Scheduling Meetings is Not the Same as Planning Them

The Good:
Microsoft Outlook, iCal, and other software packages or apps make it incredibly easy to schedule meetings on other people's calendars.

The Bad:
As a colleague astutely observed yesterday, scheduling a meeting is not the same as planning one.

And therein lies the problem.  People have come to equate the two.

Some people detest meetings in general.  Authors like Patrick Lencioni (Death by Meeting) have written about how painful they can be.  Let me differ, raise my hand, and come out of the closet: I like them.

I like connecting with my colleagues and seeing my ideas be made better by their insights and diverse perspectives.  I like collaborating with others and producing results greater than what any one individual might have created.  I like being a part of a gathering that brings out the best in each participant and uses a process that is often enjoyable and … dare I say it … sometimes even fun.

But I do hate meetings that suck … suck away my time, my passion, my commitment, and my enthusiasm … and do the same to others.  And that occurs too often because people merely schedule meetings, they don't sufficiently plan them.

Imagine instead this scenario: 
The same software that schedules the meetings also has a built-in feature that automatically removes the meeting from everyone's calendars if one week in advance a meeting agenda and all appropriate background materials have not been electronically distributed and logged.

For every meeting the software automatically polls participants at the meeting's conclusion.  Results are aggregated anonymously and distributed to all participants.  A possible poll might look like this.

On a scale of 1-5 (1=lowest, 5=highest) please rate the following:

• Agenda and other advance materials
• Value produced/decisions reached as a result of the meeting
• Productive use of time during the meeting
• Effectiveness of meeting leader or facilitator
• Overall meeting satisfaction

Summary scores are automatically posted online for every meeting in the organization held as are the results for each individual who convenes meetings. Conveners' scores are part of their annual performance appraisal. Ongoing training and development and utilization of software and graphic facilitation templates that facilitate meeting planning and more productive conversations would be implemented organization-wide. Individuals whose scores fall significantly below the average organization meeting score would have their convening rights limited until they complete a more in-depth meeting planning and facilitation skills course and receive one-on-one coaching.

Reality check:
We're going to continue to have meetings, conference calls, planning sessions, webinars, and video chats.  We need to fully honor that if we expect others to come and be 100% focused and engaged in what we have scheduled then we must respect the commitment of their time and talents by doing the advance preparation required.

If you can't follow the rules of the road, you get your driving license revoked.  If you can't sufficiently follow basic guidelines for planning an effective meeting, your privilege to convene them should be curtailed, or I should feel free to pass on participation and not be punished in any way for making more productive use of my time.


Credit to the JBRH BrainTrust for inspiring this post.

Leadership Limerick: Dialogue and Decisions

Every Monday, I offer a leadership limerick, highlighting an idea or strategy about effective leadership in limerick form.

 You just might miss a key link
 If people do not say what they think

A safe space you must create
Supporting dissent and debate

So the quality of decisions doesn't sink.

We leave too many unexpressed good thoughts and insightful perspectives on the table.  For a variety of reasons, individuals do not feel comfortable sharing them in group conversations.  As a result, the thinking upon which our decisions are being made is incomplete and often inadequate.

Whenever you are leading or facilitating a conversation, it is important to think about what needs to be present for those who will be participating to freely speak their minds.  Only by building that container for good conversation, can the wisdom of the crowd emerge.

If you're interesting in honing your facilitation skills, I will be doing a one-day public seminar for the American Society of Association Executives in Washington, DC, on July 19.  It will be a highly interactive program exploring core concepts and techniques for effective facilitation and offering ample time for practical application and open discussion.  Learn more here.

Leadership Limerick: The Mojo of Motivation

Every Monday, I offer a leadership limerick, highlighting an idea or strategy about effective leadership in limerick form.

You can sometimes get people in gear
If you point out the threat they should fear

But having a grand dream to pursue
May be a more motivating glue

If you can make its benefits 100% clear.

A common question people often ask is "What keeps you up at night?"  It's intention is good: discover what troubles people, their pain points, and try to address the underlying needs.  But its roots are negative and focused on problem-solving instead of aspiration-pursuing.

