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That 15 minutes changes everything

Team meeting

How many people truly feel they can make a winning impact in 15 minutes? Teams hold short, quick fire meetings and have daily catch ups for numerous performance reasons, but do they really maximise time together? Do team leaders facilitate the impact needed in order to raise performance levels?

At the half-time interval of a football match, 15 minutes is all you have. But how do managers / leaders best use this time to ensure key messages are heard and ultimately acted upon? Actions that can change everything and be the difference between winning and losing. Indeed, 15 minutes can be a great performance tool. Conversely, it can be a waste of time or just a ‘breather’.

So how can you improve performance in 15 minutes? Below highlights some core principles for you to consider for meetings with limited time and under pressure to make an impact.

 

Core Principles

  • Make sure that everyone is clear on the following prior to the meeting:
    • What to expect from the meeting (e.g. consistent process)
    • What you want from them (e.g. ideas and active participation, full listening engagement)
    • What the non-negotiables are that they leave with (e.g. 3 key messages)
  • Practicalities are crucial. Clear timings for all meeting aspects and making sure the meeting facilitator holds the group true to these timings
  • Ensure the meeting process encourages participation and enables you to get the views of the team. Simply instructing will lower uptake of key messages and you are missing a trick: What are the team experiencing? What do they believe will make a difference?
  • Leaders should embrace different views and demonstrate understanding for what people are experiencing, but ultimately ensure all group leave with clear, common and compelling key messages which will make a difference
  • Sub group work allows more pertinence and focus, but make sure these are then feed into overall messages to the whole group. To ensure complimentary changes are made; not decisions in isolation by differing groups
  • End the meeting by pulling everything together and highlighting what the key messages are (written up messages also minimise variations in what people hear)