The Hindu Business Line : Plan meetings with a GAP

The other day I was in a meeting with people I had met many times before. During my previous meetings with them, I noticed a few things that worked and a few that did not. This time, I decided to take notes so that I could share them with you this week; as managers we all need to apply this learning to our work life so often.

GAP is a terrific formula to conduct successful meetings. An American NRI told me about it and I will share it with you today. My immediate question when someone asks for a meeting now is: “What’s the GAP?” Setting the GAP, together with marking a clear start and end time is a superb tool for productive meetings.

G - The Goal. When you call a meeting, clearly define the goal or purpose of the meeting. Long inconclusive meetings that reach nowhere leave you feeling rather wasted. All the time you are thinking of the e-mails, cell phone calls and , of course, text messages that are piling up. Is the goal to arrive at a decision, have a review of the past week or to plan a specific project? Put it down in writing so that during the meeting, planning and progress this receives top-of-mind recall.

A - The Agenda. Even if the goal is clear, it is all too easy to speak of this, that and the other and lose focus. Setting a clear, printed agenda and placing one in each attendee’s hand keeps things on track. The chairperson sho uld also see to it that off-agenda topics don’t take over meetings — he should bring people gently but firmly back to the discussion points. During a recent meeting, our COO was often heard saying “This is a process review challenges listing meeting; we will have another one for solutions.” He then drew up a new GAP for the solutions part at meeting two.

P - The Preparation. What does the person planning the meet have to come prepared with? Is there, perhaps, a report he needs to read up or do some number crunching before hand? And could one of the participants do a comparative study? Can someone else check a Web site or two for added information that would help the meeting? Should everyone be brushing up on a specific topic under discussion? For example, during a recent HR issues meeting in our team, we had everyone re-read our HR induction process manual as a reminder. We started our meeting with a show of hands of those who had read it; not when they joined, but in the week before the meeting. Public accountability is great motivation and makes us perform! It sure keeps me on my toes.

Here are three taboos in body language I observed during meetings last week. Do these or similar ones apply to you? Ask a colleague after you read this list to find out. Get conscious of it and chuck the habit early to be more effective:

Eye contact: Do you tend to look away or down mostly, avoiding the speaker’s eyes during a meeting? It shows your disinterest even if that is not your intention.

Knuckle breaking: Do you crack your finger joints unconsciously? It may show you are nervous when you are actually very relaxed and confident.

Pen clicking: Do you tend to click the back of your pen rhythmically? It may send the message that you are fidgety and unfocussed, while the truth maybe that you are super engaged.

Do the following three things, instead, to get the best out of the meeting and also to be someone with whom meeting is a pleasure:

Answer to the point. Long and verbose speech, pauses and not getting to the point soon enough make it hard for the listener’s patience and actually show that you did not do the ‘P’ or preparation part of GAP very well .

Stay on track and avoid getting entangled in too many details of a topic. For example, it is so easy to let technical details take over discussions at a meeting.

If you are 10 people in the meeting, ask yourself — are all concerned interested in this level of discussion or could you hold a one-on-one offline with one or two people which will be far more effective.

Practice active listening. How do you do this? Take notes, nod often, smile and that shows true participation.

Ask intelligent questions or make additional comments where appropriate, by making a note, excusing your interruption and then saying it briefly. An initial practice tip is to write out the point as you take notes, so you say it crispl y and clearly.

Otherwise it will be like the man who was likened to a bull’s head — he had a point here and a point there and a lot of bull in-between.

(The writer is CEO of Global Adjustments, a company that offers integrated India destination services and cross-cultural education delivered through the portal www.globalindian.com)

More Stories on : Management

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
The essence of credible leadership

Plan meetings with a GAP

A platform to air their ideas

Hotel and tourism management course with a global touch

After the interview

Balance goals with imperatives

Top skills for managers