I’ve had several conversations with clients lately concerning meetings. Invariably, the newer or less effective managers have the position that meetings are a waste of time. However, my clients who are successful as managers find tremendous value in meetings. But let me be perfectly clear: They find tremendous value in meetings that are necessary, focused, and well managed. And we all know, most meetings don’t meet those criteria, and as a result, they are a waste of time.

To ensure meetings you’re responsible for aren’t a waste of time, let me share some pointers on how to manage them effectively:

1 – Identify the purpose of your potential meeting.

a)    Information sharing – Do you need to share the same information in the same fashion at the same time will all attendees? Do you need to be able to see or hear their immediate reactions? If so, call a meeting. If not, don’t. Send an email, write a blog, send a video blog, or convey the message in some other fashion.

b)   Team building – Do you need to get your team members together to reconnect? Do your team members forget the efforts of one another? If so, call a meeting to discuss and review each team or team member’s contributions to the project. If not, don’t. Send an email, write a blog, send a video blog, or convey the message in some other fashion.

c)    Brainstorm – Do you need to brainstorm ideas with the people in the room/on the call? Do you need the energy and creativity this particular group of people can generate? If so, call a meeting. If not, don’t. Ask for their input in an email, blog, video blog, or in some other fashion.

d)    Make a decision – Do you need group input to discuss an issue and make a decision? Do you need the input from this particular group of people to discuss the issue from all relevant points of view. Do they have a vote or say in the final decision or do you simply want their input into the decision? (TIP: Let them know either way how the decision will be made so they’re not frustrated when you make the final decision.) If so, call a meeting.  If not, don’t. Ask for their input in an email, blog, video blog, or in some other fashion.

2 – Decide if you need to meet in person. If all attendees are within the same facility, meet in person. If not, use Skype, GoToMeeting, WebEx or some other means to cut unnecessary travel time. If attendees have to travel to attend the meeting, there’s built in waste. Now I know many of you are thinking, “But if they’re sitting at their desks instead of being here, they’ll multi-task or otherwise be distracted.”  That’s probably true and that’s an indication your meetings are boring or their attendance isn’t truly needed. If your meetings are necessary, focused, and well-managed, people will pay attention and participate.

3 – Create, send ahead, and then work from an agenda. The agenda doesn’t need to be long or snazzy. It simply needs to state the planned Start and Stop times, the purpose (See #1 above), what you need of each person before the meeting, and what they need to bring or be prepared to share/discuss at the meeting.

4 – Start on time. Respect their time. This skill alone will gain you points.

5 – Create and follow some basic meeting rules. My standards are:

a) Be on time and prepared

b) Clarify how decisions will be made (Unilateral, Consensus, or Majority Rules)

c) Do not talk over one another. Limit sidebar conversations. Limit interruptions.

d) Get to the point. No speeches.

e) Seek contrary opinions.

f) Everyone participates. You’re here because of the expertise you are expected to bring to the discussion.

g) Everyone can hold everyone else, the manager included, accountable to follow the rules.

h) End on time or before if the purpose has been achieved.

i) Conclude the meeting by ensuring everyone knows: Who is going to do what by when?

6 – Again: Follow the agenda. Work the agenda to control the “rabbit hunts” (i.e., discussions that go down “rabbit holes” discussing tangent details)

7 – End on time (see #5h above).

So, are meetings a waste of time? Yes, if they’re unfocused and not well managed.  However, if you want to be a successful manager, learn how to set-up and then manage your meetings well. Let your meetings become the focus for a team debate and be THE example of tremendously valuable meetings.

Copyright 2012 – Liz Weber, CMC – Weber Business Services, LLC – www.WBSLLC.com

Many business owners still believe their Human Resources (HR) department is primarily responsible for developing their respective organization’s future leaders. However, the longer business owners keep this limited mindset, the further behind their organizations become. You see, this crucial activity is not primarily HR’s responsibility, it’s theirs. And that scares the heck out of most business owners.

So, as business owners, if developing our organization’s future leaders is our responsibility, how do it? How do we train and develop others to take over for us when we’re not trainers, teachers, or magicians? We need to take three major steps:

- First, we must believe in the urgency and necessity in leadership development ourselves or no other managers or employees will.
- Second, we need to create a clear vision and implementation plan for our organization that helps our employees see what our organizations will look like in the future and what its future leaders need to be prepared to do.
- Third, we establish an organization that provides development opportunities for all employees, not just a select few.

