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[veni vidi vici]

.

 

[bridhb]

its a good venue for that, I hope it happens

i kick myself every so often for not going to a moto gp race when they had one there

Rosi vs Stoner!

 

[veni vidi vici]

.

 

[warbird]

Rosi vs Stoner!

Great cork screw footage...

 

[Chris in Santa Cruz CA]

Rosi vs Stoner!

The doctor. What crazy stuff! Total madmen.

 

[Snaggletooth]

The doctor. What crazy stuff! Total madmen.

on the ragged edge of controlle

 

[Ventucky Red]

Committees are where good ideas go to die.

Or, where we go to have a meeting, on the meeting, about the meeting, for the meeting were about to have.

 

[Chris in Santa Cruz CA]

Or, where we go to have a meeting, on the meeting, about the meeting, for the meeting were about to have.

some people think talking is doing

 

[Schakel]

Teabagging on a 49er

 

[Point Break]

some people think talking is doing

I think I’ve mentioned it before but when I promoted to an executive position I was stunned at the number of meetings on my calendar. My predecessor was apparently a bit of a “control leader”. I went to the first regular morning meeting on my calendar and sat quietly stunned at the dysfunctional meandering and showboating for several hours. I never spoke a word. Went back to my office and wrote a new set of meeting guidelines. All meetings would start and end on time. All meetings would have an agenda and attached agenda item transmittals with subject and expected outcome/decision needed. Off agenda items would be rare and added to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting along with a verbal explanation of the reason it needed to be added and the requested outcome. All staff were to consider if it was an “information” item whether it could be handled with an email.

Then I took myself off nearly half of the meetings I was scheduled for. I asked my senior staff to advise me if there was a particular meeting I needed to attend to provide background or direction on an anticipated subject. It took a while….occasionally I’d drop in a meeting to show interest and check on the meeting dynamics. One of my senior staff was technically a wizard but did not have strong facilitation skills. We worked on that and he improved considerably. The changes were almost universally embraced by the majority of meeting weary staff. Only the “look at me I’m so smart and cool” people felt “stifled”.

Don’t even get me started on email cc’s.

 

[chinabald]

some people think talking is doing

One of my favorite lines about meetings

After all was said and done. More was said then done

 

[Trovão]

some people think talking is doing

usually people with a leftist inclination...

 

[tizak]

Company I worked for years ago was nearly dead in the water due to meeting-itis. Fortunately, a couple of us were able to get funding to hire a consulting team to come in and review our meeting needs and processes. Also, fortunately, the consulting team did a whiz bang job of defining, streamlining and minimizing our over-meeting disease. Key points were:

- Meetings were run by a management facilitator not directly involved with the meeting's subject.
- Agendas and reporting assignments or action items were published 3 days in advance.
- Key questions to be answered and who would be answering were defined in the agenda.
- Everyone had a responsibility to speak either as assigned or in general discussion of points presented.
- General discussion of related but non-agendized points was limited to 15 minutes per item at the end of the meeting as time allowed. If something major surfaced or time ran out and no more time was available following the meeting, a new meeting would be immediately scheduled.
- Start time was sacrosanct - you'll not be admitted if you're late. Tardies became part of the performance review process and you could be removed from your position if excessive.
- Meetings were 90 minutes max.
- Facilitator kept official notes on a whiteboard that were defined and reviewed by all attendees as meetings unfolded.
- When a loggerhead was reached the facilitator had the power to end the debate after a few minutes of no progress and table the discussion for later resolution (if at all).

As Draconian as it may sound this system worked well - I think the entire staff was very frustrated and burned out on meetings and work in general prior to this. It helped that the new arrangement was presented to all involved in a clear and concise manner with an emphasis on "this is being put in place to help all of us". It wasn't used as a club. We became much more effective with new products hitting their release dates more accurately. Attitudes improved too.

 

[Trovão]

Company I worked for years ago was nearly dead in the water due to meeting-itis. Fortunately, a couple of us were able to get funding to hire a consulting team to come in and review our meeting needs and processes. Also, fortunately, the consulting team did a whiz bang job of defining, streamlining and minimizing our over-meeting disease. Key points were:

- Meetings were run by a management facilitator not directly involved with the meeting's subject.
- Agendas and reporting assignments or action items were published 3 days in advance.
- Key questions to be answered and who would be answering were defined in the agenda.
- Everyone had a responsibility to speak either as assigned or in general discussion of points presented.
- General discussion of related but non-agendized points was limited to 15 minutes per item at the end of the meeting as time allowed. If something major surfaced or time ran out and no more time was available following the meeting, a new meeting would be immediately scheduled.
- Start time was sacrosanct - you'll not be admitted if you're late. Tardies became part of the performance review process and you could be removed from your position if excessive.
- Meetings were 90 minutes max.
- Facilitator kept official notes on a whiteboard that were defined and reviewed by all attendees as meetings unfolded.
- When a loggerhead was reached the facilitator had the power to end the debate after a few minutes of no progress and table the discussion for later resolution (if at all).

As Draconian as it may sound this system worked well - I think the entire staff was very frustrated and burned out on meetings and work in general prior to this. It helped that the new arrangement was presented to all involved in a clear and concise manner with an emphasis on "this is being put in place to help all of us". It wasn't used as a club. We became much more effective with new products hitting their release dates more accurately. Attitudes improved too.

having no chairs or settees in the meeting room helps keep them pretty short...

 

[MauiPunter]

having no chairs or settees in the meeting room helps keep them pretty short...

We have "Stand Up" meetings. 30min and done.

 

[veni vidi vici]

.

 

[SloopJonB]

I spent 30 years in management and the only worthwhile meetings I ever attended were during major projects where the department heads had to meet to keep the changes coordinated and on track.

All the others were a waste of human energy.

 

[Go Left]

Company I worked for years ago was nearly dead in the water due to meeting-itis. Fortunately, a couple of us were able to get funding to hire a consulting team to come in and review our meeting needs and processes. Also, fortunately, the consulting team did a whiz bang job of defining, streamlining and minimizing our over-meeting disease. Key points were:

- Meetings were run by a management facilitator not directly involved with the meeting's subject.
- Agendas and reporting assignments or action items were published 3 days in advance.
- Key questions to be answered and who would be answering were defined in the agenda.
- Everyone had a responsibility to speak either as assigned or in general discussion of points presented.
- General discussion of related but non-agendized points was limited to 15 minutes per item at the end of the meeting as time allowed. If something major surfaced or time ran out and no more time was available following the meeting, a new meeting would be immediately scheduled.
- Start time was sacrosanct - you'll not be admitted if you're late. Tardies became part of the performance review process and you could be removed from your position if excessive.
- Meetings were 90 minutes max.
- Facilitator kept official notes on a whiteboard that were defined and reviewed by all attendees as meetings unfolded.
- When a loggerhead was reached the facilitator had the power to end the debate after a few minutes of no progress and table the discussion for later resolution (if at all).

As Draconian as it may sound this system worked well - I think the entire staff was very frustrated and burned out on meetings and work in general prior to this. It helped that the new arrangement was presented to all involved in a clear and concise manner with an emphasis on "this is being put in place to help all of us". It wasn't used as a club. We became much more effective with new products hitting their release dates more accurately. Attitudes improved too.

All sounds good, except change 90 minutes to 60.

And closure of each agenda item sequentially, with decision, action and responsibilities and due date noted.

 

[hobot]

random pics......

 

[hobot]

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