Does it seem to you that you revisit the same decisions over and over?  Do you make decisions only to have them fumble and die of apathy?  Having meetings that are as effective, tight and productive as a good girdle is great.  But if the decisions made at those meetings do not have buy-in from everyone at the table, or are not formalized, the decisions may be sabotaged and rendered useless and toothless.  What are some signs that a decision is being undermined?  See if any of these sounds familiar: 

1. 1.  The supervisor or manager goes back to his department or unit and announces the decision that has been made, rolls       his/her eyes and says, “ I didn’t agree with this decision, but I got out voted”.  Well there’s a resounding endorsement!  How studious do you think that manager will be at implementing the decision?
2. 2.  The supervisor/manager fails to even report the decision to the appropriate people!  Weeks later his/her staff hear about it from other departments.  
3. As soon as the decision is made some of the participants involved in the meeting and the decisions that were made, start buzzing about the decision, criticizing it, complaining about it, saying how it won’t work. This creates doubt in the ones who did agree wholeheartedly.  People don’t start implementing the decision because it is obvious it isn’t going anywhere.  And who can blame them? 

Here’s one way to get commitment about a decision.  Ask each person, individually, to 

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Tags: Decision-Making, Effective Meetings, Management Skills by Norma Smith Davis
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For many people meetings are the bane of their workday. They dread them, have no interest in the subject, can’t figure out why they have to be there, don’t know why the meeting is being called, and think meetings are generally a waste of time. 

For these and other reasons people who dislike meetings, often arrive late, bring other work or the newspaper with them, sigh deeply during key discussion points, speak sarcastically, or exhibit other disruptive and dismissive behaviors that hamper the effectiveness of the meeting.

Here are 7 things you can do instead of holding a meeting or to reduce the number of meetings you do hold.  

1.     Assign the decision, project or recommendation to a small group who may be able to work faster and more effectively without a big group. Too many meetings get bogged down by your local contrarian, negativist, or other meeting killers.

2.     Hold a conference call or use Go To Meeting or other conference services. 

3.     Send out a 

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Tags: Effective Meetings by Norma Smith Davis
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