No doubt that fear can motivate people if the threat is real and imminent.  Some leaders though cry wolf and try to manufacture a looming crisis that really isn't that definitive.  The initial motivation bump it might engender is rarely sustainable.

Instead ask, "What would make you leap out of bed in the morning?"  A compelling goal or future that inspires passion and creative thinking can be a powerful motivating force.  Instead of manufacturing fear, we should not be afraid to help uncover meaning.  Instead of defaulting to what people want to run away from, we should spend more time helping them discover what would be worth running toward.

You've Changed, Others Haven't

You went to a conference.

You networked, renewing old friendships and making new connections.

You shared challenges, gained fresh perspectives.

You've returned to work brimming with energy and ideas, eager to share all the insights you have for improving everything in your organization.

Don't.  I repeat.  Do. Not. Share. Like That.

Dial down your "I'm ready to change the world" passion out of respect for those who aren't ready to have their world changed by you.

They did not just come from the mountains of Colorado, the beaches of California, or the fabulous retreat center in the hills.  They've been dutifully slogging away, probably even doing a little extra to cover for your absence.

While they undoubtedly will want to hear what you learned, too much shared too soon will make them want to smack you down or vaporize you on the spot.

Share appetizers not entrees.  Do a summary report of key takeaways and what they mean for your organization and post it on your internal web site.  When talking individually with a colleague, drop in a casual "Hey I picked up some info for you at the conference that I'm happy to share whenever it works for you."

Over the next few weeks be careful to not start every contribution you make during team meetings with "Well at the conference I just attended."  Link your suggestions to existing strategies.  Connect your comments to colleagues' passions and problems.

Yes, you're fired up and ready to go, but to others you can easily seem like an out-of-control blaze who needs to be reduced to ashes.  So let your new thinking and new ideas be kindling you add to others' flames … and keep stoking the fire so it never dies out.

Leadership Limerick: The Responsibility to Make Things Better

To break things up a bit in 2011, I will be offering a leadership limerick each Monday, highlighting an idea or strategy about effective leadership in limerick form.

Making things better should be our aim
Learning from mistakes, not assigning blame

Suggesting changes big and small
Working daily to improve all

Is that improvement or innovation in name?

At the ASAE Great Ideas Conference on Sunday, the opening keynote speaker Matthew May stressed the importance of designing elegant solutions that solve people's problems.  I asked him later whether he made much of a distinction between innovation and improvement since many people struggle with the difference between those terms.

May replied that assigning labels too often is an unhelpful academic exercise, saying that the process of making things better is what counts.  He asked, is the iPad a major innovation as some claim or just a series of well-designed improvements on previous tablets?  And ultimately, does it matter to the customer, or do they just care if it improves their lives?  He instead drew the link between more around improvements vs. breakthrough or exponential innovations (gamechangers).

His take is interesting and I haven't fully decided to what degree I agree.  I do know that when you talk about innovation with some people, they seem to shut down, where speaking of improvements and making things better seems to keep them engaged and committed.

What do you see as the distinction between improvements and innovations, and when/how do you find it most helpful to make it?

3 Professional Learning Habits You Should Already Have

A participant in a recent planning session I facilitated asked me a great question during the break:  What are a few of the professional development habits that are just a part of your DNA that someone like me might not even know about?

I'm most certainly going to ask that same question of others with whom I interact (and I'm asking you now to share yours in the comments), but offer you today the response that I gave her.

Read ChangeThis Manifestos

Seth Godin originally started this community of regularly published PDF manifestos on a variety of management and leadership topics.  The great publisher, 800-CEO-READ now serves as curator and publisher.  Individuals can propose manifestos they've written and community memebers and site visitors can vote for those they'd like to see published.

 I find a manifesto makes a perfect quick dive into some valuable content, often enticing me to do further research.  The PDFs are well designed in landscape format which means no scrolling (yippee!) on most displays.  Two I recently downloaded to read are:  Disciplined Daydreaming and The Reinvention Imperative.  You can sort for manifestos by topic or author at the site and/or subscribe to receive an email notification when new issues of multiple manifestos are published.

