1. Work Focused Improvement®
Management Essentials for
Daily Use and Ongoing Improvement
By Sam Pratt
© 1986-2013 Samuel H. Pratt / SHP Consulting Limited
Module 5
How to Improve Meetings
By Creating Universal Meeting Guidelines

2. Funny, shocking and Interesting statistics on meetings
from MeetingKing
1. 37 percent of employee time is spent in meetings
2. Managers attend more than 60 meetings per month
3. 47% consider too many meetings the biggest waste of
time
4. 39% of meeting participants admitted to dozing off
during a meeting
5. Over 70% brought other work to meetings
6. It is estimated that 25-50% of meeting time is wasted
7. The researchers found that the more meetings employees
attended, the more exhausted they felt and the higher they
perceived their workload to be

3. Universal Meeting Guidelines Session
1. Before the 1st meeting, give each team member a copy of the 4 slides below
[suggestion: use print option of 2 slides per page]
2. At the 1st meeting, have the selected team members pick a Team Leader
3. Allow 10 minutes for members to select up to 8 good rules … and editing a
rule or creating a new one is just fine
4. Show the team the 4 slides below one at a time, and solicit comments
5. After discussion, ask for additional rules or revised rules and list these on
easel board
6. Give everyone a five minute quiet period to rate items
a. 2 points for each person’s top idea , 1 point for all others
b. Go around the room asking people to read their top rule (not yet on list)
c. Continue circling the room until it’s clear that key rules are on the board
d. Now circle the room recording final votes for rules on board with each person allowed to
give 2 points to the top idea on board
e. Voting results are information ... this session is not for final resolution
7. Before 2nd meeting, the selected rules 8 or less will be organized,
wordsmithed and published by the Team Leader for review, tweaking, and
approval at the 2nd meeting … which should be very short!
© 1986-2015 Samuel H. Pratt / SHP Consulting Limited

4. Google’s Meeting Rules
1. Every meeting needs a leader
2. The meeting needs a clear purpose and
structure
3. Meetings used for sharing information or
brainstorming still need owners
4. Have a meeting only if it's necessary
5. Don't include more than eight people
6. Include only the necessary people, and no more
7. Strictly follow time constraints
8. Be fully present in the meeting
Prompts

5. Things to Thank Steve Jobs For
How to Have a Great Meeting
1. Throw out the least necessary person at
the table.
2. Walk out of this meeting if it lasts more
than 30 minutes.
3. Do something productive today to make
up for the time you spent here.
Prompts

6. Team Advancement
Meeting Guidelines
1. Focus on the work (performance and enabling of
organization)
2. Stay away from personalities, politics, turf, blame, rigid
positions, and “me” issues (hygiene)
3. Let it be known early in the discussion if a decision will
be Type I, II, or III (I decide, I decide with your input,
we decide)
4. Emphasize the understanding and use of Key
Performance Indicators
5. Value listening & cooperating more than persuading &
winning
6. Spend enough time on issues to develop widespread
understanding and support
© 1986-2014 Samuel H. Pratt / SHP Consulting Limited Prompts

7. Performance Review Meeting Guidelines
1. One Hour Time Limit Enforced (this is a fast paced review of performance with
limited discussion on specific issues … stage hook at 5 minute mark)
2. If follow-up is needed on a topic, agree on who/when/where and
move on
3. Focus on the work (performance and enabling of organization)
4. Stay away from personalities, politics, turf, blame, rigid positions, and
“me” issues
5. Emphasize the understanding and use of Key Performance
Indicators, but do not spend more than 5 seconds on a new data
point close to a positive trend line
6. Value listening & cooperating more than persuading & winning
7. Manage with, and focus on facts
8. Keep an eye on Strategic Targets
a. Become one of the very best companies to work for in the world
b. Insure that business mechanisms are fair to individuals and the company
c. Continuously improve and be able to show this factually
d. Be world class in every respect
© 1986-2014 Samuel H. Pratt / SHP Consulting Limited Prompts

