Sergey began to "boil". “I’m wasting my time, and I have a lot of things to do. Again, I will have to linger after work, ”he thought, sitting at the next meeting.

The meeting, by and large, is about nothing. An hour and a half had passed, but none of those present really remembered the purpose of the meeting.

During the event, they jumped at least five times to different topics, discussed the upcoming corporate party, the problem of filling vacancies in the department, from which there was no one at the meeting, and something else.

Sergey has been working for a year as a middle manager in a fairly large Russian company. At first, he was very "pissed off" by the presence of a large number of meetings. Which took, at times, most of the working day. However, their effectiveness was very low. Immediately after the promotion, Sergei was already well aware that at many meetings his presence was not necessary in principle. But colleagues, more experienced heads of other departments, gradually convinced him that this is part of the work of the head. And he got involved.

And now, against the backdrop of irritation from the useless waste of time, it seemed to dawn on Sergei: “Are all meetings always and everywhere so inefficient? Can they be made productive? And most importantly, how to do it?

He decided to look into this issue. And act in two steps. At the first, fix and analyze what makes the meetings nothing. And in the second stage, find solutions for highly effective, productive meetings. Meetings fast, exactly on the topic, with solutions to problems and ready plan exit actions.

Causes of Poor Meeting Performance

Here is a list of problems that make meetings zero, noted by Sergey:

1. Meeting without a coxswain.

It is not clear who is in charge at the meeting, who decides who needs to speak and who does not, when it is worth ending the debate, who summarizes and fixes the action plan. Such meetings drag on for a long time and often end with the phrase: “Let's meet again and discuss everything,” because the disputes that have arisen have led to a dead end, and there is no arbiter.

2. Meeting without rules.

By the beginning of the meeting, 20% of those invited had come. The rest "pulled up" for half an hour. Someone apologized. And someone, being late for 20 minutes, generally stated that he had come early, since not everyone had gathered yet. In principle, everyone is already used to the fact that meetings do not start on time, and no one was particularly in a hurry. Of those who came, someone had already left. As a result, having talked about everything, they started in half an hour. No one even discussed when the meeting should end, who would speak, and on what issues. It’s good that the meeting room was free, it happened that the entire management team gathered, and an interview was going on in the meeting room - and the meeting had to be rescheduled for another time.

3. Meeting without preparation.

The result of such meetings, as a rule, is this: let Petrov and Ivanov prepare statistics, analyze and draw conclusions, and then we will meet again and finally decide everything. Meeting in order to prepare for the next meeting.

4. Wrong composition.

The wrong people are in the meeting. There are no decision makers. Or there are no those who really control the situation. For example, the head of the department is present, but deep knowledge of the issue is required, which only the direct executor has. Or vice versa, the composition of those present is unnecessarily “inflated”. Half of those present were called just in case. Some of them are simply silent - and this is an even better option. The other part, since they were called, wants to show their importance and competence to the leadership without fail. Behaves actively, asks unnecessary questions. Makes active suggestions about nothing and the like. Lots of noise, nothing to do.

5. Meeting without a goal.

And this is the main problem of meetings about nothing. It is impossible to reach the goal if it is not initially defined. Sergey came to mind on this occasion with a dialogue from Alice in Wonderland:

Please tell me where should I go from here?

Where do you want to go? - answered the Cat.

I don't care, said Alice.

Then it doesn't matter where you go, - said the Cat.

Just to get somewhere, - Alice explained.

You will definitely get somewhere, - said the Cat.

You just need to walk long enough.

That's how it is in meetings. Everyone ends up somewhere. But is it the right place?

6. What to do?

The eternal Russian question. As a result of the meeting, there is no clear understanding of what to do. Who to do. When? What are the deadlines and who controls it all. Everyone talked, dispersed, but no one started to do anything.

How to conduct effective meetings?

Having received a list of the main, lying on the surface, problems of low efficiency of meetings, Sergey developed a plan to solve them. He read thematic books, articles, talked with colleagues and friends from other companies, and this is what he got:

1. Helmsman.

At a meeting, as in any successful project must be a leader. It should be one, clearly defined employee in advance. Often, this is a person of the highest position of those present, but not always. He must take the floor at the beginning, repeat the purpose of the meeting, what should be the result, time limit, end time. And supervise the meeting until its completion. Keep a close eye on the topic and not let it deviate from the topic under discussion. Chop at the root of statements that are not related to the issue under discussion.

