Traditionally, process improvement has come down from management.  It's expected that this is part of management's job, to keep check on the status quo and determine when things aren't working and fix them.   Management assumes that as well, and is always trying to find ways to improve without having impact to others in the organization.  Even if individuals who are "feeling the pain" with the inefficiency are discourgaged to help, and told to "focus on their jobs" and leave it up to management to improve.  Management ends up taking on the entire burden of improving the orgranization on their own.   As a result, because they don't have the bandwidth to improve everything they end up choosing areas of most pain.   The danger is that they aren't looking at the whole picture, and may be treating the symptom and not the cause.   At best, this only helps things temporarily, as the cause is still out there and will eventually hit a new threshold to cause other symptoms.   For those areas that they are able to attend to, it still impacts others in the organization as they have to react to the changes and aren't prepared when they happen.   Also, despite what managers think, they aren't directly "on the battlefield" and don't always understand what is really happening.  Especially, if they don't ask.

I think the model needs to change.  Improvement should be part of every employee's list of responsibilities.   Management's job is to help others understand what goals are most important to the organization and why, and how to measure success of these goals.  If they can do that and people truly comprehend it, then anybody can determine what improvement initiatives need to happen at their particular level.  It's then up to management to make sure that the initiatives are in alignment throughout the organization and depending on the priority and timeframes, make sure that people given ample attention and time to implement them.   Where possible, to reduce the impact to the organization, things should be done parallel to existing processes as part of a "pilot" project and then rolled out when proven successful.  By spreading both the burden and the work across the organization, this will allow more things to happen.  Management is then focused on the "big picture" instead of the "details", which helps reduce the risk that you are treating the problem and not the symptom.  Lastly, by involving people at all levels of the organization, you are assured that the improved solutions are going to work better because the people expected to implement have been involved throughout the process.  Not only do they have more ownership, they are more proactive in their approach.

Improvement isn't (or shouldn't be) just a "management thing", it should be everybody's business! 

We finish this series on ways to have more effective meetings by discussing what should happen at the end of the meeting, as well as what you should do following the meeting.

Here is what should happen at the end of every meeting:

• Running out of time.  No matter how well you plan the agenda and try to stick to it, you are bound to have surprises which cause your meeting to run longer.  Don't just continue the discussion as people might have other plans following your meeting.  As I see it, you have two choices: 1) Ask for permission to extend the meeting for the additional time needed.  If people are ok with that, continue the meeting.  Otherwise, 2) Schedule a follow up meeting with the group at a more convenient time in the next 24 hours while the information is fresh in their memories.
• Thank attendees for their time and contribution.  You would be surprised how this little thing can make a difference in future meetings.  People want to feel that they helped in the meeting and by thanking people publicly it will encourage participation in the future.
• Summarize Action Items.  It is a good idea to summarize the decisions that have been made, who will work on the action items and when you expect to provide more information to everyone.
• Review the Meeting Goals as well as Questions.  Hopefully, if you have been doing everything right, this should just be a confirmation that these things were covered.  After all, this was the whole point of the meeting, right?   If some of the goals or questions were not covered, try to answer offline or schedule a follow-up meeting with the appropriate people.

After the meeting there are a few things that you should do to ensure that the communication and meetings goals have been completed:

• Create Meeting Notes.  Take the notes from your Scribe as well as the Action Items and publish meeting notes.  Send these notes not only to all participants of the meeting but any other stakeholders who were unable to attend the meeting but are interested in the information gathered.
• Check on Action Items. Hold people accountable after the meeting to complete the action items assigned to them.  Once those have been completed, either publish the information and have a follow-up meeting.  The decision will depend on the information and how accepted it will be with the stakeholders.
• Get Feedback on the Meeting from all participants.  Ask questions like: "What did you get out of the meeting?"  "In what ways can I conduct a better meeting in the future?"  "Did you feel you were able to participate in the future?"  "Was there anything that you wanted to say but didn't?"  There may be more questions, but these will not only help you in future meetings but also gives participants one last chance to give their opinions.

