Personal Efficiency and Managing Meetings Training Course

Understanding Ourselves and Others

• Recognize that inviting others to a meeting imposes your priorities on them
• Explore what drives our behavior
• Consider how our behavior impacts others: do they always respond as we expect or as they should? If not, why?

The Process for Managing Meetings

• Evaluate whether a meeting is necessary and explore alternatives
• Master the process for calling, managing, and preparing for meetings:
  • Develop a meaningful agenda with clear objectives, topics, and timings
  • Invite only those who need to be there
  • Manage the meeting: facilitate relevant contributions, stay on agenda, and keep to time
  • Create outputs: at least action points, if not detailed minutes
  • Arrange follow-up meetings if needed

Attending Meetings

• Determine if you need to attend all invited meetings
• Decide whether or not to attend specific meetings
• Identify valid justifications for declining attendance
• Discover other productive activities you can engage in during a meeting related to attendees, subjects, and timings

Other Personal Efficiency and Time Management Issues

• Setting and adhering to personal and professional objectives
• Work Prioritization:
  • Determining what needs to be done
  • Prioritizing tasks effectively
• Employee-Imposed Time: Are your staff and colleagues working for you, or are you working for them?
• Time Bandits: Identify other time thieves and strategies to mitigate them:
  • Emails
  • Phone calls
  • Unplanned interruptions
  • Displacement activities: such as procrastination
  • Other distractions
• Effective Delegation
• Assertiveness: Seeking compromise and learning to say "no" effectively