8. The following slides are included because
they have been helpful from time to time in
Meeting Guideline Sessions …

9. Universal Rules for Meetings
of a Performance Company
1. Add rule
2. Add rule
3. Add rule
4. Add rule
5. Add rule

10. Work Focused Improvement
... in a nutshell
 Endorse & understand the underlying premise: When a
group of people work in concert to advance the business, a
by-product of the effort is a better functioning social unit
 Distinguish between the two basic types of work: linear
and non-linear and design all business mechanisms to
match the work
 Focus on the work, performance and result, not on …
– Hygiene: company policy, wages, working conditions, security,
status, supervision, and interpersonal relationships
– Feelings & Emotions
– Turf, politics, personality, or blame
 Be a student of management and build a profound
understanding of all leadership and management
mechanisms, tactics, and concepts
Background

11. Work within an established process Work on a case by case basis
Focus on facts (descriptive) Focus on opinions (evaluative: characteristic
based)
Communicate openly Communicate guardedly
Be preoccupied with the work and
performance
Be preoccupied with hygiene, personalities,
turf, politics, emotions, blame, and credit
Exhibit respect for group member opinions Exhibit intolerance of others opinions
Driven by priorities and knowledge of what
flows to bottomline
Use deadlines to delay action in short term &
then extend deadlines in small increments
Deliberate with all key impactors Decide by power play or control of
information
Refer to recorded plan (or Advancement) Fly by seat of pants
Live by consensus, tradeoffs, accommodation Live by confrontation & stonewalling
Do as you say Don’t do as you say or just don’t say
Build and value trust Ignore trust considerations
Work Group Assessment
Robust Fragile
Organizational Dynamics

12. Types of Decisions
Type I I decide
Type II I decide with your input
Type III We decide
Type IV You decide
More decisions
at lower levels
under Team
Management
Leadership Styles© 1986, 1986-2012 Samuel H. Pratt

13. WFI Team Advancement Meeting
Expected Outcomes
 Improve bottomline performance of organization
 Enable the organization
 Enable individuals and teams
 Emphasize inter-departmental communications
 Foster cooperation and respect
 Build a robust organization with widespread ownership,
understanding, and alignment
 Assure that all key business mechanisms are continuously
improving and working in concert
Continuous Improvement© 1986-2014 Samuel H. Pratt / SHP Consulting Limited

14. Define objective in terms
of KPIs, outputs, and
other measures or results
Communicate
clearly with the
objective of two
way understanding
Build natural follow-up
points for feed back such
as month-end reports, and
Performance Reviews
Document discussions,
agendas, actions, issues,
performance over time
Follow-up as
promised (lead by
example)
5 Step
Closed Loop System
A. If project or task,
repeat until
complete
B. If process, repeat
on ongoing basis
© 1986-2012 Samuel H. Pratt / SHP Consulting Limited

15. Deliberations According to
Pava ... Pratt ...
 Deliberations are sequences
of exchange &
communication used to
reduce the equivocality of a
problematic issue
 Deliberations are not
decisions, but are more
continuous sequences of
activities from which
decisions occasionally
crystallize
 Deliberations are not
meetings, which are simply
gatherings of people
 Organizations always have a
lot of ongoing problem areas
that people talk about in an
effort to make improvements
 In struggling with any
particular subject, gains are
made gradually … usually
two steps forward and one
step back
 Good discussion and debate
can take place anywhere,
including the golf course
Organizational Dynamics© 1986, 1986-2012 Samuel H. Pratt

16. Discretionary Coalitions According to
Pava … Pratt ...
 Discretionary Coalitions
are the populations
(from 1 to n) dealing in
deliberations
 Effective coalitions
reach informed tradeoffs
and avoid lapses into
ritual posturing or
arbitrary battles over turf
 Discretionary Coalitions
are groups of people that
informally band together
to make improvements
 Effective coalitions
focus on the problems
and the work and ignore
politics and individual
credit
Organizational Dynamics© 1986, 1986-2012 Samuel H. Pratt

17. Topics & Forums
Topics are deliberated in forums by discretionary coalitions
Process
Social
group
Organizational Dynamics© 1986, 1986-2012 Samuel H. Pratt

18. Performance Review Agenda (example)
 Quick Hitters (urgent, important, but most of all quick)
 Finalize Meeting Guidelines
 Review Financial Performance
 Review Department KPI Performances
 Discuss Communications Options
– Newsletter Schedule and Ownership(s)
– Scoreboards
– Core Worker Attendance at Performance Review Meetings
 Discuss impact of “silos” in our organization
 Training: “Fast Decision Making Organizations”
 Review FMLA policy
 Other
© 1986-2014 Samuel H. Pratt / SHP Consulting Limited