2. Regulations.

Determine and strictly observe: the start and end times of the meeting, the venue, the composition of the participants, the scheduled speeches (speaker, topic, time for the speech), the order and time frame for the speeches.

3. Preparation.

Highly important point, which is generally not used in companies. It is necessary to send invitations in writing to the participants in advance, preferably a day before, containing the following information:

• the purpose of the meeting (which question should be answered at the end of the meeting);
• venue (make sure it's not booked);
• start time, end time; composition of participants;
• to whom and what materials to prepare;
• to whom to prepare speeches, reports;
• materials for acquaintance (if required).

They can be attached directly to the invitation or indicated by a link to a network folder where they are located.

Use the capabilities of Outlook or your CRM for this. Having carried out such preparation, the start of the meeting will be many times more effective. Don't start the meeting without it!

4. Composition.

Minimize the number of participants! Invite only those who are really needed. There must be those who make decisions. Deliberating without a decision maker is like pouring water into the sand. If an expert's opinion is expected to be needed, simply let him know in advance so that he is ready to join.

5. Purpose.

The most important question. Be sure to state the purpose of the meeting in writing. What question should the participants answer at the end of the meeting? Be sure to record it in writing. The written wording stimulates to describe the essence of the current task more clearly and concisely.

6. What to do?

Results of the meeting. Always at the end of the meeting record whether the goal that was set at the beginning was achieved? Has the question you asked been answered?

And what do you intend to do next?

If a task is defined based on the results, formulate it. Determine what the result should be. To do this, answer the question: “How will we understand that the goal has been achieved?”

Determine performers and deadlines.

Determine the next step. The very first and simple action of the performer. For example, the task to ship the client. The next step is not a shipment, but a call to the client for approval general conditions or a letter to the client requesting an assortment request. When you define a specific simple step by an executor, you start the process. Often the task as a whole is clear, but where to start specifically - there is no understanding, and the performer delays the start of actions.

Record the results in writing. In a week, no one will remember the details. The head of the meeting (or the secretary of the meeting, if there was one) must send a written report, where you need to indicate: decisions made, tasks set, deadlines, performers, who controls, the date of the next meeting (if necessary).

It may seem that implementation will require additional time for written invitations, formulations, reports. In fact, this is not so. First, it does not require a lot of time, as it internal documents. It's important to get the point across. Literary delights are not required here. After all, you write dozens of letters during the day, don't you? And secondly, the time saved at meetings and, most importantly, the results achieved quickly will free up an order of magnitude more time for the company's staff. Simply removing three “extra” people from the list of participants, for four meetings, will give the company 12 additional hours of productive work of employees (mind you, already paid by the company).

Implement, implement and implement again!

With these proposals, Sergei turned to the director and the owner in his own person. The proposals were approved and implemented. And although the implementation process, like any changes, passed with a certain amount of resistance, it was implemented to the end. Now the meetings have become, as Sergey dreamed of, fast, efficient, with a solved problem at the exit and an accurate plan of action.

And Sergey is already in office commercial director. His initiative not only helped him accelerate the development of the company through effective meetings. The desire to understand the problem, develop a solution and implement it helps him solve other urgent business problems.

P.S. From the author. From my own experience, I can add that even a few key tips from this story, implemented (precisely implemented!) and fixed at the level of staff skills, can significantly increase the effect of meetings in companies of any size. Most importantly - implement!

It is unthinkable to imagine the work of any organization without business communications. Properly built communication between employees allows you to smoothly and quickly solve the tasks.

There are many types of meetings in organizations, and each of them has its own characteristics and tasks. Knowing these nuances will help facilitate the discussion. business matters. This article will tell you about the types of meetings, help you understand why they are held and how they are recorded in office work.

Goals of business meetings

Any type of business meetings allows you to see a comprehensive picture of the situation in the organization, to identify its weak and strengths. It is worth noting that with the participation in this format of business communications, a fast company or enterprise takes place.

Tasks

The following tasks of all types of meetings can be distinguished:

• solving current problems and issues;
• integration of activities of divisions in accordance with strategic goal firms;
• evaluation of the company and its individual structural divisions;
• maintenance and development of company policy.