I hope that you enjoyed this series and that it will better help you in conducting meetings in the future!

The tone of the meeting can be set in the first five minutes.  Therefore, it is important to do the following things at the beginning of each meeting:

Establish Ground Rules - What are ground rules?  They are a list of things for each participant in the meeting to consider.  These ground rules can be global for every meeting or apply only to a particular meeting.  Here are some global ground rules that we have established for meetings:

• Inward focused not outward – “What can I/we do?” instead of “What can others do?”
• Proactive not reactive – Produce action items, not just talk.
• Participatory – Everybody should be prepared to contribute to the discussion.
• Be prepared – If you didn’t read the materials, please don’t come to the meeting.
• One at a time – Let each person finish this discussion before interrupting.
• Open discussion – Anything can and should be discussed as long as they fit the other ground rules.

Assign a Timer -  It is very easy to run out of time in a meeting unless you have somebody paying attention to it.  I have found this to be difficult for the meeting coordinator to do if they are to focus on the meeting itself.  Therefore, it is a great idea to assign this task to somebody in the group.

Assign a Scribe - Same goes with meeting notes.  We have tried to write everything up on the marker boards, then the meeting coordinate takes notes afterwards.  However, this doesn't always work because the meeting room might have a meeting immediately following.  We have found that assigning a scribe to the meeting ensures that we get accurate and complete notes that the coordinator can get at the end of the meeting.

Review the Agenda -  Though you sent the meeting agenda ahead of time, that doesn't mean that each person had time to review it.   Go through it and make sure that everybody understands what will be discussed.  Allow for clarifying questions.

Introduction of Attendees -  Unless the people in the meeting are very familiar to each other and their particular role in the meeting, it is always good to go around the room and make introductions.  This is especially important when you have outside visitors or are involved in a conference call type of meeting.

Once you get the meeting going, here are some guidelines that you need to consider as you progress through the meeting:

1. Stick to the Agenda - I think it is very important to discipline yourself and the group to follow the agenda.  This will ensure focus and make sure that sufficient time is given to all aspects of the meeting.
2. Establish a Parking Lot -  Though we should stick to the agenda, there are times where things will come up that weren't considered beforehand.  Plus, you don't want to stifle creativity by not allowing for out-of-the-box thinking.  Therefore, it is good practice to have a parking lot.  Document items that come up with the idea that they will be discussed in future meetings or offline with the appropriate individuals. 
3. Check with the Timer - You should establish with the timer a way to communicate to each other how we are managing our time.  This could be in the form of signals or just asking the Timer occassionally.
4. Document Action Items -  The meeting coordinator should put up on the marker board all action items that are coming up as the meeting progresses for all to see.  Don't worry about who and when those will be done yet, we will get to that later.  Just make sure you are showing the participants that some things will be resolved through the discussion.

Next, we will finish this series up by discussing what happens at the end of the meeting and the steps that occur after the meeting.

Before you have a meeting, you need to make sure that you determine if a meeting is the best forum.  Hopefully, the previous posts have given you some background.  In addition, you need to look at the following things:

• Why do we need to meet?   Is there a particular problem we are trying to resolve?  Do we need to choose a solution from several options?  Do we need to make sure that everybody on the team has the same information?   It is important to make sure as the meeting coordinate that you understand these things.  Don't just have a meeting because you can!
• Are the alternative forms of communication that should replace or accompany the meeting? Having a meeting, though valuable, is the most disruptive to people's schedules and workflows.  There are other forms that are less intrusive such as email, voice mail, posting pages on the company's intranet.   If there is a better forum, pick it.
• Who should come to the meeting?  Definitely, those people who need to come up with plans of action and are stakeholder.  All other people may be optional and you should consider the other forms of communication as a way to get their input or provide results of the meeting.  Also, if you are trying to come to a consensus for a decision, a reminder that the more people involved the harder it is to gain that consensus.  Try to limit the participants where making sure that others are included through activities and communication outside of the meeting.

