The podcast "How To Conduct An Effective Meeting" is located here. 

We all participate and lead meetings.  Some of them work.  Some do not. We can plan and execute meetings with the following list.

Plan the meeting.

• Define what the desired outcome of the meeting is.  Too many meetings occur without an end objective.  Consequently, few of these meetings achieve the intended result.
•  Identify the meeting participants who are capable of making the desired outcome a reality. Avoid inviting spectators.
• List the minutes of any previous meetings that have been held to achieve this outcome.  Occasionally, it is necessary to frame the problem for the participants in a meeting, then meet again to reach an agreement.  Recalling the minutes of previous meetings hopefully prevents addressing issues that have already been decided.
• Define the meeting duration.  Keep the meeting as brief as possible.  Like work, meetings tend to expand to fill the time allocated to them.
• Construct an agenda that states the desired outcome and includes references to the previous meeting minutes. Include a list of the meeting participants.
• Schedule the meeting at a convenient time and place for all participants.  Be sensitive to time zone differences for dial-in participants.
• Send out the invites.

Conduct the meeting.

• Start on time and end on time.
• Begin the meeting by stating the desired outcome.
• When discussion drifts from the desired outcome, gently bring the discussion back to the stated outcome.
• Work for synergy within the meeting participants.  Encourage discussion.
• Reserve time at the end of the meeting to summarize the meeting to assess the success of the meeting in accomplishing the desired outcome. Obtain agreement that the outcome was achieved.
• If the outcome was not achieved, list the issues and obstacles that prevent accomplishing the outcome, identify and owner for each issue, and agree to meet again.
• Conclude the meeting on time.

After the meeting

• Write up the minutes of the meeting and send to all participants.
• Include in the minutes those items that have been agreed upon and resolved.
• List items requiring further action and the owner of each.
• Send the minutes to all participants.

Rinse and repeat.

The State of the Individual podcast is located here. 

Maybe it is time for a “State of Me” address.

Yearly the President presents a State of the Union address, presumably to detail just that, The State of the Union, summarizing the state of the nation and its future intentions.

It seems that such an assessment would be good for me as well.

Doing my state of the person assessment entails the following items:

• Recall my mission and vision.
• Recall my written SMART long term and short term goals.

First I will examine my SMART short term goals. Since they are measurable, I go through this list of goals and for each one I indicate the degree of success I have had, the planned versus the actual achievement. I now have a visual element that describes how I have done versus what I had planned to do. Some of these goals may be in progress, but I think it is still constructive to list them and figure out their degree of completion or realization.

I could use this data to construct a spider graph showing the shape of the invidivdual (me) and have a good visual representation of me. Bar charts would work just as well.

Now we see why SMART goals are useful. They are measurable.

I now have the basis for preparing my state of the individual speech to my audience (wife). I know how I have done relative to the plans and the achievements  that I had hoped to accomplish.

I think I need to fine tune this part of the presentation a bit. I need to do a reality check on what I observe. I need to review the assessment I have made and ask myself if this really reflects the state of the individual. Do the metrics really tell the honest story? Did I accomplish the goal but not the achievement I intended? In any situation where I feel uneasy about what the assessment reveals I need to make a footnote and figure out why I have fallen short. Am I really honest with myself? Is this goal really what I want? Did I “cook he books” and achieve one objective like eliminating credit card debt but deferred maintenance for which I did not have a measurable goal?

The next viseral check is to review my mission and vision and to ask myself if the numbers show that I am consistent with my mission and vision. If I get an uneasy feeling that I am not consistent, then I know that when I get to the next step I need to align goals with my mission and vision.  This visceral check is really important. I have found throughout my career that, when I had an uneasy feeling about something, I was usually right in my concern.

Equipped with the mission, vision, goals, and quantitative assessment, I can develop the plans for the next year.

• Is the mission and vision still accurate? If not, modify.
• Referring to my goals and my assessment, am I where I need to be? Do I need to add other goals? Do I need to modify the goals based on a revised mission and/or vision.
• What do I plan to do this year, based on this process? What are the goals for the year? Where do I want to be 1 year from now?

Now I have the current state of things and my plans for the next year. I can complete a state of the individual address.

I believe this assessment does the following

• It shows us our successes, giving us confidence, reinforcement, and a sense of accomplishment.
• It indicates shortcomings, suggesting that we are not really identified with the goal[s] that we list. “Stop Smoking” has been on my list for years. Perhaps “live a healthy life, evidenced by healthy diet, weight management, cholesterol management and exercise” might be better.
• It validates our direction, that is, our mission and vision, or it suggests that we need to revise our mission and vision, then our goals.
• It lays the foundation for the coming year.

To solidify my earlier discussion of representational systems in use, I want to offer you a story that I have acquired somewhere.  I assume it is true. In the world series between the New York Yankees and the Milwaukee Braves, Elston Howard was at bat in the 9th inning.  Warren Spahn was pitching.  Winning run(s) on base.  The coach walked out to the mound and told Spahn, "Whatever you do, don't throw it high and outside!"  Spahn delivered the next pitch high and outside and Howard hit it out of the park, winning the series for the Yankees.  When asked later, Spahn said that all he could see and think about was high and outside. The message is this.

• Always state what you do want rather than what you don't want.  The mind has to create a picture of the thought before it can negate it.
• Know how to use your language to construct representations of what you do want.