How to Chair a Meeting Effectively

1. Have somebody in charge who people respect and will defer to.

For better or for worse, this is the most efficient way.

2. Have each attendee or key attendees have something to REPORT, not just discuss.

This creates ownership and responsibility.

3. Do most of the work of the meeting BEFORE the meeting itself.

It's hard to get work done/alliances made/problems solved DURING a meeting -- take care of most of this 1-1 before the meeting itself.

4. Start the meeting on time, every time.

And, don't accept comments from those who are late. People will learn soon enough to be on time.

5. Schedule some meetings WITHOUT formalized agendas.

These would include brain storming sessions, open forums, etc. A formal agenda would squelch input and creativity. A highly valuable meeting doesn't have to be oriented around/justified by a preset agenda!

6. Schedule random meetings, not just regular ones.

Staff meetings at 8am every Monday, don't always work well. Folks get into a routine, get bored, etc. Schedule meetings designed to accomplish something.

7. Have the first 15 minutes be chatty, catch up time; then get into the meeting.

Warm everyone up by casual chatter for the first part of the meeting. this releases any pent up energy in the room, leaving folks more open.

8. Schedule TeleMeetings and Chat meetings, not just in-person meetings.

Some meetings are BETTER if they AREN'T in person/onsite. Use teleconferencing and web chat rooms when possible.

9. Don't make the meeting a production.

Slides are cool; handouts are nice. But they are expensive and may not really cause the type input/collaboration that meetings are best for. Ask yourself: "Am I trying to educate/impress/enroll folks or do I need their help to solve/create something?" If the former, do the dog and pony show; if the latter, don't.

10. Label the TYPE of meeting it's going to be on the announcement memo.

Is the meeting going to be a discussion? Or a reporting session? Or a brainstorming opportunity? Or a value-added session? Or a problem-solving one? Or a crisis one? Give attendees the CONTEXT for the meeting, not just the time, date, location and agenda.

How to Solve a Problem Step by Step

1. Ignore it for a while; see if it solves itself.

2. Declare it to be a crisis and invest many resources to solve it.

3. Give the problem to someone who's job it is to solve it.

4. Identify the source of the problem first.

5. Throw money at it.

6. Get that it's NOT a problem at all and treat it like the opportunity that it is!

7. Do the opposite of what you'd normally to do to solve the problem.

8. Identify the 5 steps that will solve the problem.

9. Extend your boundaries immediately so that this type of problem doesn't happen again.

10. Change yourself, or increase your context/perspective, so that it's no longer a problem.

Predict Your Future. Don't use a crystal ball to make predictions of your small business. By carefully assessing the historical
trends of your business, as shown in your records for the past five decades, you can forecast for the year ahead. Your record of
earnings, your experience with the markets where you sell, and your overall knowledge of the economy should enable you to predict
a sales figure for the following calendar year.

When You've Got a Sales forecast figure, make a budget showing your prices as a percentage of that figure. In the following year,
you can compare actual P&L amounts to your budgeted figures. Thus, your financial plan is an important tool for determining the
health of your business.

Make Timely Decisions. Without action, forecasts and decisions about the future aren't worth the paper they are written on. A
decision that does not lead to action is a bad one. The rate of business needs timely as well as informed decision making. If the
owner-manager would be to stay ahead of competition, you must move to control your destiny.

Effective Decision making from the small business requires a number of things. The owner-manager must possess as much accurate
information as possible. With these facts, you should establish the effects of all feasible courses of action and the time
requirements. When you've created the decision, you've set up your company so the choices you make could be transmitted into
action.

Control Your Small Business. To be effective, the owner-manager needs to be able to motivate key individuals to acquire the
results intended for within the cost and time constraints allowed. In working to achieve results, the small business owner-manager
has an advantage over big business. You can be fast and flexible while many big firms must await committee action before a choice
is made. You do not need to get consent to behave. And equally important, bottlenecks to implementing new practices can get your
own personal attention.

One of the Secrets is in deciding what items to restrain. Even in a small company, the owner-manager shouldn't attempt and be all
things to everyone. You should keep close control on people, products, cash, and any other tools that you consider significant to
keeping your performance pointed toward profit.

Manage Your Folks. Most businesses realize that their largest expense is labor. Yet due to the close contact with employees, a few
owner-manager of small businesses do not pay enough attention to direct and indirect labour costs. They have a tendency to
consider these prices in terms of individuals as opposed to relate them to gain in terms of dollars and pennies.

Listed below are a few Suggestions regarding personnel handling:

Gradually Review each position in your business. Have a glimpse in the job. Is work being duplicated? Can it be organized so that
it motivates the employee to become concerned? Can the tasks be given to another employee or employees along with a position
removed? Can a part-time person fill the occupation.

Play A modest private mental game. Imagine you have to eliminate one employee, If you had to let one person go, who would it be?
How would you realign the jobs to make out? You could get a real solution to the imaginary problem is potential to your financial
advantage.

Usage Compensation for a tool rather than seeing it as a essential evil. Reward quality work. Look into the potential for using
raises and bonuses as incentives for greater productivity. By way of instance, can you schedule bonuses like morale boosters
during seasonal slacks or alternative dull periods?

Remember That there are new ways of controlling absenteeism through incentive compensation plans. By way of example, the
owner-manager of one small business eliminated vacations and sick leave. Instead, this owner-manager gave every worker thirty days
annual leave to use as the employee saw fit. In the conclusion of the calendar year, the employees were paid at regular rates for
the depart that they did not use. To qualify for the year-end pay, the worker had to establish that sick leave was taken solely
for this purpose. Non-sick leave needed to be applied for in advance. Because of this, unscheduled absences and overtime pay were
decreased significantly. Additionally, employees were happier and more effective than they were under the older system.

Control Your Inventory. Do not tie up all of your cash in stock. Utilize a perpetual inventory system as a cost control as opposed
to a system just for tax purposes. Establish use patterns or buy patterns on the materials or items you have to stock to keep the
minimum number needed to supply your customers or to maintain production. Excessive inventory, while it is finished product or raw
materials, ties up funds that could be used to better advantage, as an instance, to open up a new sales territory or to buy new
machines.

Centralize your Purchases and avoid duplications. Be a relative shopper. Confirm orders . Get the price and amount straight right
away.

Check what you Receive for quality and condition. Check bills from suppliers against quotations. You do not want to be the victim
of the error.

You Ought to, However, keep one fact in mind when you install your inventory control system. Don't spend more on the management
system than it will yield in savings.

Control Your Products. From control of stock to control of products is however a step. Ensure your sales people recognize the
value of promoting the products which are the most profitable. Align your service policies with your own markup in mind. Arrange
your products that low markup items need the least handling.

Control Your Cash. It's good policy to handle cash and checks as though they were perishable commodities. They are. Money on your
safe earns no return; also it Can be stolen. Bank promptly.

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