 |
‘Active’ ListeningActive listening is wonderfully parodied by the actor Robert Lindsay in ‘The Helping Hand’: “Active listening? How am I supposed to listen ‘actively’? What do … Read more |
 |
Guidance on meeting groundrulesWhy have groundrules? Pause for a moment and think about your answer to the following question: What rules should be followed in all meetings, by … Read more |
 |
PowerPoint TimersTimers are great tools for making sure that people recognise how time is passing when they are engaged in a task. The idea here is … Read more |
 |
Walk and Talk MeetingsWalk and Talk is a different type of meeting. It takes place outside, between two people (or a series of two people by mixing pairs … Read more |
 |
Establishing a culture for meeting effectivenessPlease imagine, for a moment, one of the typical cross functional meetings that may be held in your organisation. It could be looking at the … Read more |
 |
Developing a vision for web-based meetingsWhat is your vision for web-based meetings? While you may appreciate the importance of visions and clear pictures of what you are working toward, it … Read more |
 |
Developing Performance AND PotentialEvery meeting you have within your organisation has the potential to grow your people, their engagement, and their abilities through: |
 |
Scale of CommitmentMeeting design tends to concern itself predominantly with arriving at the right logical outcome; it is focused on the necessity of coming out with the … Read more |
 |
Personal Action PlansPersonal Action Plans are primarily a means of developing ownership for individual or collective behavioural change. They are analogous to normal meeting actions but differ … Read more |
 |
Task & Maintenance SkillsAt a surface level, it is easy to believe that the interactions which take place in a meeting are all about different aspects of the … Read more |
 |
Reflecting on meeting dynamicsLike music, we do not always get to see what is happening in a large conversation unless someone alerts us to its patterns and nuances. … Read more |
 |
Diversity and alienating languageThe Department of Education defines inclusive language as “language that is free from words, phrases or tones that reflect prejudiced, stereotyped or discriminatory views of … Read more |
 |
Mapping InteractionsMapping Interactions is about seeing the flow of conversation in a group, to identify the dominant and quiet parties, and to use this for discussion … Read more |
 |
Myers-Briggs model / PsychometricsThe Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a well established psychometric tool for assessing peoples preferences in decision making activities. It was developed by a mother … Read more |
 |
What is real deep self-confidence?I used to do a lot of interviewing as part of my work as a Consultant. I would speak to management and staff to get … Read more |
 |
Moving past failure – what makes a clown?Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was falling. As they came around a bend, they met a … Read more |
 |
Transactional Analysis (TA)The word Transaction relates to the units of dialogue we engage in with others. When these transactions go smoothly, we can make efficient progress toward … Read more |
 |
Handling Stress and ConflictIf your meetings are dealing with important issues, then it would be unusual if some of those issues do not on occasion create some degree of stress … Read more |
 |
Influencing OptionsMeetings are particularly effective when the people within them take ownership for working out what needs to be done and then commit themselves to do … Read more |
 |
Questions to influence the flowIn the article on Influencing Options we looked at the importance of questions to develop and maintain ownership within the meeting. |
 |
Body LanguageIt has long been known that actions speak louder than words – not only in terms of what you do, but also in terms of … Read more |
 |
Conducting difficult conversationsThe biggest reason for poor behaviour in meetings is simply an unwillingness in people to confront it. Basically, we don’t like difficult conversations, and so … Read more |
 |
Action MinutesAction Minutes are simply a means of recording the key outcomes of a meeting in which people can clearly see their responsibilities for bringing those … Read more |
 |
Internet options for meetingsVirtual meetings are potentially the best thing to happen to meetings, ever. Frankly, our meetings have been in a rut for over 2000 years. They … Read more |