In order to understand in what format to carry out such business event, it is necessary to decide which of the above tasks will correspond to it, and after that you can understand which classification it will refer to.

Types and classification

meeting like view business communication, may have a different form of holding, on which its subject matter and the list of officials present depend.

The main classification of meetings should be distinguished:

1. Ownership area. Here we can distinguish such types of meetings as administrative (which provide for the discussion problematic issues), scientific (seminars and conferences, the purpose of which is to discuss topical scientific issues), political (providing a meeting of members of any political parties and movements) and mixed types.
2. Scale. Here, international ones are distinguished, where specialists from other countries or foreign partners are involved, national, regional, and also city.
3. Regularity. In either format, meetings can be ongoing or recurring.
4. According to the place of deployment - local or traveling.

And also all types of meetings can be divided as follows:

1. Instructive, providing for a directive format of conduct, where a superior leader conveys information directly to his subordinates, which then diverges and is transmitted along the vertical of power. Most often, in the course of such business communication, orders of the CEO are heard, which can significantly affect the course of the enterprise, and these can also be norms of behavior or important innovations.
2. Operational (dispatching). The purpose of this type of meeting is to obtain information about the state of affairs in an organization or enterprise. The flow of information in this case is directed from subordinate subordinates to the heads of departments or to CEO. Basically, at the operational meetings, issues on the implementation of road maps, planned activities, strategic and operational plans are considered. An important difference between the operational (dispatch) meeting and all the others is that they are held regularly and have a fixed list of participants. It is also worth noting that during the meeting there may be no agenda.
3. Problematic. Such a meeting is convened in case of an urgent need to make a decision to carry out tasks in short time or to solve a global problem for the enterprise.

In addition to all of the above, one of the most popular types of production meetings can be singled out separately - a planning meeting. As a rule, such an event is held daily or once a week, at which the head of the department and direct performers are present, who receive tasks for the day and discuss the progress of their implementation.

The topic of the meeting of the enterprise staff at the meeting can be any kind of issues that arise in the course of the enterprise, and the course of the discussion can be devoted to changes external environment in which a particular organization operates.

Organization of the meeting

Any kind of meeting, regardless of its format, requires careful preparation for it, since its effectiveness depends on this moment. Initially, it is necessary to determine following points:

• goal;
• issues discussed;
• setting tasks for personnel (based on functionality and subordination);
• stages of task execution.

Today, most meetings are conducted in a very mediocre manner, because of which their meaning is lost, and the tasks assigned can be performed poorly. Therefore, it is extremely important to think through the entire course of such business meetings and build a working discussion in such a way that it does not just take time, but has a feedback from the team.

Meetings

It should be noted that large firms and organizations seeking to win a certain market share and develop their company in order to obtain large profits make a big bet on the discussion important issues through meetings. From the practice of successful managers, you can form the following set of rules on how to prepare for a meeting:

To begin with, a list of participants is determined. It should be clear who to invite to the meeting and what role he will play at it. It often happens that the invited persons may not understand the issue, and are invited "just in case", but at that moment they could do their own thing. official duties and don't waste time.

It is important to have an agenda. If the meeting is scheduled, then an agenda is developed in advance, which indicates the issues to be discussed, and also determines the main speakers. It is important to remember that this document should be sent to those responsible for the preparation of information and those who will be present so that all participants can prepare reports, proposals and additional questions. If necessary, the agenda can be adjusted.

At the forefront of the meeting should be the main and strategic issues. The speakers of such issues must necessarily be persons (heads of departments, sections, workshops) who are personally responsible for the implementation of any strategic measures of the company.

Important Points

It is important to remember that any meeting has two main stages - preparation for it and its conduct itself. The first stage includes determining the relevance of holding a business meeting, identifying tasks, main and secondary goals, forming a list of participants and speakers, preparing reports, presentations and a report according to the topic or a previously defined agenda. The second stage involves the implementation of the previously planned course of the meeting, listening to reports and discussing current and strategic issues.

If during such business communication it is necessary to decide what and to whom to do from employees, then the third stage can be distinguished - decision-making. As a rule, decisions are made by the chairman, who chairs the meeting, based on his own discretion or through discussion or collective voting.