How will these three steps work? By becoming personally involved and focused on the development of our organization’s future leaders, we not only demonstrate our belief in this by our actions, but more importantly, we also take an active role in determining what skills, projects, and responsibilities need to be developed in, provided to, or given to the up-and-comers within our business. Next, if created properly, the vision will by default touch every department of our organization. Therefore, every department must do something to help attain the vision. If our vision is far-reaching and forward-thinking, every department will be tasked to assert its skills, talents, and energies to new levels to help us reach the vision. When each department starts to understand and plan what it needs to do to help attain the vision, by default, each address staffing, leadership, employee training, project management, and other leadership development and planning issues. We’ve now set the foundation to have HR work in tandem with every department to develop depth and management and employee skill within the entire organization.

Finally, instead of focusing on only a few individuals, we create a culture where every employee has the potential to be a candidate for promotion or future openings. Why put all of our hopes and resources into just one or two candidates when they may leave or not develop the skills needed? Why risk demoralizing some staff by focusing only on a select few? Why not create an organization where all employees are constantly developing skills, talent, and leadership potential?

To do this, we create training opportunities that require our employees to do hands-on problem solving, project management, and most importantly: to think for themselves. We create cross-training and mentoring opportunities so our employees learn more about the organization and they learn from each other. And finally, we create an organization where every manager understands that developing others is just as important as getting product out the door, and the managers are held accountable to do so.

Now that you’ve taken the lead in believing in and developing your next tier of managers and leaders, your organization is positioned to fulfill the vision you’ve created, with an employee population you’ve helped develop. Not a bad return for focusing on one of your responsibilities as a business owner that so many others delegate to someone else.

The board is comprised of volunteers — all interested and well-meaning — but not professionally skilled or trained in this respective industry either. The manager and the board were all given their respective positions by the organization’s owner — who, has limited day-to-day interest in the organization’s operations. He trusts the management team and the board.

My colleague has been working with the board and has developed a good working relationship with its members. However, he’s had limited success in getting them to fully comprehend the ineffectiveness of the manager and its subsequent negative impact on customer relations and the long-term negative impact on their entire organization. My colleague is stuck. What should he do to help the board guide this organization towards greater effectiveness?

My suggestion to him was: Instead of making it sound personal — i.e., you against the manager — why don’t you make your suggestions and recommendations to the board position-oriented? Clarify with the board, what their role and responsibilities are and what the role and responsibilities of the manager and each of his key staff positions are.

For example, the board of directors’ role is to direct – through policy discussion and vote – what direction the organization should take in the future. The board’s task is to discuss and analyze the big-picture issues that will allow this organization to grow and thrive into the future — or which may threaten it. The board — which only meets once each month — does not have the time to debate issues affecting daily operations and rather basic customer issues. The board should be holding the management team accountable to ensure the daily operations are conducted smoothly, effectively, and efficiently — with care given to ensure the customers’ concerns and needs are addressed. The manager, on the other hand, is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the organization. Also, given the staff’s daily interaction with customers, their services, and other vendors, the manager is responsible for bringing to the board specific suggestions for policy discussions, analysis of the ramifications of each suggestion presented, and recommendations for action — based upon their experience with the daily operations and industry. Also, the manager is the point person to ensure his staff is properly trained, responsive, and effective in representing the organization to the customers and media. The manager and his team do the leg-work for the board; it shouldn’t be the other way around. The manager works for the board. The directors direct,but only after the manager does his job.

If the board is taught to start focusing their time and efforts to more effectively fulfill their responsibilities, by default more legwork, information, and accountability will be pushed to the manager and his team. It will take time, but doing the job they’ve been asked to fulfill, the board will start to better understand the importance of also holding the manager and his staff accountable to effectively fulfill the jobs they’ve been hired to do. However, when directors direct and managers do, incredible things happen in organizations. It just requires work, focus, and a willingness to be responsible and accountable.

A senior manager recently asked what the difference was between a manager and a leader. I told her: a manager is responsible for taking care of the here and now. A manager  ensures the resources
resources are used efficiently, and plans for maximum utilization of staff, equipment, materials, and capital. A manager knows how to multi- task and deal with ever-shifting priorities. A leader focuses on “What’s coming next and how to take advantage of it?” Given that definition, she said, “I’m definitely not a leader. I don’t have time to think about what’s next. I’m overwhelmed trying to keep the here and now under control. How do I find the time to lead?”

