Dr. Susan Fletcher Announces 6 Ways to Keep Meetings from Getting Off Track

Keep people focused and from texting during the entire meeting by using the following Smart Moves to keep your meetings on track.
By: Zan Jones
 
June 22, 2011 - PRLog -- Stay in the Smart Zone and run a productive meeting using these 6 recommendations.

1.  Focus on what is right rather than who is wrong when dealing with confrontational issues.  Address issues, not personalities.  Ask "What" and "How" questions instead of "Why" questions. Ideally the conversation style should be open with quick and honest communication.   Dr. Fletcher discusses this in the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT6DggohKOw&feature=channel_video_title



2.  Take it offline.  It's okay to acknowledge issues that aren't on the agenda and tell the person voicing the issue that you'd like to discuss it after the meeting.

3.  Hug the Tree. This is the concept of sticking to the main point in a meeting.  Think of the tree representing the topic and the tree branches other tangents. When having group discussions don't allow the conversation to go off point by discussing an old issue or something unrelated.  Avoid "war stories" from the past that take the discussion off track. I discuss how to hug the tree in this video.

4.  Recognize what high emotions mean.  Regardless of personality type, as long as a person is communicating with high emotion, he or she does not feel understood. And before someone can trust others he/she must first feel understood.  Without trust among meeting members there will be suspicion within the group and less cohesion.  Click here for a short video on emotions and trust where I talk about this in more detail.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_r0ua1xQg8&feature=channe...

5.  People will behave differently in a meeting setting than they behave one-on-one.  Peer pressure and intimidation affect how people interact in a group.  Be cautious about calling on a new person in the meeting unless you've given him/her a heads-up beforehand.  What is no big deal to you could be really embarrassing to a new person.

6.  Set a time limit and start on time. In his book, Mastering the Rockefeller Habits, Verne Harnish says to start meetings at a time like 1:07 pm vs. 1:00 pm.  He says that irregular starting times are more memorable.  Setting a time limit will force the meeting leader to be organized and allow attendees to know what to expect.

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Susan Fletcher, Ph.D. is a practicing psychologist & speaker on Emotional Intelligence, productivity, performance & leadership development. She is the author of Working in the Smart Zone (2008) & Parenting in the Smart Zone (2005).
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Source:Zan Jones
Email:***@fletcherphd.com Email Verified
Zip:75093
Tags:Meetings, Staff Meeting, Board Meeting, Communication, Focus
Industry:Business, Non-profit, Human resources
Location:Plano, Dallas, Allen - Texas - United States
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