In Part 1 of this two part series on meaningful meetings I covered the importance of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now in Part 2 I will introduce the concept of developing a creative scoreboard to help meetings stay focused on their most important 1-2 goals. (Numbering system continues from Part 1.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4)<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Develop a Creative Scoreboard<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Playing tennis has always been my favourite sport, until some health and age realities caught up with me along with the loving persuasion of my wife, after an injury on court. Now it\u2019s just watching! But I noticed a difference between just having a hit and playing a game. Scoring entices a stronger commitment level making the game somehow more exciting and engaging. People play the game differently when someone is keeping score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The same applies in the workplace. Having a scoreboard lets your team know whether they are winning or not. Are they on track to achieve the desired result? As Chris McChesney, Sean Covey and Jim Huling point out in their book The 4 Disciplines of Execution, \u201cThe scoreboard is for the whole team. To drive execution you need a players\u2019 scoreboard that has a few simple graphs on it indicating: Here\u2019s where we need to be and here\u2019s where we are right now. In five seconds or less, anyone can determine whether we are winning or losing.\u201d Remember this scoreboard is for the team members, not just the team leader \u2013 its primary purpose is to serve (pardon the tennis pun) as an external motivator for the team to succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To achieve this McChesney, Covey and Huling state the scoreboard should:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having a creative scoreboard is particularly helpful for the weekly tactical and the monthly strategic meetings, but different scoreboards will be needed for each. The examples in the above paragraph are appropriate for the weekly tactical. However, because the monthly strategic meeting is issue-specific, the scoreboard needs to reflect those 1-2 issues the meeting will be addressing. When those issues are known in advance (which is usually the case), a scoreboard needs to be prepared beforehand for each one, identifying the specific issue, relevant metrics and related goal(s). The work of the meeting then in analysing the issue(s) will include the identification and analysis of both lead and lag measures and making appropriate decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to the specific 1-2 issues the monthly strategic meeting needs to consider, the scoreboard should also include an update on lag measures for standard operational objectives such as staff turnover, financial status, sales and any other on-going key metric relevant to the particular organization and its sector\/industry. Similarly, a report on the latest metrics for the same operational objectives would be helpful to have available for the Quarterly Off-Site Review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Conclusion<\/strong> \n
<\/li>\n\n\n\n
<\/li>\n\n\n\n
<\/li>\n\n\n\n
In most organizations managers and executives spend more time in meetings than in any other single business activity (perhaps apart from emails!). Hence making meetings meaningful and productive is essential for businesses to be successful. If you want to explore this topic further I strongly recommend Death by Meeting<\/em>. You are also welcome to contact me for further support. I\u2019m certainly experienced in having my share of a few boring and less than meaningful meetings in my time. In fact in my past I\u2019m sure I\u2019ve been responsible for causing a few myself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n