How to make all your Meetings really effective

We’ve all been in meetings that never seemed to get going, meetings that drivelled into existence, where everyone was instantly bored and passive.

So here’s a foolproof method for getting any meeting off to a good start and keeping it on track. Take control by asking and agreeing the answers to four key questions …..

• Where have we got to now ? …unite everyone by recalling the outcome of previous meetings, and previous group involvement
• What was the purpose of that work ? remind everyone of what we’re supposed to be doing. It helps here to recall specific fun moments. Don’t forget the misery moments too: where you don’t want to go again !
• What are we doing now ? …specific purpose of today
• How are we going to achieve it and how long are we going to take over it ? …the possible methods to be used (brainstorming, workshops, etc) – but beware of letting the meeting start until you’ve completed the opening with…..
• Where will this leave us ? What’s our desired end state ?

Only then can the meeting start. But for a meeting to be really successful, you need to close it with two more questions…..

• Who’s going to do what ? Write down the action items, owners and delivery dates
• When shall we meet again ? Agree follow up date

Sounds like management to me !

How to inspire a positive mood – in yourself and others !

It’s hard to be on top form every day. But as a Leader it's your job to get yourself – and everyone around you – to that 10/10 feeling that'is essential for top performance.

So if you feel your mood needs a lift, here's what to do.....actively, consciously break the pattern: don’t just sit there ! Do something different to pro-actively lift your mood …

Ideas to get yourself to a 10….
Rewrite your ToDo List, put the kettle on, have a fag, eat some chocolate, tell a joke, get momentum by doing an easy thing first, get momentum by doing a hard thing, go for a short walk, ask “What would the best manager in the world do right now ?”

Ideas to get others to a 10….
Compliment them (“….been meaning to mention how well you….” Then “How’s project X going ?”), involve them in problem definition, break the pattern (go outside, move to the canteen), introduce a game or competition (“who can define the most options ? and buy the winner lunch), ask people to run five minute courses on their specialist topics.

Whatever you do, sieze the moment !

How to run the Perfect User Group/Reseller Meeting

It’s always great to get resellers, or users, together to review and discuss issues. And as long as it's in an interesting/comfortabled venue providing decent food and drink, and you put on some entertainment and fun, they’re a a captive audience for your latest sales pitch.

But what to present ? Rather than the usual boring old list of product features delivered by each Product Manager, how’s about….?
· The Marketplace: analysis of current market needs, the competition and your positioning
· Peek into the Future from R&D
· Product Strategy - the big industry and business trends and how you satisfy them
· User stories (preferably given by the users themselves)
· The Ideal Prospect: a workshop to define the perfect user (you can use it to define questions to identify them !)

When you’re preparing, remember to:
· Poll all attendees asking them what they’d like to see, or vote on possible topics
· Create special interest groups and workshops to break things up
· Run parallel tracks for sale and technical: cross-train each group (but don’t tell the techs you’re giving them sales techniques, they’ll tell you their integrity will be compromised: tell them SPIN is a consultative approach used by doctors and therapists).

During the meeting:
· have a Twitter feed on a large projector screen in everyone’s view so a proper many-to-many dialogue can take place
· old-fashioned flip charts are also still essential for recording actions/key concerns that arise, so the meeting leader can refer to them in their closing speech.

Make sure the Closing Address is impressive. Recut your last Company Kick Off presentations (see previous Blog) into a suitable form for this more specialised audience: call it a company update to disguise the selling :-)

How to run the Perfect Kick Off Meeting

They just come round too often: quarterly and yearly Kick Off meetings. What to say this time ? In 30 years I’ve been to many hundreds of KOs. Here’s a long list of possible topics: keep roughly to this order and you won’t go wrong….

· Our market:
o definitions of technologies and markets and why we exist
o vision of industry and wide perspective
o market research/industry trends

· Last Year:
o How did we start ? issues/Critical Success factors/plans
o What was our product fit and strategy ?
o What were the expectations ? up/downsides ?
o What was our approach ? what we did/who did it
o Numbers/highlights
o Prizes – recognition for top performers/contributors and jokes/wooden spoons for idiots
o Conclusions on last year/period

· This Year
o Where are we now ? Any new factors/issues/technologies/opportunities
o New products and services overview
o New strategy ? What’s the big story ?
o What do we have to do ?
o What’s the new Plan: who/what/when, activities and performance expected

· Reaffirm Mission of company
o Critical Success Factors
o Why this is a good business to be in
o We are part of the future of the industry (link back to the start)

And the best Kick Off line of all……the bar is now open!

How to give bad news - and be thanked for it !