Sample meeting plan

With a clearly defined plan in front of them, any manager can conduct a meeting efficiently and effectively, which will allow you to get feedback from the staff and put before them the right tasks. This plan may include the following aspects:

• listening to reports and summarizing results for a certain time period (quarter, week, half year, month);
• coverage of current issues relevant to the company;
• listening to proposals for troubleshooting (brainstorming);
• evaluation of the proposed options and discussion of their implementation;
• accumulation of options;
• voting for the adoption of one or another option;
• definition of boundaries during problem solving (definition of responsible persons, terms, methods and methods).

logging

Most types of meetings need to be fixed on paper (document), which is called a protocol. Keeping this kind of documentation allows you to legitimize the decisions made. And also, thanks to the protocol, you can always track the progress of the implementation of activities, and in case of failure to complete the tasks, determine who is responsible for this.

The puncture, as a rule, is conducted by the secretary of the leader who is the chairman of the meeting. However, often this function can be performed by other employees.

Functions and tasks of the secretary

Before the start of business meetings, the secretary should be familiar with the list of invitees and the list of issues discussed. However, it should be noted that if the meeting is held on a regular basis, then this executive collects all the documentation (lists, plans, agenda, etc.) and helps the leader prepare for the meeting.

At first, and if necessary, the secretary may ask the persons who appear to fill out a registration sheet, where their full names will be indicated. and position. This will be needed when drafting the protocol. Next, the secretary announces the agenda, which marks the beginning of the meeting. Further, when those present begin to discuss issues, the secretary records the progress of this event. At the end of the meeting, this official prepares the finished version of the protocol, after which he signs it with the chairman and sends everything to the persons involved.

It is extremely important for the secretary, when drawing up, to pay due attention appearance meeting minutes. It must include a header, venue, list of attendees, issues discussed and decisions made.

Conclusion

From the above information, it becomes clear that holding meetings at enterprises is extremely important. However, it is always worth remembering that high-quality preparation for such events carries more than 50% of the key to success in covering information, setting goals and their high-quality implementation.

How often have you sat in meetings that, having exceeded the duration of 2 hours, tried to solve all the problems in the world at the same time? When people, red from stuffiness, losing self-control from fatigue, begin to try to shout down each other in an attempt to find correct solution? When every meeting ends in nothing, and all the participants swear to themselves that they will never again gather for these meaningless meetings?

Original article: tvoyplan.com/2013/04/28/effective-meeting-rules

What makes a meeting effective?

Meeting efficiency = value of decisions made / (meeting time * number of participants * average participant salary)

Therefore, a meeting is a rather expensive thing, which rightly earned itself fear and hatred among office workers. The same emotions extend to the organizers of these meetings, including you. If you want to earn the respect of your team, you must be able to lead effective meetings.

This article is about teaching you how to get the most out of your meetings with the least amount of time and emotional wastage of participants.

Preparing for the meeting

Is a meeting necessary?

“Meetings are a symptom of bad organization. The fewer meetings, the better." - Peter Drucker, The Effective Leader.

• Complexity. The topic being discussed is so complex that participants need to look at the visuals together so as not to fall out of the flow of the discussion. For example, discussing the architecture of database entities or the complex business process of reviewing a loan application.
• Urgency. The topic under discussion is so urgent that the development of an action plan on this topic e-mail spend prohibitively a large number of time.
• Importance. The topic under discussion is so important that its importance overrides any possible time spent by the group members on the meeting.

No need to call meetings for the wrong reason. If you are:

• want to shift responsibility for the problem to the group,
• looking for listeners for your ideas or
• Do you want to strengthen your team?

Set a clear goal and agenda

The purpose of any meeting is a plan of action. Not to “discuss the possibilities”, not to “resolve the issue”, but to “instruct so-and-so to do so-and-so by such-and-such date”. Any other goal setting could result in the meeting having no impact.

Therefore, when scheduling a meeting, clearly list the participants the action plan for solving which problem or problems you want to receive and send them the resulting agenda. A written agenda will allow people to make sure that they do not waste time in pointless discussion, and the issues discussed will be relevant to their area of ​​interest.

In case there is not enough time for the meeting, the issues on the agenda should be sorted in descending order of importance (then you will have time to discuss the most important) or in ascending order of complexity (then you will have time to close the maximum of questions).

