2DaysaMonth

Do You Have The Correct Meeting Etiquette?

With more and more of us working from home, meeting management etiquette is more important than ever. The following are simple guidelines that will eliminate a lot of frustration for your participants:

1. Keep your calendar up to date, including personal appointments: Few things are more frustrating for someone trying to coordinate multiple schedules than to have someone respond "sorry, I'm not available at that time." Even if you have to step out to pick your car up from the shop or take your child to an appointment, block out your calendar as a courtesy to others.

2. Respect peoples' calendars: Make every attempt to only book meetings when all participants are showing as "available" in their calendars. If you must book a time when someone is showing "unavailable," have the courtesy to speak to them first. Most people are happy to work with you ahead of time to find a time that works for everyone.

3. Book a minimum of 24 hours in advance: Most people plan out their day first thing in the morning. Even if they look "available," chances are they have work they need to complete. If you suddenly book 30 minutes in their day, chances are you will set them back in terms of what then planned to accomplish.

4. Include an agenda within your meeting invitation: Do not assume that people can read your mind or infer from the title what the meeting is about. Your agenda should be detailed enough to allow people to prepare ahead of time.

5. Provide reading material with your invitation: Most online meetings involve some sort of material that you will go through. You may not have everything available when you book the meeting (See 3.). But make sure you update your meeting invitation with a link or an attachment well in advance of the actual meeting.

6. Explain each change to your meeting within the invitation: Often you will have to reschedule a meeting, change details such as the agenda or attendees, add links or attachments, etc. Each time you do this all your recipients may receive a new meeting request. Rather than make everyone guess as to what's changed, include a brief note that explains.

Following these guidelines your meeting invitations should end up looking something like this:

(20230725) Added a meeting room for those who will be onsite
(20230724) Added links to the deck that we will go through
(20230721) Moved the meeting from Monday to Wednesday due to schedule conflicts
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Purpose: To review the options identified, as well as the pros and cons for each. And make a decision on how to proceed.

Meetings materials will be provided in advance of the meeting.

Please confirm that you are available at this time.

Thank you,
Kevin
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Techniques like this can make a world of difference when managing an underperforming team. For more information check out our site

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Management Fundamentals Part 7: Weekly Plans

The work has been assigned, everyone agrees on what they can deliver, potential excuses (Risks & Issues) have mitigation strategies in place, now it’s time to deliver.

There are many planning tools available today. But unless you’re scheduling widgets in a factory, I like to utilize what most people are already comfortable with: a weekly planner. This could be as low-tech as a whiteboard with sticky notes (my preference). Or, more practical in remote or hybrid environments, an online calendar such as Outlook.

Keeping with the theme of giving your team the freedom to manage their own workload, ask each of them to plan their following week using whatever calendar they choose. Then have them share it with you for review each Friday. If it’s a whiteboard they can send you a picture. If it’s their desktop calendar they can send you a screenshot.

Every Friday afternoon meet 1:1 with each of them to have them present their weekly plan to you. Be sure it includes the 2 - 3 deliverables or milestones they previously identified. Their plan should have time blocked out to complete tasks. Make sure it includes all of their other commitments (training session, personal appointments, booked or anticipated meetings). Finally ask them about any Risks or Issues they see and how you can support them in their mitigation strategies.

You may ask them why they feel a certain task will take them the time they estimate. This discussion is important to ensure both of you are on the same page. For example, they may have 3 hours blocked out to “Complete deck for meeting.” After some discussion you may both agree that if they repurpose a deck from another meeting it should only take an hour.

What is important is that the two of you come out of these planning review sessions with agreement that your employee is “planning for success.” If there are Risks or Issues looming then it is best to discuss and mitigate these in advance.

Thank them for a successful week, ask about any plans they may have for the weekend, and look forward to the week ahead.

“A goal without a plan is just a wish.” ~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“A goal without a plan is an excuse waiting to happen.” ~KF

Until next time…

Respectfully yours,

Kevin

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