For most people, you can’t lead until you’ve taught others how to manage. Until you free up time and your mental capacity to focus on “What’s next?” it’s terribly difficult to become an effective leader. Many people try to do both and end up being stressed out managers with limited effectiveness planning for the future. They weaken themselves in both arenas. So, how can this senior manager become a leader? She needs to start holding her managers accountable to do the tough things good managers do: have the difficult conversations with staff who are not performing well, deal with the unhappy customers to resolve company-created problems, make difficult and risky decisions concerning resources, and track their departmental goals with their staffs to ensure the entire organization continues to move towards its vision. Until her managers are held accountable to do their jobs and manage effectively, this senior manager won’t be able to free herself up enough to lead effectively. Until she’s ready to be a solid manager herself (and have those difficult conversations with her own staff), she won’t be positioned to move to the next phase of professional growth and become a leader.

If you’re faced with the same dilemma as this senior manager and don’t have time to plan for the future, ask yourself, “What do I spend most of my time doing now?” If you spend the bulk of your time doing the work your managers or supervisors should be doing, you may need to start holding yourself and others accountable.

Do your employees know what the non-negotiable attitudes and behaviors are that are expected of all team members (yourself included)?

Do your employees know what the consequences are if they do not meet these expectations?

Are they certain you will take action, one way or the other, depending upon how they choose to perform?

Have you clearly drawn your “leadership line-in-the-sand”?

If you didn’t answer “Yes” to every one of the above questions, you have some communicating to do. You see, if your employees aren’t clear as to what standards, values, and attitudes you expect them to perform to and demonstrate, you’re causing them to guess. Or, by default, you’re allowing them to continue to under-perform or demonstrate behaviors that you believe are “inappropriate.” You continue to be frustrated with them, and they continue to under-perform! This vicious cycle is your fault, it’s not theirs. You’ve not clearly drawn your “leadership line-in-the-sand.”

I recently talked with a senior manager who was describing how his team is learning where his leadership line is. He’s been managing this particular team for about one year. During that time, he gathered data on production, attendance, billable hours, overtime, etc. As a result, he has hard data on who is working hard and who is “getting by.” Over the past several weeks, he’s communicated his “leadership line-in-the-sand” on work hours, overtime, production standards, etc., needed to best meet their customers’ needs. He also clearly stated he wanted the workload to be more evenly spread across all team members. As a result, the employees who were already working 20+ hours of overtime a week to meet the customers’ needs, were intrigued. However, the few employees who had had attendance issues and had not been performing to these clearly defined standards soon started to identify the ramifications of being on one side of his leadership line or the other.

An underperforming employee asked the manager, “So you want to ensure the work is more evenly distributed.” “Yep,” replied the manager, “That’s right.”

“I agree it should be evenly distributed…. But that’ll mean I’ll have to work 3 more hours a week.” “Yep.”

“But I’ll have to change my commuting schedule.” “Yep.”

“But this is going to be more work for me!” “Yep.”

“So,… could I like lose my job if I don’t work the additional hours?” “Yep.”

Which side of the leadership line will the underperforming employee choose? It’s his choice. Now that he knows where the line is, he can choose. Where’s your “leadership line-in-the-sand?”

Copyright 2012 – Liz Weber, CMC – Weber Business Services, LLC – www.WBSLLC.com

We’ve been doing a lot of work with clients lately on fine-tuning their marketing efforts. A crucial step in this process is getting crystal-clear on just who they want as customers. Now I know this sounds like a somewhat strange activity. But you’d be amazed at the number of businesses who believe they can and should service everyone.

Selling to anyone and everyone sounds great in theory, but in reality, it can cost you money, waste your time and resources, and drive your “real” customers away. How? By developing marketing messages that are supposed to appeal to everyone, you typically end up appealing to very few – because no one can really “connect” with your message or understand how your business can help them. On the other hand, if you develop your marketing messages and activities to target specific types of customers, you are more likely to connect with them in a way that they’ll appreciate, understand, and respond to.

So how do you determine who you want to target? Determine who you want as your customers. To do this, review your current customers. As you analyze them, place them in one of four tiers:

Tier 1 Customers - These are your ideal and highly-profitable customers. They excite and energize you because they bring new projects to you that keep you growing and developing your services and products to meet their and other customers’ current and future needs.
Tier 2 Customers - These are your good income providers. They’re content with your core products and services. These customers make you feel as though you’re in the right business because you can service them relatively easily and make a fair profit in doing so.
Tier 3 Customers - These customers create those break-even jobs and consume more than their fair share of your time and materials. These clients frustrate you more often than you realize.
Tier 4 Customers - These customers are money losers. In fact, they just tick you off, because you know – even though you may not admit it to yourself – they’re not the right type of customer for you. They’re not a fit for you and you’re not a fit for them. Therefore, it’s painful for everyone.

