Personal Efficiency and Managing Meetings Training Course

Understanding Ourselves and Others

• Acknowledge that inviting others to a meeting imposes your priorities onto their schedule.
• Analyse the factors that drive our behavioural patterns.
• Evaluate whether we are conscious of how our actions impact others, and whether those individuals respond as intended or as they ought. If not, why is this the case?

The Process for Managing Meetings

• Determine the necessity of a meeting and explore potential alternatives to see if any are more suitable.
• Master the process for calling, managing, and preparing for meetings:
  • Develop a meaningful agenda that outlines objectives, topics to be covered, and suggested time allocations.
  • Invite only those individuals whose presence is essential – excluding everyone else.
  • Facilitate the meeting effectively: ensuring contributions are relevant (distinguishing between what is pertinent and what is not), adhering strictly to the agenda, and keeping to the schedule.
  • Generate outputs: while detailed minutes may not always be required, recording action points is essential.
  • Schedule any necessary follow-up meetings.

Attending Meetings

• Evaluate whether attendance is truly required for every meeting to which you are invited.
• Determine the criteria for deciding whether or not to attend specific meetings.
• Identify valid justifications for declining an invitation.
• Explore what other activities are permissible during a meeting, considering factors such as attendee roles, subject matter relevance, and timing.

Other Personal Efficiency and Time Management Issues

• Setting and adhering to personal and professional objectives.
• Work Prioritisation
  • Determining which tasks require attention.
  • Establishing priorities among these activities.
• Employee-Imposed Time: Assessing whether your staff and colleagues are working for you, or if the dynamic is reversed.
• Time Bandits: Identifying other factors that steal time away from you and implementing strategies to mitigate them:
  • Email overload.
  • Telephone calls.
  • Unplanned interruptions.
  • Displacement activities: such as procrastination.
  • Other distractions.
• Effective delegation techniques.
• Assertiveness skills: learning to seek compromises and effectively say 'no' when necessary.