Leadership development: Effective Meeting Management

Your supervisor tells you to be at a meeting. It's a discussion, but several people in the group do all the talking.  The rest of the group is silent. The meeting leader does not appear to notice this.  What is the impact of this on the group, and on the bottom line?

First, some meetings are to share important news, not to discuss matters. That's fine - if it only happens rarely. (Sharing news can also be done by e-mail.)

Second, a leader who allows many people to sit silently during discussions may not know why there is so little participation, what the cost of this is, and strategies to change this.

People are quiet for various reasons. Among them is a lack of interest in the topic, a lack of new information to share because the topic is ancillary to their job (and they may not be appropriate attendees), a fear of speaking in public (and a group to these people is considered to be speaking in public), hearing loss and a lack of certainty as to what was just discussed, or other reasons.

The cost to the company of minimal participation is considerable.  There is a Cost of Meeting Clock, which determines the cost based on the number of attendees, average hourly pay rate, and length of the meeting. This determines the entire financial cost of the meeting. However, think about the amount of work that is not getting done because of the meeting, and the boredom factor of attendees who want to be anywhere but in that meeting. In addition, helpful information is not being shared among the attendees.

According to a new Gallup study, 50% of employees leave because of their supervisor. Often this has to do with poor leadership communication skills. Employee turnover is extremely expensive to a company, involving recruiting and training costs, as well.

What can a leader do to be more effective in eliciting participation at meetings? The solution depends on the problem's cause, of course.  To start, look at the reason for the meeting, and determine if the meeting needs to actually be held, or if an e-mail would be sufficient. Which participants really need to attend? Do they know in advance what to bring or prepare to talk about?

Does the leader know how to control participation by encouraging quiet people to talk, and talkative people to give others a chance to contribute? 

Techniques to resolve these issues  with meetings can be found on pages 10 - 11 of  the e-book, Executive Communication Strategies. On other pages, you'll  learn about Customer Services/Persuasion, Decision Making Paradigm, Questions Leaders Should Consider, Professional Listening Skills, Public Speaking Techniques for Leaders, and more! Get Executive Communication Strategies now and find out the practical, easy-to-use strategies to improve your communication skills!

Verbal mistake: The message is right, but something's missing!

Have you ever sent an e-mail, and found it was totally misinterpreted? The reason may have been that when you speak, your tone of voice conveys emotion, sarcasm, and interest (or lack of it). When you write, you choose a formal or an informal tone, active or passive voice, and assume your reader knows how you feel.

This can be easily misinterpreted. A formal note can seem to the reader like the writer has no interest. An informal note, meant to be sarcastic, can be interpreted literally.

The right choice of vocabulary can show your level of emotion and enthusiasm. Instead of saying you are looking forward to meeting the other person, try adding "eagerly" looking forward to meeting him.  Add other powerful words as appropriate.  Avoid sarcasm in a short note or text.

The true test of a well-written note is that it conveys the message you want, with the appropriate tone included. Is it to be formal, boring-but-have-to-write-something, or warm and caring?

In verbal and non-verbal communication, we also work to convey the proper attitude, whether eager, respectful but casual,   formal, etc. Our tone of voice,  use of slang, and choice of vocabulary can make or break this attitude.

Non-verbally, we use eye contact, giving full or distracted attention, and positioning (such as facing the other person directly or at a side angle) to also convey our attitude.

An example of this going wrong at work is when a manager uses a computer to answer routine e-mails during an appointment with an employee, telling the employee, "I can multi-task." The employee may feel the manager doesn't care about the appointment or the employee, due to his lack of full attention and eye contact.

Business Speech Improvement provides individual and small group coaching on communication skills. Visit us online!

The three most important functions of an effective manager

In his excellent book, Quick and Nimble, author Adam Bryant reports on a fascinating study done by Google, called Project Oxygen. The purpose was to determine the most important actions of effective managers. They went through an extensive observation, rating and analytic process, and arrived at 3 top actions. Effective managers' most important attributes, they found, were calmness and taking the time for one on one meetings with employees, helping employees think through problems by asking questions, and caring about their employees' careers and lives.

Think about the best managers you have had, or employ. Do you agree or disagree with the conclusions of Project Oxygen? How do you assess your leaders in these vital skills?

Business Speech Improvement provides coaching in verbal skills, including communication skills for leadership development.

The On-boarding Process and Your New Employees: 3 Questions to Ask and When

When a new employee starts, especially if there is only one starting at that time, the orientation or on-boarding process can be given little attention. The goal is to get the person to be a productive worker as fast as possible, so why worry about the "frills"?

The extra information presented, often at a slightly slower pace than warp speed, allows the newcomer to get acclimated to the company's culture and ways of doing things. On-boarding often occurs over a period of several days, weeks or even a year, depending on the complexity of the job and the amount to be learned.

After the new employee has been there a month, it's a great time to realize the employee may have ideas to share with his new employer - if the employer cares enough to ask. The employee may have worked for other companies with different ways of doing things, and may know a better way to do a process or project. He may know helpful websites, or have concerns about how things are done at your company. However, he is not likely to say these - unless a manager takes the time to ask these 3 invaluable questions.

1. You've worked at other places. Based on that (or what you've learned in school, if the employee is a new graduate), do you have some suggestions on how we might do things better? Every employee's ideas are of interest to us! We might not notice what we do, because we've done it so long or so often, but you as a new employee would notice these things right away.

2. Do you know of  non-confidential websites, great equipment or other resources that might be of special benefit to the company? If you find these, please let us know.

3. What information related to your job, the company or the industry would help you most at this time? Do you need training in a specific area? If so, do you know how to request it?

This is also a time to share some initial feedback with the employee, of positive things you have noticed. The employee then realizes that he matters to you,  that you notice what he does, and  he will usually try to please you.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive coaching and e-books on various types of communication. If you found the above technique helpful, you'll definitely want to read Executive Communication Techniques, our e-book on many other practical strategies leaders can take to improve communication skills!

Leadership: The power of observation

As a leader, do you practice what you preach to your employees?

Recently a person in a leadership-training program for upcoming managers commented that he went to his manager to apologize for making an error. The manager got furious at him for his minor mistake. The person, who had gone on his own initiative, left very upset. To make matters worse, the manager gave a lecture the next day to the leaders-in-training about how to motivate employees and correct them as needed - and the suggested approach was a gentle, encouraging one.

If you were that trainee, what would you have learned from this experience?

As a leader, you know your employees are constantly watching your body language and noting your tone of voice. If you sound angry, even if it is due to another matter entirely, word will be passed to your staff very quickly that you are upset and they should stay away from you if possible. People trust your actions and tone of voice much more than your words.

If you are not conveying your desired message, communication coaching is available. Business Speech Improvement provides training in communication for leaders, accent modification, presentation skills and much more!

Delegating: Is It Clear?

Delegating involves a lot of clear communication. An easy way to do this is to use the 5 W's and an H, as follows.
Who - Who is to be involved in the project and working specifically on this task?
What is each person's and team's role? What are the specifications of the project?
When is each team supposed to complete its' task and when should each check in with the coordinator or project manager?
Where is the work to be done? Where are the components of the project to be found, if online? Where are any other supplies located?
Why is the project important to the client and to the organization doing it?
How will everyone involved know of the progress and any complicating or new factors? Is there a location for this information online? Will there be regular in-person meetings or teleconferences?

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive training in verbal skills, including a one-day seminar on Executive Communication:The Power to Lead.. Open enrollment seminars, individual coaching and tip-filled e-books are available on many topics, from accent modification and pronunciation to presentation skills and leadership training.