Now that you have decided to have a meeting, it is best to make sure you are well prepared for it.  We have all been to meetings that have been poorly planned and done at the last minute.  Most of the meetings have been nightmares.  Don't let that happen to you.  Here are the steps:

Define the goals of the meeting.  "What do we want to accomplish by the end of the meeting?" Keep the goals to a few, no more than three, one or two is best.  This will set the general flow of the meeting to keep things focused.

Determine the stakeholders.  "Who are the people I need there to best accomplish the goals?"  Don't have a meeting without those people if possible!  If for some reason, a stakeholder cannot attend, try to have a "proxy stakeholder" come in their place.  Make sure that this proxy reflects the opinions of the true stakeholder.

Determine the timing of the meeting.  "Is this the right time to have the meeting?"  "How long should we take?"  Timing is everything.  If you feel that there is not enough infomation needed to accomplish the goals, WAIT to have the meeting until you and others are ready.  Otherwise, you are wasting your time and others!   Also, don't meet longer than necessary.  Too often, people just block out an hour for a meeting that should only take 15 minutes.  What happens?  It becomes natural that people end up spending the hour JUST because it is there.   It is much better to underallocate time, and have a followup meeting if necessary than overallocate.  Keep this in mind!

Create a meeting Agenda.  This really doesn't take a lot of time but is such a valuable tool.  The Agenda should contain the following items:

• Name of Meeting
• Meeting Organizer
• Date, Time, Place
• Attendees
• Purpose of the Meeting
• Goals of the Meeting
• Introduction Time
• Breakdown of Objectives with Description, Owner/Presenter, Time Allocation
• Q&A Time
• Action Items Form with Description, Owner, Date to Complete
• Place for Notes

Send a meeting invitation.  Most likely by email and integrated with a scheduling program.  This email should have the agenda attached as well as have the name of the meeting in the Subject Line and the Date, Time, Place and Purpose of the meeting in the body.  You should also ask people to RSVP by a certain date/time prior to the meeting.  Make sure that you hear back at least from stakeholders.

Next time, what to do at the start of the meeting... 

Over the next few days, I am going to talk about something we are all familiar with - MEETINGS!   Whether or like them or not, they are a part of your work life.   Most of the information discussed in this series aren't new to many of you.  If nothing else, this will be a refresher course for you.   The series will focus on the role of meeting organizer, though some of you will learn some things regardless if you are in that role.  So, here we go....

Why do people meet?   I think there are several reasons why meetings are necessary:

• Social gathering - If you are going to work as a team, you must get to know your teammates.  Meetings provide that face-to-face interaction that is important in any kind of relationship.
  
• Collaborative - If the purpose of the meeting is to brainstorm, there is no other vehicle of communication that fosters collaboration like meetings.   Bringing people together with various perspectives, working through the issues and coming to a better solution than any one individual can come up with.
  
• Change in Routine - Meetings can be a distraction - positive or negative.  A positive aspect is that it forces you to break up your routine.  You might find that the break gives you a fresh perspective just by having the diversion.
  
• Remove roadblocks - This is probably the most important reason to have meetings, in order to take care of the things that are getting in our way.  Finding solutions to problems and issues that are plaguing us.
  
• Be informed - Sometimes it is good to have a meeting just to make sure that everybody is on the same page by being well informed.   The information provided may help each person in ways that is not expected.

It seems that the word "passion" has come up a lot in my reading lately around having the right people in your organization.   People have used "passion" to describe me based on my random thoughts on this blog.  People that I work with, work for or have worked with have used the word to describe me at times.   I thought I knew what passion was, but learned more when I looked up the term (using Wiktionary):

passion - 1. great emotion; 2. fervor and determination

Ok, this seems to sound a little like me and is definitely the kind of person that I would want to work with in any organization.   As long as the great emotion is used in a positive and contributing way (I have had plenty that have great emotion or should I say drama with little substance).   Fervor and determination...hmmm...that sounds interesting, let me look up the definition for those words:

fervor - 1. An intense, heated emotion; 2. enthusiasm for some cause

determination - 1. Direction or tendency to a certain end; implusion; 2. The quality of mind which reaches definite conclusions; 3. That which is determined upon; result of deliberation; purpose; conclusion formed; fixed resolution.