Watch TED Talks, Pop!Tech PopCasts , and MIT World videos

TED and Pop!Tech are perhaps two of the more sophisticated interdisciplinary conferences who capture their presenter's talk in video featuring excellent camera work that makes for great later viewing.  Talks from both typically range from 12-20 minutes and are offered on a myriad of leadership and social change topics.  I sometimes use one of these presentations in workshops I design because the content and quality is so great.  And MIT has been making its courses and lectures available free for some time.  Its site features some real gems from folks who aren't always out on the conference speaking circuit.

I know some people automatically download every talk as it becomes available, but I still like to go shopping for them myself, reading the comments others have posted about the presentations and browsing through the new offerings.  Regardless of what approach you take, you're certain to find content that will be both professionally rewarding and personally fulfilling.  And the videos are the perfect length or a creative break during the day, watching on your iPad at the gym, or being combined into an educational FilmFest for your next cross-country flight.

Try Out New Conferences and Workshops

I have a few favorite restaurants I go to whenever I can, but I also value trying out new places.  I think the same should be true for our professional development: find one or two events where you'll be a "regular", but also throw in a few new opportunities each year to mix it up.  I've already registered for two that fit the latter category for me:

1. a 90-minute program on Key Insights on Creative Execution from the very smart people at The 99 Percent and featuring Scott Belsky author of Making Ideas Happen
2. a full-day training from the creative folks at Grove Consultants exploring content from the book Visual Meetings.

I'm likely to add to that list as the year goes on: attending a TEDx event at some point (I always check to see if one is being offered the same time I am traveling to major cities), a workshop on social justice and social innovation, and some program targeted at writers.

How would you answer this question?  Share your responses in the comments.  I'd love to hear your strategies and resources.

Better Boards: Recalibrating Reflexes

Imagine a professional whose success in her day job depends on an unyielding mastery of the details and a fine-tuned control over the execution of all activities.

Now imagine that successful professional bringing these same strengths—the ones that make her a standout in her field—to the work of being a board member for your organization.

Ugh.

It is incredibly challenging for some volunteers to initially understand how skills they rely on every day in order to be successful can become potential liabilities when serving on a board.

Helping them recalibrate the reflexes that serve them so well professionally should be a discussion item during board orientation, as well as subsequent meetings.  Here's a simple exercise to start that conversation in a non-threatening way.

Ask individuals (or small groups) to generate a list of the 5-10 qualities, skills, and characteristics required to be successful in their respective fields, the ones they most look for in candidates and/or the ones they rely on most for their own achievements.

Now you introduce (or have the same participants generate) a list of the qualities, skills, or characteristics associated with the most effective board members given that the board's work is policy formulation and long-term strategic direction. 

Compare the two lists and discuss which professional capabilities will serve them well on the board, which ones may need to be dialed down in intensity or use, and how that can be done. This is a simple way to begin the process of helping board members recalibrate their professional reflexes to match the demands of their volunteer board member role.

As Gallup has noted in their strengths-based research:  Weakness fixing can prevent failure, but strength building leads to excellence.  We must help board members gain awareness and adopt habits that leverage the professional strengths appropriate to their board job description and manage around their professional capabilities that are less desirable in the work of board governance.

Leadership Limerick: Go Small to Get Big

To break things up a bit in 2011, I will be offering a leadership limerick each Monday, highlighting an idea or strategy about effective leadership in limerick form.

To grow you may first have to shrink
Which is not what you usually think

But if focus has been lost
Lack of clarity is the cost

Regain it & pull back from the brink

"We've spread ourselves to thin and are being pulled in too many directions."  How oten have you heard people describe their organization that way?

Over time, it's not unusual to lose a clear understanding of core purpose and strategic priorities.  New programs and services have been repeatedly added with few efforts being curtailed or cut.  Everyone is so busy doing things, they forget to ask if they are the right things to be doing.  We end up maintaining what is rather than creating what should be.

Few things are more dangerous than to lose sight of your identity and ensuring all your initiatives are aligned with it.  If yours has become increasingly fuzzy, you may need to step back and reconnect with your core purpose and values (individually or organizationally) before creating any new efforts.  Failure to do so is likely to increase the confusion your members or customers may currently be experiencing.