Do not invite extra participants

• Does he have exceptional knowledge of the subject that other participants in the meeting do not have?
• Does the topic under discussion affect his interests? Do not his interests coincide with the interests of any other participant?
• Is this person ready for a constructive discussion?
• Would it be sufficient to simply notify this person of the results of the meeting?

Holding a meeting

• follow all the discussion rules described below
• interrupt those who break them
• summarize the group's decision
• follow the agenda and determine when the group moves on to the next question

1. One says... Don't let the participants interrupt each other. Not only is this a display of disrespect, but most likely, at the moment of simultaneous speaking, the participants do not try to understand each other, which is not good for the meeting as a whole.
2. …and everyone else is listening. The key to effective discussion is for everyone in the group to follow what is being said in the group. Everyone should have the same "picture" of the issues under discussion. As soon as the group breaks up into several discussions, or someone starts to get distracted (for example, checking email on the phone or simply "going in"), further time will be lost until the group becomes one again. Everything that happened while someone was “absent” will have to be repeated for him, spending the time of everyone else on this.
3. Get to the point! Even though when people get tired they want to relax and talk about distracting topics, any such sidetracking wastes the time of everyone involved and moves you away from reaching a solution. Gently bring everyone back to the topic of discussion.
4. Fight the problem, not the people. In the heat of the discussion, participants can afford comments that others may take personally. Situations like these, if not nipped in the bud, will inevitably spoil the working atmosphere, create unnecessary tension, "disable" affected members, waste time, and most likely prevent the group from achieving its goals. Immediately stop discussions that have gone "in the wrong direction."
5. Record everything you say. This can be done by you or by another member whom you designate as meeting secretary. Without fixation, the group will begin to forget the facts or conclusions that were produced, and the effectiveness of the process will inevitably fall. In addition, notes help the group save time by allowing the speaker to simply point to one or another part of the notes, instead of explaining in detail what exactly they mean by what has already been said. Fixation should take place on a sheet of paper that is visible to the whole group, or on a board hanging on the wall.
6. Take breaks. Use the Pomodoro Technique (work in cycles with a 5-minute rest every 25 minutes of work). In my experience, meetings that last more than an hour and a half lose their effectiveness altogether due to the fatigue of the participants. It is better to interrupt such meetings by moving the continuation to another day.
7. If the group is no longer needed, disperse. As the problem is discussed, there is less and less difficult questions requiring general discussion. If you understand that the problem has broken up into several tasks that require individual execution, it makes no sense to spend the total time on a group discussion - the meeting must be completed. If the meeting is still too early to end, but there are already people whose knowledge will not be required in further discussion or whose interests will no longer be affected, let them go.

End of the meeting

• exist not in oral, but in written form
• avoid different interpretations
• be written in a language that will be understood even after two months
• for each item contain a person responsible for execution and deadline

During the meeting, the leader should convey to subordinates useful information and set clear goals for them. If everything is done correctly, labor efficiency will increase, otherwise the order of meetings should be reviewed.

How often do you hold meetings? How often do your employees get something useful from them? Do they understand the goals and objectives that you have set for them?

Does the efficiency of their work increase after planning meetings? Are you getting adequate feedback? If you answered “no” to at least one question, then you need to learn how to conduct effective meetings and planning meetings in order to waste a minimum of time on them and get the maximum benefit.

Effective meeting

With the help of meetings, communication is maintained between different departments and within the departments themselves, the decisions made are embodied and the motivation for the performance of work among individual employees is increased. But only an effective meeting can solve these problems, so check yourself if your meetings meet the following criteria:

1. Format conformance. There are several types of meetings: meeting, briefing and operative. Each of these meetings has its own goals and accordingly lasts different time. The operative is designed to solve the problem that has just arisen.

It usually lasts 5-10 minutes, it gathers people directly related to the problem. A planning meeting is usually held every day in the morning and lasts 25-30 minutes. During this time, the manager needs to set tasks for the day, get feedback on the results of the previous day and adjust plans if necessary.

The meeting aims to find a solution global problem, form a new offer for your market, develop new program motivation, etc.

Often meetings are divided into two stages - the first is held in the evening, it sets the goals of the meeting, outlines the problems that will be discussed. In the morning, the second stage begins, which can last up to two hours. A full meeting is pure creativity.

