to.  Being on time might be
part of the Ground Rules (I prefer Working 
Agreement) set early on by the group.

Our meetings don't accomplish anything.
Be sure you need this meeting (see 
"Maintaining Yourself as a Leader" above).  
If so, have a clearly stated aim, and an 
agenda that supports that objective--
complete with tools and times to 
accomplish each agenda item.  Get buy-in
up front that (a) this is what the group believes
they are there to do and (b) they support the 
use of this agenda to get them there.  
Evaluate the productivity and other meeting
components at the end.

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EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES
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Making Your Meetings Matter, Belmont University, 
February 4 or June 6, 2002, 615-460-5554.

Value-added vs. Non-value-added Meetings, a 
half-day onsite workshop to teach meeting skills,
call Key Associates, 888-655-3901, or
contact us at http://www.mkkey.com.

Lois B. Hart.  Faultless Facilitation (2nd ed.) A 
workshop in a binder to teach the key skills for 
leading productive meetings 
http://www.hrdpress.com/Catalog/detail.asp?
page=detail&code=FFR2 .

Videos on Meeting Skills and Consensus Decision-
Making Tools.  Call Healthcare Management 
Directions Executive Learning, Inc. at 615-373-8483 
or visit their website, http://www.elinc.com .

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OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES 
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The site, http://www.3M.com/meetingnetwork/,
is full of information to make your meetings 
effective and successful.

To schedule meetings, reserve rooms, and 
round up resources, "Meetingmaker" not only 
eliminates the frustration of phone and email tag, 
it frees up everyone’s time without tying up 
your IT infrastructure
http://www.meetingmaker.com/home.cfm .

Or try http://www.ezbook.com/ 
for scheduling:

• conference rooms
• parking spaces
• audio-visual equipment
• employee assignments

Free for 15 days, try Meeting Rooms Online' service,
http://www.meetingroomsonline.com/

Use http://www.thewritingworks.com/ as a
resource for ideas on meeting themes, scripts, 
and concept outlines for larger meetings.  

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ARTICLES/PUBLICATIONS                              
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Beckhard, Richard & Pritchard, Wendy. Changing the 
Essence: The Art of Creativity and Leading Fundamental 
Change in Organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992.

Bell, Arthur H.  Mastering the Meeting Maze.  Reading, Mass:
Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1990.

Carnes, William T. Effective Meetings for Busy People: 
Let's Decide and Go Home.  NY: IEEE Press, 1987.

Doyle, Michael and Straus, David. How to Make Meetings 
Work. Wyden Books, 1976.

Executive Learning, Inc. Continual Improvement 
Handbook. Brentwood, TN: ELI, 1993.

Howard, V.A. & Barton, J.H.  Thinking Together: 
Making Meetings Work. New York: William
Morrow & Co., 1986.

Kriegel, Robert J. & Patter, Louis. If It Ain’t Broke . . . 
Break it! New York: Warner, 1991.

Leevov, Wendy & Scott, Gail. Health Care Mangers 
in Transition. SanFrancisco: Jossey-bass, 1990.

Mina, Eli. The Complete Handbook of Business
Meetings. NY: AMACOM Press, 2000.

O’Donnell, Randall L. Nurturing Leadership. 
Little Rock: August House, 1992.

Owen, Harrison. Open Space Technology:
A User's Guide.  San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler, 
1997.

Palmer, Barbara C. & Palmer, Kenneth R. 
The Successful Meeting Master Guide.
Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1983.

Rees, Fran. How to Lead Work Teams. 
San Diego: Pfieffer, 1991.

Sholtes, Peter. The Team Handbook. Madison, WI: 
Joiner, 1988.

Tortorice, Donald A.  The Modern Rules of Order: 
A Guide for Conducting Business Meetings. 
Chicago: American Bar Association, 1999.