Intensity, cause, implusion, quality of mind, purpose, and having a fixed resolution -- yep, that sounds like me and those kind of people who I most like to work with.  It also sounds like the scenario for the perfect company that I would like to be a part of.

I think of the movie "Joe vs. the Volcano".  It starred Tom Hanks and was a bad movie overall.  But there was this one scene that has forever stuck in my mind.  At the start of the movie, Tom's character is going to work and walking up to this mammoth building along with other people.  He and the rest of the employees look almost like robots - emotionless, cold, distant, and lifeless.   As he walks into the building, it's like one big cube farm (very Dilbert-like), so quiet that you can hear the buzz of the florescent lights, so dark and dismal, and everybody just goes to their areas and sits down and starts their work.  And my thought was....I never want to work for a place like this and become one of those "robots".  The entire organization had no "passion" whatsoever!   You could feel the life draining as each painful minute passed.

Though that was the extreme scenario, I have seen organizations that have no life in them.  People just come into work to do their mandatory 40-some hours each week to pick up their paycheck.  They drag themselves into work, and can't wait until the clock hits quitting time.   Their work life (and perhaps their entire life) has NO meaning, NO purpose, NO emotion, fervor or determination.   They have nothing to look forward to, and nothing to feel rewarded for.   I think it's an epidemic that continues to plague corporate America.

How do we turn it around?  It starts with one person, and this person doesn't necessary need to be the CEO.  They begin to ask questions about their role in the company and what the company is all about.  They encourage others to get involved.  It becomes a whole new viral epidemic.  People then want to know what the future of the company is, its mission and vision, to determine the organization's cause.  Then, if allowed by management, they want to be active and participate in that cause (if that's what they believe in).  Those that didn't fit into the cause, are probably not the right people to work for the organization.  You let them go, and replace them with others that want to work the cause.  Now everybody has meaning, purpose, emotion fervor and determination.  They look forward each day to contributing towards the organization's success and they receive tangible rewards for their efforts!

It starts with you.  Where is your passion?  Can you use your passion in your current role within your current organization.  If not, look for other places where you can.  If there still is a potential fit with the organization, start getting others involved and triggering their passion.  Sometimes passion has always been there, but never triggered.  Other times, passion was there but need to be re-ignited. Find it! Use It! Help others do the same!  If you find that these things don't renew your passion, then you seriously need to consider finding another organization that will. 

Unless you like to be a robot...

What does it mean to be perfect or to obtain perfection?   Some may say that to be perfect is to not have any flaws.  Others may say not to make any mistakes.   Still others may say that there is no such thing in the world as perfection.

Can one truly reach perfection? It depends on the definition.   In an organization, people expect perfection - customers, vendors, managers, and those good-ol-fashion perfectionists out there.  It's demanded from us.  But can we deliver on those demands? 

In the agile software development world, there's a motto called "Do the simplest thing that could possible work."  For them, that is their definition until they receive feedback through frequest delivery that more is needed.  For those that are in Quality Assurance, usually the definition of perfection are to catch critical bugs that we impact the general operation of the solution or possibly corrupt the underlying data.  For other bugs, they determine if the workaround is acceptable.  For cosmetic issues such as mispellings and inconsistences of terminology, those things can be fixed when time is available.  For project managers, their idea of perfection is to remove any bottlenecks keeping the team from delivering something of value to end customers.  Therefore, there are many compromises between the development team, the end customer and other stakeholders of what the "acceptance criteria" is for the project.

Bottom line is that in business, in our departments, on our teams, with our products and services -- we must all define and agree on what perfection is.   Once we define that, we need to make sure that the processes and end deliverables reflect that.  How?  By measuring our quality and constantly tracking and balancing our "perfection" against that which is achievable.  Eventually, the definition of perfection will take a life of its own, one that is aligned to the expectations of customers, vendors, managers, and perhaps even those perfectionists out there.