What I Learned at the ASAE Diversity & Inclusion Conference

Here are a few insights I gleaned from attending and presenting at the recent ASAE  Diversity and Inclusion Conference.  Too few attended what was a rich educational experience, perhaps suggesting that we need to better integrate D&I thinking into every existing ASAE effort in addition to having freestanding spotlights.  Limited budgets may drive participants to the more functionally related conferences (Membership and Marketing, etc.) so let's make sure they get a healthy dose of D&I wherever they land.

Be affirmative for diversity when adding a new member to a team.
This statement from Eric Peterson, manager of diversity and inclusion for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) may seem obvious, but have you really operationalized its intent?  When hiring new staff or selecting new volunteers we often fixate on how well their experiences and skills suit the position for which they are being considered.  More attention needs to be paid to what new perspectives and skills … what diversity … they can offer to the specific team they will be joining and the organization overall.  Innovation and fresh thinking comes from diverse perspectives so selecting someone who basically will think like everyone else doesn't raise your team's overall capabilities.

Link diversity to existing organizational strategy to realize greater commitment.
To make progress, you have to demonstrate how more D&I efforts will help achieve your organization's overall goals and objectives.  Don't isolate diversity; integrate it as both a means and an end to your organization's mission, vision, and strategy. 

And even if you have designated staff and volunteers focused on diversity and inclusion efforts, it must be an organizational imperative written into everyone's responsibilities.  D&I practitioners can enable and support others' efforts, not do the organization's D&I work on their own.  Metrics should be established and accountability engaged to ensure all programs, services, and personnel contribute to the organization's D&I results.

How are you influencing the profession or industry you represent to grow your future?
Again, a simple question, but one we don't answer and act on enough.  Too many organizations lament the lack of diversity among the existing ranks of their members and the near-term pool of potential ones.   Doing only that, however, doesn't change your future one iota.  Growing your future is a good metaphor to frame your efforts to make your profession more diverse and inclusive.  You're going to have to plant a lot of seeds.  Till soil in a lot of different places.  Pull many a weed.  Watch some of your efforts die out.  Be careful not to harvest too early.  You get the idea.

Build your capacity for challenging conversations and possible conflict.
Research from the NC State University study on diversity and inclusion in associations (funded by the ASAE Foundation) reveals that associations having a strong D&I emphasis demonstrate a high level of comfort with conflict and change.  Download the Executive Summary PDF.

This is important given that organizational discussions about diversity will engage and unveil individual comfort and experiences with differences.  Discomfort and conflict may result, so success will require a general safe climate among members of your community and a willingness to be transparent and uncomfortable in working through different perceptions and ideas about a topic that for some will be deeply personal.  Jamie Notter's excellent Associations Now article "The Truth as a Leadership Imperative" wold be good reading here.

The truth is that diversity is not a burning platform issue for many associations.
As a few D&I practitioners noted during the conference, many associations likely can chug along for 5, 10, or even 20 years and not find themselves in a complete crisis mode because of a lack of diversity and inclusion.  This means that leaders may not experience a sense of urgency to do much about diversity and inclusion, particularly if (1) there is not a cry for doing so from the membership, (2) efforts might be thought to be divisive or cause some conflict, and (3) success for any commitments is poorly defined.

If that describes your organization's current state, perhaps the metaphor I shared at the conference might assist you in obtaining commitment from your leadership.  Diversity and inclusion efforts can be thought of similar to planning for retirement, both require long-term investments to produce a major payoff at a future date.  Both compete for resources against what can seem like more pressing immediate needs.

Putting off saving for retirement until you are in your 30s or 40s puts you at a significant disadvantage.  You've lost years and years of compounding interest.  Better to save whatever you can every year, no matter how small an amount, to (1) get in the habit of setting aside resources for your future, and (2) making your money work for you over time.  Then constantly recalibrate the amount your are investing and the nature of your portfolio to reflect your changing goals and conditions in the marketplace.

I think the same practices and benefits hold true for D&I efforts.  If we wait until the moment our organizations—or the professions or industries they serve—are in crisis mode, no amount o massive investment will produce the results that we need.  Slow and steady will win the race.