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When Was The Last Time You Attended A Productive Meeting?

  • By Andrea Schlapia
  • |
  • March 13, 2012

When was the last time you attended a productive meeting? 

If it’s hard to remember, you’re not alone.  Poor planning and preparation contribute to zero results and low returns on investment.

We find that many advisors and managers skip over holding staff meetings.   While most staff meetings are usually described as boring, useless, and intimidating, they are an integral part of building the winning team.

Ironstone has several job aids available that can help you through the process of holding regular staff meetings.  View Ironstone’s Meeting Agenda Template:

Meeting Agenda Template

How can you improve your staff meetings?

Successful meetings will require the involvement of management before, during, and after the meeting.

·         Before the Meeting to Ensure Effective Meetings

  • Plan the Meeting
  • Make Sure You Need a Meeting
  • Distribute and Review Any Pre-work Prior to the Meeting
  • During the Meeting, Ensure Appropriate Participation
  • After the Meeting, Create an Effective Meeting Follow-up Plan
    • Publish Meeting Minutes
    • Review of the meeting for continuous improvement

If you are neglecting any one of these meeting management requirements, your meetings will result in productive time being wasted.

If you’re looking to improve communication within your firm, perhaps even increase efficiencies among staff, regular meetings are a good place to start. The key, however, is to begin scheduling the meetings for positive reasons, not negative ones.  Other staff meeting tips you should keep in mind:

  • Stay on track
  • Add some fun
  • Use incentives

Ironstone has designed a workshop that covers the what, why, and how to produce results through meetings.

You will define and create an action plan with the following aspects in mind:

Are they Necessary – desire vs. need, timewasters, alternatives, explore different types of meetings

Coordination & Preparation – before, during, and after

The Leadership Role – guiding your group towards the objectives

Information delivery & Enthusiastic Involvement – prepare the right kind of questions for the right kind of conversation

Control and conclusion – keep things on track, avoid deviation for speedy wrap-up

We want to hear from you!  What are you doing to make your staff meetings successful?

Follow us as we explore each of Ironstone’s Fundamental 4™!  

  • Strategic Planning
  • Business Development
  • Operational Effectiveness
  • The Human Element

You won’t want to miss our next in the series:  The Human Element:  Organizational Skills-Do You & Your Staff Hold The Key To Organization?

 

Are you just getting by or are you getting better? Get started today!

Author Bio

Andrea Schlapia, RCC™, HCS, sHRBP, is the Founder and CEO of Ironstone, which represents the culmination of her 20+ year career within the financial services industry. Her experience began as a financial advisor evolving into a consultant coach for advisors entering the field. This ignited her passion to support others through learning and development of best practices in order to achieve substantial results. To this end, she followed her desire into positions of senior-level practice management specialists for Dreyfus, Prudential, and DWS Investments prior to the realization of Ironstone.  Andrea’s focus is on practice management strategies to enhance and improve both business and personal life. Andrea identifies 4 key performance areas known as the Fundamental 4™, which are required to design, develop, and sustain a successful business. Through coaching sessions and speaking engagements, she captivates her audience with interactive, high-energy presentations which are built with “how-to” strategies resulting in real-world implementation for significant impact. Andrea has been featured in multiple publications and audio broadcasts as a specialist and distinguished spokeswoman in the financial industry.

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