What is my personal definition of perfection?  Well, it's simple actually.   Perfection to me is to provide the very best value that is possible given the abilities and constraints that are put upon the team.  What are the measures?  Maximizing our abilities while minimizing our constraints. This would be measuring things such as skills, time, money, risk, customer acceptance, stability, technical challenges, etc. 

Hopefully, that's good enough!

• Fact:  As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an "uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.  Lesson:   People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of each other. 
• Fact:  When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it. Lesson:  If we have as much sense as a goose, we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others. 
• Fact:  When the lead bird tires, it rotates back into the formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it.  Lesson:  It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each other's skills, capabilities, and unique arrangements of gifts, talents, or resources. 
• Fact:  The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.  Lesson:  We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one's heart or core values and to encourage the heart and core values of others) is the quality of honking we seek. 
• Fact:  When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.  Lesson:  If we have as much sense of geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we're strong.  

You hear both of these terms thrown around by management, many times interchangably usually around productivity - "You must be more efficient!"  "Can you be more effective in your work?"  However, I believe there is a big difference between these two words and even more so, you must have both in order to maximize productivity.

Let's go to the definitions:

Efficient
1 : being or involving the immediate agent in producing an effect
2 : productive without waste

Effective
1 : producing a decided, decisive, or desired effect
2 : ready for service or action

Agent
1 : one that acts or exerts power
2 : something that produces or is capable of producing an effect
3 : a means or instrument by which a guiding intelligence achieves a result

EFFICIENT suggests an acting or a potential for action or use in such a way as to avoid loss or waste of energy in effecting, producing, or functioning.  In other words, getting to the information quickly to act upon.

EFFECTIVE stresses the actual production to produce an effect. Now that you have the information, getting the task done with the results you are desiring.

I have seen individuals that are highly organized and feel that they can get the information quickly but don't ever get things done (or at least those things that matter). 

On the other hand, I have seen people get things done but they take way too much time due to lack of organization.  

I think there are also those that don't take the least path of resistence and focus on just enough information to get the results.  They may be organized, and eventually get to results, but they get buried in the details and it takes too long. 

So, here's how I see it -- Productivity = Efficient + Effective.

Of course, in the business world, it is all about winning.  However, many company don't play the game correctly in order to win.

You've witness this scenario:  Two teams are playing in a basketball game.  One team is playing great and has a significant lead in the first half of the game.  In the second half, you sense that something is different about how the team plays.  Instead of increasing their lead, they begin to lose their lead and eventually lose the game.  What happened during halftime?

Here's what happened: the team changed their focus from "playing to win" to "playing not to lose".  Instead of being aggressive and play their very best as a team to win the game at all costs, they try to protect their lead by being conservative and not taking risks.   As a result, the opposing team since they are already behind have nothing to lose but take risks and be aggressive.  Thus, the winning team changes hands.

Now, apply this to business.  Take a company like IBM.  The dominant company of the 60's and 70's became so big that they didn't task enough risks and be aggressive enough as the Personal Computer market came around in the 80's.  As a result, they lost out to companies such as Dell, Apple and Microsoft who had nothing to lose and everything to gain, took risks and were very aggressive.  Even for awhile Apple begin to play not to lose until they have recently rebounded with the iPod in the last few years.  Dell and Microsoft, on the other hand, have to continually reinvent themselves in order to play to win.

Companies that are considered leaders and have been around for awhile will continually be challenged by smaller, more aggressive competitors looking for any way to get to the top.  They are hungry and will take any kind of risks to get there.   They are truly playing to win and in many cases don't have anything to lose! If you aren't playing to win like these competitors, you may find yourself quickly out of the leadership position and struggling to keep up with the new leaders.   You have to always keep two steps ahead of them, which requires you the need to stay on your goals and remained focused on what is important.   You have to become an agile organization that is able to revise their goals and execution strategy when the outside world changes the definition of what is important.

So...is your company playing to win or playing not to lose?