Once you’ve analyzed your customers, you’re better able to determine where and how to spend your marketing efforts and dollars, and how to tighten up your customer base to one that better fits your company’s future growth plans.

Tier 1 Customers - Focus the majority of your marketing efforts here. These customers allow you grow your business in the direction you want to go. Focused marketing towards these customers allows you to position yourself as their “go-to” company to provide what they need and want – now and in the future.
Tier 2 Customers - Target these types of customers as the opportunities present themselves. You have the capabilities to serve their basic needs. Marketing that speaks to these customers lets them know your company has been servicing folks just like them for years.
Tier 3 Customers - Do not accept any more of these if possible. At the bare minimum, don’t market to them! Ensure your marketing efforts are addressing your Tier 1 & 2 type customer needs. Develop a list of alternative providers who may be better suited to support your Tier 3 customers and refer them to a new provider.
Tier 4 Customers - Move away from this type of customer as positively and quickly as you can to cut your loses and free up resources to focus on servicing your Tier 1 and 2 customers.

By conducting this type of basic customer analysis, you’ll see very clearly why your business is in the financial and production position it’s in. Either you’re working with and for your targeted customers or you’re trying to service too many or the wrong types of customers. A simple analysis is all it takes. But you’ve got to be willing to ask: Who do I want as my customers?

For some time this client has been under the incorrect assumption that its management team communicated well with each other. Yet invariably when I’d have a one-on-one meeting with any member of the management team, I’d hear comments along the lines of, “Well, I believe what he really wants to do is…” or “I don’t think she’s really clear on how to proceed with…” and other similar comments about their colleagues. They were more comfortable making assumptions about what others really wanted or believed, instead of simply asking pointed questions or confronting their peers to debate points of view. To them, good communication meant never challenging one another or pushing one another for more information. Needless to say, this wasn’t benefiting customers, the team, or the company.

This “non-communication” needed to stop and this was the week it was going to happen. I’d given them ample warning the one-on-one meetings were becoming counterproductive and were going to stop. It was time for honest, straight-forward communication from everyone — all the time. The team nervously anticipated our work session, because they knew I’d be challenging each of them in ways they didn’t do themselves. They believed I would work some magic to get them to open up and honestly communicate with each. I’m not a magician and I can’t do any tricks. I just don’t like poor communication.

So we established a basic ground rule: All conversations had to focus on what was right for the customer, employees, or the company. The conversations couldn’t get personal — they had to stay professional. Then, I simply had each person answer the questions asked of them directly. When they talked but didn’t answer a question, I’d ask the question again in a slightly different format or have the person who asked the question rephrase it. When someone veered off topic, I’d redirect him or her back to it. About 30 minutes into the session, I noticed a few of the managers start to follow my lead. They were starting to see that I wasn’t being mean; I was simply asking for information. If I got it, we’d move on. If I didn’t, I’d probe deeper and ask more questions to help spur thought or uncover information. The team started enjoying themselves as they learned to communicate as professional peers. The team heard information about projects that many of them had no idea were in the works or which were facing serious problems. They learned disagreeing could be productive. They offered ideas to help stalled projects move forward. The work session was productive and the managers seemed to have developed a greater respect for one another. They’d enjoyed having some difficult conversions. They’d enjoyed communicating honestly. It was beautiful!

If your managers talk but don’t communicate, show them how to communicate. Let them experience honest communication. It’s a beautiful thing.

It’s sad to say, but he’s not the first leader in this organization to lose his effectiveness because of this problem. The previous four leaders have not held her accountable either. Why?

They’ve all been afraid. They’re afraid of the conversations they envision they’ll have with her. They envision conflicts, arguments, debates, and even the dreaded possibility of tears. Oh No! So instead of dealing with all of that; they don’t. Now her poor performance has become what she views as normal and acceptable.

Who’s to blame? It’s pretty obvious. It’s the fault of every one of the former leaders and now the current leader. It’s their fault for being afraid of conversations that haven’t even happened yet. It’s their fault for anticipating “ugly” conversations instead of anticipating objective, focused, and professional conversations on needed performance changes. It’s their fault for not being willing to start the much needed conversations with her. It’s their fault for not helping her to clearly see the discrepancies in what is and is not acceptable and why some on the team are frustrated with her. It’s their fault for being afraid. It’s their fault for not doing what is right for the organization.

