You’ll see things with a fresh perspective. Through the eyes of a brave black woman. The first black and First Lady of the USA (2009 – 2017), married to the 44th and first black President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.
You’ll learn about her journey, her family, her history, her passions, her love, her race, her nation, her boldness, her leadership, her service, her influence, her contribution, her perseverance, her sacrifices, and so much more.
With simple, yet intimate words, you’ll also see through her humanity..How the decisions of her life, and roles through every stage of life, all leading up to the writing of her book “Becoming”; including the simple and complex details became pivotal to evolving into who she was and is even today.
In reading this book, you’ll most likely catch a glimpse of yourself. Your own story.
One that matters so much and speaks of how incredibly powerful, strong, unique and brilliant we all are as women (and men) and how we can attain any height or achieve any feat we aspire to reach.
You’ll certainly have much to think about.
Without giving much away, you should go get the book “Becoming”, a #memoir by the #iconic and global Leader, Michelle Obama.
Is a cringe your reaction to a scheduled meeting? If ‘Yes’, then you’ve certainly grown accustomed to attending boring, stressful and unproductive meetings and you undoubtedly don’t look forward to attending another.
If ‘No’, then some of the points we will highlight below will resonate with you as a result of your experience and attendance of great and productive meetings.
With the current world changes and the adoption of digital work places, it is now more important than ever to have effective and productive meetings.
Meetings don’t have to be unproductive and a big waste of time, resources, conversations and Energy. Meetings can indeed be an enjoyable experience. One that yield results over promises.
This goes beyond just physical meetings or board room meeting, but includes virtual and remote assemblies.
WHAT MAKES MEETINGS PRODUCTIVE?
Here are a few pointers towards productive meetings.
Have an Agenda and End Goal: The most effective meetings are those with a definite plan from the initiator. This is important because a meeting without an agenda would certainly be a waste of time. This helps shape conversations and gives room for suggestions from team members to share ideas on how to reach the end goal, project or task ahead.
Ensure The Resources Required for the Meeting Are Available: Think ahead of the meeting and what would be required to make it a success. Do you need presentation slides, projectors, microphones or an electric source to power your gadgets? Do you need a meeting place? A physical meeting room or a virtual workplace or a call app installed or an Internet source?
Do you need the services of a Food vendor or Pastry Chef for your meeting? Think of all these things ahead of time and make intentional effort to identify those required to execute successfully, especially your first meeting.
Send Out Notifications On Time and Be On Time: Early notifications help people decide if they can make a meeting or not and if they will be prompt. Emergency meetings are never the best. For crucial and longer meeting, a 48hrs notice is the least time to send out invites to all parties involved.
Never go to a meeting late.Be prompt and on time, at least 15 minutes before your scheduled appointment. It shows you both value the time of the other person. Also, if you’ve initiated a meeting, be ready to receive or meet the invitees. Never let them meet you in a state of disorder. It comes off as unprofessional.
Create Room For Everyone or Key Individuals To Speak: As much as meetings can sometimes get heating with strong opinions. It is important to give room for everyone to speak, share their opinion or give valuable feedback. It shows that you respect the opinion of others, even if you may not agree with their line of thought for that specific topic of focus at the meeting.
It is also important to know when to pick up cues to speak. This involves some discretion and emotional intelligence, and it should be done with thoughtfulness, precision, assertiveness and possibly proffered resolutions. It is rude to hijack a conversation in any meeting. Be polite by being considerate about the time and opinion of others in attendance.
Have a Defined Time Span for The Meeting: Don’t schedule a meeting for one (1) hour and then extend it by half an hour. It shows disregard for the people you’ve called for a meeting. Stick to the plan and if you must extend the time, be sure to seek the consent of those at the meeting. Consent for extra time should however not become a habit.
It only portrays that one is unprincipled and undisciplined. People respect those who respect their time. A definite time span also helps all parties involved to walk through their diverse schedules for the day without unnecessary disruptions of their personal plans.
Outline Action Steps to be Taken from The Meeting: A short recap of the meeting with assigned tasks and action items is so important. One needs to identify who is responsible for what (the drivers and enablers), the timeline for delivery, and possibly the resources required to make the execution of all assigned tasks easy and effective. An email note or the minutes of the meeting should be circled back at least in 48 hours, to keep everyone informed and on track.