2. Specification of tasks. Each meeting should have clearly defined tasks that are announced to the participants in advance. Deviation from the agenda is highly undesirable.

3. Rigid regulations. A meeting must have a start and end time, whether or not all the invitees show up. Set clear time limits, eg end agenda item 1 in 25 minutes.

Set aside a certain time for each speaker - 5 minutes is enough, this will teach people to talk to the point. If you hear extraneous conversations or digression from the topic, stop these attempts, save your time.

4. Optimal composition. The meeting must be attended by the people it concerns. Just like that, sit and listen, do not invite anyone. Let everyone mind their own business.

5. Word to everyone. Each participant in the meeting should have the opportunity to express their opinion on a particular issue. Do not interfere and, moreover, do not interrupt the employee’s speech, even if it goes against your point of view. Do you need adequate feedback?

6. Record keeping. The agenda is not the only binding document of the meeting. The protocol, which records all the main points, the employees who spoke in order of priority, their opinion on a particular issue, and most importantly the results of the meeting, is a very useful paper.

Be sure to send out a newsletter to the meeting participants so that they always have it at hand for clarification of any points. So it will be more convenient to control the implementation of tasks and analyze the results. It is the “task - results - control - task” scheme that allows you to make the meetings the most efficient and concise.

7. Planned meeting. Each employee should know when he will be invited to the meeting room again. Surprise is a bad helper in organizing meetings, participants do not have time to prepare or do not come at all due to absence from the office.

If a problem arose suddenly, and you decided to call an operative to solve it, get ready for the answers “I don’t know,” “I need to check,” and “I will provide you with a report later.”

How to prepare and conduct an effective meeting?

To have an effective meeting, you must first prepare for it. Before starting the meeting, the leader should clarify the following questions for himself:

• What goals does the meeting pursue and what tasks does the meeting solve?
• what is the format of the meeting, what are the roles of the meeting participants. The roles of employees are distributed in advance: there must be a chairman and a secretary. Also determine the exact start and end time of the meeting.
• what is the structure of the meeting. A typical structure looks like this:
• greetings;
• announcement of the goals of the meeting, the tasks set, the format of the meeting;
• discussion and analysis of existing problems;
• receiving feedback from performers;
• analysis of the results and setting tasks for the near future;
• summarizing.
• what is the agenda of the meeting. Determine the exact time to work on each agenda item, allocate time for a break if the meeting involves long time holding.
• what documents are needed. Prepare all the necessary information that will be of interest to the participants, make a distribution of materials so that they are studied in advance.
• whether a meeting is necessary. Before sending out invitations to a meeting, check if it is really necessary.

Answer these questions for yourself:

• Do the tasks you set need to be addressed right now?
• What should the participants take away from the meeting?
• How should their work change after the meeting?
• Has all the necessary information been collected? Will you get a “I don't know” answer to any question?
• Is it possible to solve the problem in another way, without holding meetings?

Remember about simple rules conduct effective meetings, keep the audience's attention on main goal, keep the discussion positive or neutral and encourage people to express their own opinions.

Then you will get an increase in the efficiency of your employees and at the same time reduce the amount of time wasted.

One hour of personal communication with subordinates can replace a week of correspondence. Yes, it is technically possible not to meet at all. But it is much better to gather employees in the office and, looking into their eyes, talk about the tasks of the business, and at the same time get feedback. In this article, we will tell how to effectively conduct workshops, properly organize and formalize them.

Meetings need to be made a system

If for employees each RAM is like snow on their heads, there will be little sense from such meetings. Employees simply will not have time to prepare and will be poorly involved in the movement. Therefore, meetings should be organized as much as possible.

Ideally such things are carried out according to a schedule developed in advance. If there are many planning meetings and operative meetings and they are all different, then a detailed schedule is needed. For example: every Wednesday - a meeting with the director, on the 25th of each month - with the head of the sales department, and so on. This is ideal when the state is large. For small business You can meet at a convenient frequency. The main thing - the participants of the meeting should know: every week they are called to the operative.

Why hold meetings

Agree: it is better to solve work issues personally, looking into each other's eyes. Yes, contacting in a million ways like Skype or by correspondence in social networks is not a problem. But this is not all. always more persuasive than an impersonal voice on the phone, not to mention the dry lines of a message.