It’s unavoidable, there are times in business when things aren’t going well, when we need to deliver not-so-good feedback, or full-on bad news to people about what they’re doing, or how they do it. The subject may be difficult enough, but in some cases the people aren’t easy communicators either.

So here’s a simple formula for delivering negative feedback in a way that never causes offence. You say:

“What’s working for me right now is…..”
then
“What’s not working for me right now is….”
then
“What’s missing for me right now is….”

It’s critically important that you include the words “for me…”: if you don’t, you’re just saying What’s not working, which is invites discussion and argument about your judgement. But saying “…for me…” isn’t something they can argue with. And saying “What’s missing for me right now….” is the most positive possible way to invite them to suggest improvements.

How to talk directly and openly with a Sales Director

Most Sales Directors are very confident, and strong communicators, focussed on building a very positive feeling with customers. But sometimes you need to get beneath the surface, and understand what’s working and what’s not working. They don’t like admitting weakness in their own organisations at all: their professional training kicks in and your questions are treated as objections to be countered and sold round.

So if you have to interview a Sales Director or Manager, use the fact that no-one can do, know and control everything to your advantage. Ask for facts. Politely deflect their sales lines, opinions and ego riffs, and just keep drilling down into the detail. Even the best of them will reach a point where they have to admit they don’t know everything, and then you can have a much more direct, open, constructive conversation…

1 Start with the Top 10 deals (…good ones sail through this). For each deal, ask: What’s the decision making process ? Where are you in it ? When was your last personal contact with the account ? When's your next ? What ‘s the closing plan ? Do you have a Plan B ?

2 Ask to see their Ideal Salesperson definition in terms of skills and qualities (see my other Blog on Ideal Salesperson Definition). They should have one of these too, and be able to talk you through how each of their team compares.

By now, you’ve sorted out the bluffers from the serious boys. Now for the detail…..ask them to divide their team into three:

3a Top performers (on target, good pipeline)
How do you reward and recognise excellence ? What’s their territory plan ? What’s the enhancement plan ? Will they get a trainee ? Who’s offering them a job right now ? Why will they stay ?

3b Just good enough performers (patchy, off form)
What’s the development/coaching plan ? Timescale for improvement ? Do they know it ? Is their territory right for them ? Is the product right for them ? Should they become specific hunters or farmers instead ?

3c Those below your belief threshold (long term under performers)
Why are they still here ? Are they investments in managerial ego ?

4 And now the killers….for each salesperson….
What are their stats (calls made, conversion rates, RoI)
When was last phone call you listened in to from them ? how did they perform ?
When was last meeting you made with them ? When, which client, how did they perform ?

How to define your Ideal Salesperson

When asked to do this recently, I thought, easy: Question 1: What’s their track record ? Question 2: Are they a natural salesperson ? We all think we can spot ‘natural’ salespeople, but defining it isn’t easy at all. And how then to measure skills and qualities ? A month on, I reckon I have a pretty good start point. I ended up with five categories, each broken down, with a single summarising quality:

COMMUNICATIONS AND PERSUASION SKILLS	Networking Cold calling Rapport building Managing meetings Questioning Probing Listening	Charisma: are you fully engaged by them ?
PRODUCT AND SERVICE CAPABILITY	Understanding of market/competition Depth of product knowledge Appropriate use of knowledge Crispness of summaries Use of case studies	Problem solving: do they pull it all together into a compelling, unifying solution ?
SALES SKILLS	Presentation skills Handling objections Managing deals and pipeline Qualification skills Accurate forecasting Negotiating Closing	Grip: do they know their numbers and current state of deals ?
PERSONAL SKILLS	Curiosity and nosiness Attention to detail Project management Writing skills Goal directed Stress Tolerance and Resilience	Planning and organisation: do they have control of time and task management ?
PERSONAL QUALITIES	Look and feel Warmth Self awareness Judgement	Interpersonal Sensitivity: how fast do they tune in to you ? do they validate your feelings ?

Next problem: how to measure each of these….I’ll cover this in a future blog

How to Command Action

OK, you have a plan, but how to communicate it without any ambiguity and as crisply as possible ? Perhaps we can learn from the military – they use the acronym SMEAC to communicate and direct action.

SITUATION: ….where are we, what’s happening ?

MISSION: ….what are our goals, what’s our purpose ?

EXECUTION: ….here’s what I want you to do

ADMINISTRATION: ….specifics: who’s going to do what, how you’ll work together, what supplies will be needed, and how you’ll get them

COMMAND AND CONTROL: ….what to communicate, when, how to do it, what authority you have if you can’t ask.

It gives me confidence using a technique that’s proven on battlefields all over the world !