Follow Up with Tasks: It is important to send reminders or follow up with key leads on tasks assigned. A leadership flow approach can work effectively, by following up with team leads or key drivers to get the work done.
Reconvene a Follow-up Meeting to Finalize or Discuss The End Results: Sometimes, one meeting is sufficient to get some tasks done. But in most cases, you may need a few more to tidy up details regarding an end goal or a project. In such meetings, try to identify key things achieved, improvement opportunities and what needs to be finalized.
At this stage, it is important to try not to make additional meetings a period to pull down existing plans already in motion. This can be mentally and emotionally draining for project managers and key drivers. Some resources may also be wasted in the process. Instead, think of ways to curtail changes already in motion. Only adapt new plans that will enhance the execution process and the success of a task or end goal.
Finally, as much as we know that meetings are often for serious business, try to make them more fun and less tense. Introducing ice-breakers and sometimes small bites or food or tea breaks for longer assemblies or conferences can make meeting more relaxing and productive. This in the long run, minimizes valid distractions like feeling hungry or the need to use the restroom or make a call.
I hope you found this article to be insightful and helpful. Thank you for reading.
Article by Opeolu Adeyemi. Corporate Communications and Public Relations Consultant Founder, Brave Publicity Ink!
Leadership can be a very dicey path and can sometimes be very complex. With a lot of believe in the many myths and assumptions of leadership.It is certainly clear that this remains an important discuss and area of focus for all people.
John C. Maxwell, a leadership expert, speaker, Coach, Author and Influencer, with over 4 decades of experience in leadership development and growth; he shares some great insight in his book, “The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership”.
This revised and updated version shows a depth of knowledge from one who has walked the talk, conversed with a wide array and network of diverse leaders across industries globally. Training, coaching, mentoring and grooming many leaders via his books and leadership conferences.
The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership is a great read, if you’re looking to improve on your leadership competency, impact and success.
The great news is, this book is for all people, not just positional or industry leaders. Certainly a great recommendation for all who desire to have a great leadership journey and a sustainable and impact full legacy.
Effective Management is an integral part of any successful career. Whether as Top Management, Middle Management, Grass-root Leaders or a member of a Bigger Team.
One cannot hope to function effectively as an individual or professional at any level of leadership without the knowledge of effective management of time, resources, projects, people or circumstances that require a level of managerial capacity and skill.
Just as always, “Richard Templar” highlights a wide variety of actionable and effective rules applicable to the work place and personal management.
In his book “The Rules of Management”, he touches base with two core areas: Managing Your Team and Managing Yourself. These highlighted rules not only guide you with strategies and principles that work.
They also take into consideration the role and effect of being realistic, considerate, strategic and emotionally intelligent in management.
The is indeed a very carefully crafted read, as always! Doffing our hat to the amazing author #RichardTemplar!
The “Rules of Management” is just one book out of the many Rule books written by Richard! You may want to see our previous reviews too on his other books!
#BraveReview. Being at cross roads in our journey towards purpose, success and legacy can be a hard place to be.
This journey can sometimes be confusing and at other times frustrating, leaving one at the brink of great failure and a potential for huge success; except something is done quickly.
This often leaves one with two choices, “Take on the challenge and grow upward” or “Let fear take control and drift through life without purposeful or intentional progress”.
Unfortunately, only a small fraction of people choose the latter. John C. Maxwell, the world renown Leadership and Personal Development Coach/Author demystifies the journey of growth in a practical way that helps each reader take steady progressive steps.
He presents his thoughts on personal growth and how one can tap into 15 invaluable laws of growth to become more effective and fulfilled..Each chapter is carefully broken down with practical questions and exercises that ensures that readers are able to identify where they’re at in their growth journey and those steps that must be taken to arrive at their desired growth destination.
The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, is a seasoned and well researched personal growth resource and guide, useful to anyone truly interested in intentional and personal growth.
We applaud John C. Maxwell for putting together an incredible resource that equips people with the relevant knowledge to reach their potential.
Brave Publicity Ink! 