At meetings, you can guess the mood of employees. They sit and happily nod their heads - it means that everything is in order and the atmosphere in the team is normal. Even in the eyes of an experienced boss, he will immediately understand whether his messages reach his subordinates or not.

More meetings discipline employees. If an employee knows for sure that once a week he will be asked for all the assigned tasks, he is much more responsible for their implementation. And getting scolded in front of everyone, on the carpet with the boss is much more offensive than on the phone. You stand there, solid and in a Briony suit, and you are scolded like a first-grader. No, it's better to pick up all the tails before the meeting and proudly report on the completed assignments.

Another important purpose of meetings is . When everyone boils in their own juice and does not have a platform for statements, this is bad.

Meeting Types

Meetings are scheduled and unscheduled:

• at scheduled meetings, current issues of work are discussed. Just they are held according to a schedule planned in advance - hence the name. These can be daily five minutes for planning the day, weekly and monthly meetings;
• unscheduled meetings are gathered to quickly solve a specific problem that has arisen here and now. May take place at any time.

Preparing for the meeting the right way

RAM should not become a formality like “Well, today is Monday, we should get together and talk.” In order for the meeting to be useful, you need to prepare. Here is the preparation algorithm:

• plan the meeting. This way you will not forget anything and avoid confusion when setting out tasks. No plan - no clear structure. You will swim, jump from one to another. Confuse yourself and confuse the team;
• make a list of employees to invite. It all depends on the subject and tasks. If you are going to talk to the heads of departments about increasing sales, you do not need to call;
• determine . The optimal meeting time is from 30 minutes to an hour. If you communicate less, it is unlikely that you will be able to cover all working issues and let everyone have their say. And take more than an hour - the employees will start to yawn sweetly and lose the thread of the conversation. If you can't meet the hour - break the meeting into 2 parts with a short break - 5-7 minutes;
• remember the last meeting. We recommend that you start communication by going over the tasks set at the last RAM. Let those responsible for their implementation report on how things are going;
• think about the structure of the meeting. Put important and priority tasks in the forefront, and discuss all sorts of corporate parties and trips to nature at the end;
• Let the employees you want to call in advance. Better in person or by phone. Make a newsletter- they will say that they did not have time to read the letter;
• prepare documents. If you need any materials, print them in advance so as not to get mad at the last moment or, worse, interrupt the meeting for this. Make copies for all employees who may need it;
• ask employees to bring notebooks and pens. 90% of what will sound at the meeting will be immediately forgotten. And what is written with a pen cannot be cut down with an ax. Let them sit and make their notes - then it will be more convenient for them to remember what was said.

Workshop Rules

There are no secret recipes here. There is a set of ground rules that will help you get the most out of your meeting.

Don't make the meeting one-sided

If the meeting, instead of discussing work issues and usefulness, turns, for example, into a public flogging of the guilty or a monologue of the leader, there will be little sense. It is necessary to structure the meeting in such a way as to work out as many different issues as possible. Break the meeting into parts:

1. Announcement of the plan of the meeting. First list the agenda items. Quite briefly - the details will begin during the discussion of the issues themselves.
2. Run through the last meeting. What tasks were set, how they are being implemented, what difficulties arise.
3. Start the discussion with important and urgent tasks, gradually moving on to less significant ones.
4. If necessary, pass brainstorm.
5. Ask the audience to ask questions of interest. Sometimes this is the only chance for them to do so. Perhaps not all those gathered see each other outside your office, but here, while everyone has gathered, you need to take the opportunity.
6. End the meeting. At the end, as we have already said, you can discuss issues that are not directly related to business: life away from the office, birthdays of employees, and so on.

Do not turn the RAM into a set of formalities

Make the meeting as easy as possible. Avoid protocol and excessive officialism. If you choose a secretary for half an hour, announce the agenda and vote for it, keep a detailed protocol and all that, then by the middle of the RAM you will hear friendly snoring. Don't waste time and get started right away. Leave the formalities to the meetings of the city duma and the congresses of the trade union committee.

Be a little stricter than usual. Put a small barrier between yourself and subordinates. If in the current situation subordination is often forgotten, then this cannot be done at a meeting. But don't overdo it. When the boss communicates with subordinates on “you”, and on the RAM he switches to “you” - this is, at least, funny.

