Do Business Well

To increase the effectiveness of your presentation, allow your audience to get involved: to question, clarify, or to redirect what you are saying. You can allow questions before, during, or after your presentation; each time has certain advantages.

Taking Questions at the Beginnings

This assumes your audience knows a good deal about your subject and has questions before you begin. By getting these questions out ahead of time, you get an idea of what people want to know and can reassure them that their questions will be answered during your presentation. It allows you to tailor your material to the needs of a particular group. Continue Reading »

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Here’s what to keep in mind when preparing the visual part of your presentation:

1. Everyone in the group should be able to see and read the visuals easily. Think about the size of the group. The number of people will determine the technology you should use.
2. You want to be able to keep a tight focus on what is presented when. You don’t want to display too much information at any one time. Keep to three or four main ideas on each sheet. You don’t want your audience to get confused or overloaded.

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Going to a workshop may seem attractive. Yes, you can pick up some skills. But it’s difficult to transfer these skills to your work environment. The so-called university model of training (sending employees to outside educational institutions) has proven relatively ineffective. On the average, you can expect to see the transfer of no more than 5 to 20 percent of the desired skills two years after the training program. Continue Reading »

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Most of the suggestions offered to the manager/chairperson are aplicable to you as a group member. You just can’t be as directive.

1. First, be a good group member. One positive, helpful person in a meeting can do a lot of good. You can offer process suggestions to your group like “Why don’t we figure out how we are going to deal with this issue before we rush off in different directions?”

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It’s almost Meeting Failure-Proof

Keep in mind that most meetings aren’t very effective as they are now run. When you get a chance to facilitate or record, it will be because your group has agreed that it is worth trying something new. You are probably going to look good no matter what you do. The mere presence of a facilitator, recorder, and group memory will do wonders. Even if you think you have done a lousy job, your group may well be impressed just because it will all be so new. Explain that you are learning and will make mistakes. Ask people to help you stay in your role and remain neutral. You are there to help them. It’s their meeting and they share the responsibility for making it a success. Continue Reading »

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No matter how many books you read, how many training programs you attend, or how many meetings you run, you can always improve your facilitating and recording skills. Professionals in any field know this. Famous athletes or performers are constantly experimenting, trying new techniques, striving for perfection which they know, no matter how hard they work, no one can attain. Even if you’ve been fortunate enough to receive professional facilitation training, if you want to become a topnotch facilitator or recorder, you will have to continue learning by yourself. Continue Reading »

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A meeting is as good as its chairperson. Taking the lead as chairperson calls for all the leadership skills you can muster. You have to act as guide, facilitator and interpreter, all at the same time and without getting your feathers ruffled.

Here is some useful advice:

Prepare a specialised agenda

Make sure that the secretary prepares a special version of the agenda for you during the last few days before the meeting. This should have more information than the ordinary agenda provides.

Spaces on the right-hand side of the paper allow you to add your own written remarks as the meeting proceeds. Make sure that your secretary has given you all the necessary documents that you may need to refer to during the meeting. Continue Reading »

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At most meetings you will be a participant rather than an official. How can you be a more effective contributor? Here are eight basic techniques:

1. Prepare yourself

Diarise the date, time and venue. Arrive for the meeting in time to choose a power seat — right next to or opposite the chairperson. In this way you will have direct eye contact with all the members.

Prepare thoroughly for your meetings by taking time to read the relevant documentation, the agenda and the pre-planner.

Do background research so that you can make points and ask questions. Anticipate likely questions. Be aware of the personality types of other participants. Continue Reading »

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An increasing number of CEOs are relying on teams of subordinates to share corporate decision making, according to a Conference Board study. The report finds a trend in “the CEO’s utter dependence on a strong executive group. It is underscored by the increasing delegation of authority and a new emphasis on leadership rather than traditional professional management.”

For middle managers, this change is significant. Major shifts that start at the top filter down, and the manager who can adapt early will be in a good position when the trend becomes widespread. Even if participative management is not yet evident in your company, there are good reasons to try this management style in your work group: Continue Reading »

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Managers today must be forward-looking, but there’s a danger that a work group’s past can gradually be eroded in the process. Your department’s past is important for a number of practical reasons:

It provides a sense of stability and perspective that makes people envision a good career future.

It is the foundation of a sense of group identity—a cohesiveness of people working toward common goals. Continue Reading »

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