In his book, Who Moved My Cheese?, Dr. Spencer Johnson shares a terrific question one of the book’s characters asked himself when faced with a frightening challenge. His question was: “What would I do if I weren’t afraid?” If you’re like me, the answer to that question is usually, “I’d do the tough thing facing me.”

If you’re a leader with potentially difficult conversations and situations facing you and you are somewhat afraid of dealing with them, what would you do — for the good of the organization — if you weren’t afraid?

Effective strategic planning (or for that matter any project planning) is only effective when it creates a clear roadmap for the team responsible for making it happen. When it creates excitement, shock and awe, but confusion, chaos, conflicts, and frustration are soon to follow.  And this is why many of my clients have painful memories of prior strategic planning initiatives. They were well intentioned. They felt good and right during the process. But they yielded a document of little value, that caused more headaches than value because no one remembers what they meant as the various pieces of the plan were created. Their plans sound nice, but require subsequent meetings to discuss what was meant instead of actually working the plan.

Because of this all-too-common focus on creating lofty plans intended to inspire instead of clarify, I tell my clients: If we’ve developed your strategic plan well, the rest of the team will understand it and accept it when it’s shared with them. However, be prepared: they won’t be amazed or barely able to contain their applause, because it won’t be awe-inspiring: it’ll be clear but challenging. In fact, some of them may say, “It took you how many meetings to come up with just these few sheets of paper?” And, that’s the type of reaction we want. We don’t want them to be amazed, in shock, awed, or paralyzed by fear. We want them to hear it or read it, and “get it.”  Because if they “get it,” they have a pretty clear picture of what we’re asking them to help work towards. When they “get it,” they aren’t paralyzed by confusion. They can help make it happen.

And that’s the purpose of a well-developed plan. Even though the planning teams wouldn’t mind just a bit of applause….

Copyright 2012 – Liz Weber, CMC – Weber Business Services, LLC – www.WBSLLC.com

First, to help the current senior team start to think in terms of how they might help their team members develop, we have them review their own position descriptions and answer questions such as:

• Does your current position description accurately reflect the skills, knowledge, and abilities (S/K/A) needed to effectively fulfill your current job responsibilities?
• If not, what is missing and how does this S/K/A help you do your job. Be specific.
• What specific training or experience (i.e. projects, etc.) have you been provided that you believe helped you gain critical skills to do your job?
• As you look into the future to the Company’s vision, how will your job be different 3-5 years from now?
• What additional S/K/A will you need to do your job then?
• What would help you gain those required S/K/A? (Identify specific training, coaching/mentoring, cross-training, field experience, etc.

This process gets the senior managers thinking about their own skills and what really is needed now and in the future to do their jobs well. Often this step alone helps them to identify training and experiences they’ve had that helped them gain their knowledge that they hadn’t fully appreciated before.

Second, we have the senior managers review their middle managers’ position descriptions and answer questions such as:

• Does the current position description accurately reflect the S/K/A needed to effectively fulfill their current job responsibilities?
• If not, what is missing and how does this S/K/A help each manager do his/her job. Be specific.
• What specific training or experience (i.e. projects, etc.) have each of the managers been provided that you believe helped them gain critical skills to do their jobs?
• As you look into the future to the Company’s vision, how will their jobs be different 3-5 years from now?
• What additional S/K/A will they need to do their jobs then?
• What would help them to gain those required S/K/A? (Identify specific training, coaching/mentoring, cross-training, field experience, etc.)

This process helps the senior managers really focus on what their middle managers do and don’t know and do. It also helps them clarify what skills really are needed now and in the future to do these jobs well. This step often highlights for them long-overdue training and project experience many of their middle managers need.

Third, we have the senior managers ask themselves:

• Who currently fills in for you/serves as your “Acting” when you are out or unable to do your job?
• What S/K/A does this person have that allows him/her to do your job?
• Does this person hold the position within the company that would logically be considered your successor?
• If not, what S/K/A is the person missing who does hold the position that would logically be considered your successor?

This process and many others help the senior managers “wake up” and see anew what S/K/A their current middle managers do and don’t have.

Often, just these few steps provide great insight for the senior team to take action and help develop their employees. It also helps them realize that developing others is not Human Resources’ responsibility; it’s theirs. They also start to see how managers can develop their employees. Can you?