Praise subordinates

During the meeting don't forget to tag those who did a good job. It's better to work - this time. A person sees that his merits have not gone unnoticed - these are two. Yes, and for others a good example.

Do you know what is the most common complaint among subordinates? No one likes it when the boss only notices flaws. Once in my life I did not pass the project on time - they will notice right away. And you plow from dawn to dusk - no one notices this and takes it for granted.

Don't go down that path. Be fair - what could be easier. They did it well and on time - praise, made a mistake - scold. Just don't make exceptions. Punish - so everyone, no favorites and prejudice. If for the same offense one is deprived of a bonus, and the other is not even noticed, it means that something is wrong here. Employees are very sensitive to discrimination and prejudice - and not far away.

Give everyone a voice

The meeting should not be a monologue of the leader, no matter how good a speaker he is. Therefore, let's always speak out to all those gathered. It's easy to do this: after each meeting point, ask the audience if they have any questions or comments. In general, involve people in the process as much as possible. Teach them that questions can and should be asked.

If there are newcomers at the meeting, give them a little more attention than the rest. may be embarrassed to express their opinion. And it can be very valuable - such employees have a fresh look at things, inaccessible to those who have been in business for many years. Address them directly, they say, and you, Ivan Ivanovich, what do you think about this?

Make lyrical digressions

If the meeting lasts more than half an hour, it makes sense to digress a couple of times along the way. Think of lectures at the university or lessons at school. If the teacher writes integrals on the blackboard for 45 minutes without stopping, such a lesson becomes boring and uninteresting. But as soon as he tells a story from his life or simply makes a couple of jokes, the lecture turns out to be fascinating and exciting. People go to such classes more willingly, and even the most difficult material is absorbed better.

The same goes for operational meetings. Do not be afraid to get a little distracted and tell the audience something on abstract topics. One or two minutes of time will not do the weather, and the degree of officiality and tension will be removed with a bang.

Protocol of the meeting

Congratulations, you've held the meeting. We talked, resolved questions, nodded our heads. Everything is great, everything is great. Not really cool or great. Now the most important thing is to consolidate the results. If everything remains in words, be sure: the workers will simply forget half of the instructions. Or pretend to forget. And then they will run one after another to clarify some questions. And what is the use of such a meeting?

The outcome of the meeting should be the protocol of the operational meeting. This is a mega-important document in which all the moves are recorded. Here is what needs to be reflected in the protocol:

1. Meeting date. Looking at the document, employees should understand when the meeting took place and can navigate the timing. Better yet, let them keep daddies and store all the protocols in them. It can be done electronically.
2. List of tasks. The most important point. All instructions must be formulated clearly and, most importantly, unambiguously. Don't forget: an order that can be misunderstood will be misunderstood.
3. List of responsible persons. It is better to draw up a protocol in the form of a tablet, where in front of each task the surname or surnames of the employees responsible for their implementation will be indicated.
4. Task completion time. In the same table, opposite the name of the employee, indicate the date when the order must be completed. Never set a deadline. If a month is given to complete the work, indicate 3 weeks in the protocol. So you discipline the employee and leave yourself and him time to maneuver.
5. Signatures of the meeting participants. A signature is a guarantee that a person is familiar with the document. Be sure to collect the autographs of everyone who was present and who were assigned tasks.

In order not to be distracted, to keep the protocol invite an assistant - let him perform the duties of a secretary. Writes down tasks, indicates responsible and captures everything said by the participants of the movement. This is if the meeting is voluminous and there are many tasks. If 3-5 people came for 10 minutes, you can handle it yourself and you don't need an assistant. Grab a piece of paper or notepad and take notes. Then arrange everything as it should be. You can open a laptop and do everything in an Excel tablet - as you like.

Distribute copies of the protocols to all subordinates, preferably in paper form. Let them hang in their office and be inspired. Do not let the execution of orders take place. Stop in sometimes and check how your assignments are being carried out and if there are any difficulties. It happens that work, for some reason, stalls, but employees do not report this.

Let's summarize

A workshop is a very effective communication tool if used correctly. Make it a system and very soon you will feel the result. And at the same time learn oratory. We wish you success!