Beginner Business

There’s a feeling throughout the business world that meetings are a waste of time, yet they’re in no danger of disappearing.  Research suggests that many workers spend at least 5.5 hours per week in meetings, and the number may be more than 17 hours per week for executives.

How do you organize an effective meeting?

The number one complaint is lack of focus.  Lack of focus means lacking a clear agenda and defined goals, but also effectively choosing the attendees.  Often this lack of focus is revealed by an ambiguous meeting style, where brainstorming, status-checking and decision-making are combined.  The end result?  Many meeting attendees feel their time was wasted.

Do You Need to Meet?

Many meetings are called almost out of habit.  So before you even call a meeting, ask yourself two questions:

• Do we really need a meeting?  Or could an email or phone call suffice?
• Who needs to be there?

The Agenda

An agenda listing all items to discuss should always be sent out before a meeting; 2-3 days in advance for small meetings and at least a week in advance for larger ones.  Along with the agenda, any background or reference materials should be included.

The purpose for the agenda is not just to establish the goals of the meeting.  It’s also to give people a chance to think about any decisions they may need to make, and to prepare ideas or necessary materials in advance.

The fewer the items on the agenda, the better.  Most accounts say that more than three items is too many, and one item is best.  Even if there are several items, by sticking to one topic the meeting will still be focused.

Chairperson

Someone needs to lead the discussion.  In some cases it makes sense for the person calling the meeting to also chair it: it can help them stay on track with the topic they’ve chosen, and identify the most important questions.   However, when there is likely to be some disagreement, often the best chairperson is the most outspoken uninterested party: someone who won’t be too involved in the discussion itself, but who is able to get people to shut up and stay on topic.  Roles of the chairperson:

• Keep the meeting focused
• Prevent digressions
• Limit how long any person can talk at one time
• Start and end the meeting on time
• Ensure that quiet people are able to speak
• Accomplish the stated goals of the meeting (eg. make a decision, take an action)

Meeting Styles

Many of the meeting styles that are common in organizations are ineffective.  Status meetings can often be replaced, and just about any regular meeting (eg. weekly status meetings) tends to be a waste of time.  If you really need to get together, you don’t need the excuse of a weekly meeting.  Here are some meeting styles that work:

• Stand-Up or Huddle: It’s a lot like a status meeting, but confined to a short time period of 10 minutes or less, just before people start wanting to sit down.  This is an exception to the rule of “no regular meetings”: you can have Stand-Ups every day and actually see productivity gains.  Since you only have 10 minutes, only members of a team working together should be invited, or occasionally guests who are involved in the team’s activities.  The focus is on what you’re going to do in the next day or so.
• Action Meetings: ONLY for making decisions.  The idea is to present a problem, offer some background information, and make a decision of either YES, NO, or MORE INFO.  If more information is needed, make sure it’s still an action.  That means “think about it” or “do research” isn’t good enough, but “ask the User Interface team if they can add a status update icon” would be an action item.  The hard part about action meetings? Avoiding discussions, lengthy opinions and especially brainstorming.  If more discussion is needed, it should be part of an action.
• Brainstorming: These are hard.  The key to brainstorming is coming up with crazy ideas and avoiding criticism.  Participants should feel comfortable making jokes and suggesting silly ideas, simply because unrealistic and funny suggestions often spark more realistic ideas.  People who can’t help but ridicule or criticize during brainstorming sessions simply shouldn’t be invited back.  Not everyone is great at brainstorming.
• Nitpick sessions: Doesn’t sound like fun, but with the right attitude, these can be both enjoyable and very useful.  This is the chance to call in the incessant critics and get some real feedback.  Once you have a prototype that is soon to be ready, or a long-term plan becoming finalized, call in the nitpickers and find out early what might go wrong.
• Planning sessions: The hard part with a planning session is sticking only to the relevant level of detail.  If you’re planning out the year, choose the date for the yearly training seminars but don’t argue over which speakers to invite - just make a few suggestions.  You can discuss the finer details when you get around planning the actual seminar.
• Emergency meetings: You’re organizing a conference, and Friday afternoon you find out that your speakers for that evening are all going to be very late because of a cancelled flight?  Sometimes when something new comes up, and plans fall apart, you need to have a short meeting to change plans and make new decisions.  The style is similar to a Stand-Up but there’s more emphasis on finding quick solutions to new, urgent problems.
• Cocktails: Sometimes what you need isn’t a formal meeting, it’s just a chance for co-workers to get together in a casual environment and chat.  Whether it’s martinis, beer, lunch or coffee, keeping it “chill” often makes it easier for people to bring up topics and solutions.  Some of the best ideas I’ve seen teams come up with, have come from these get-togethers.  And don’t forget: the food and drink is essential.

The One-and-One Meeting Technique

The most effective way to hold a meeting is to stick to ONE meeting style and ONE issue.  Limit the meeting to a brainstorming on the new marketing campaign, or an action meeting to decide which of the two product designs to use. Keep it to one style and one issue, and you’ll find your meetings are more productive by an order of magnitude.

Or those of us who need a lot of extra help.

Like many other artists and entrepreneurs, procrastination is a huge part of how I work. I’m not great at sticking to schedules religiously, and deadlines seem to inhabit a parallel universe that has no effect on my own. I’ve tried to collect tricks for making sure that I got done the things that were most important, distilling the “productivity pr0n” into a small set of useful habits.

The work sabbath

Kind of an oxymoron, it came from the perverse realization that I was more productive and inspired when I was on vacation than when I was supposed to be working! What I found was that by not having a schedule, all of a sudden I could just work on whatever I wanted, for as long as I wanted! No obligation to go to a meeting, to answer the phone, or to submit something by a deadline.

So I’ve found that by scheduling at least one full day of the work week where I schedule no appointments, do no email, and answer no phone calls, I can get done huge numbers of things that I otherwise can’t find the time to do. Or more importantly: I can get much further in a few important things.

This is essentially a mid-way point between time-chunking and No Schedule. Time chunking is the idea that you need to block off a minimum amount of uninterrupted time to get certain things done. You can’t block off 1/2 an hour of “writing an article” or 15 minutes of web development. To be effective, you need to block off a full amount of time.

The No Schedule is extreme: you simply never agree to make appointments or have deadlines. While I’ve tried this and found it useful to a point, personally I found that having some deadlines helped structure my work, even if I didn’t follow the deadlines very strictly. And most of us can’t avoid scheduling anything.

The Working Sabbath is a much more reasonable compromise. I find that 1-2 days like this is just perfect. The hard part can be standing firm when people insist on contacting you or trying to book you during your no-schedule days, but it’s worth it.

Morning Short-list

This is one of the most popular approaches and it works:

1. Wake up early and have a good breakfast.
2. Write down a short list of things you really need to get done today.
3. Do them.

Many people emphasize having only a few items on the list, say 5 or less. I find something else more important: the number of hours. Figure out how many hours you have to work in the day, and estimate how long your To-Do items “should” take. Your To-Do list should only total about 50-60% of your working hours. If it’s any more, you won’t focus on the things that are most important. The idea is to acknowledge that interruptions and procrastination will eat away at some of the time. You want to make sure that in the time that’s left, you get the important things done.

And I’m not joking about the breakfast. I find I’m a lot more focused if I’ve eaten well.

Procrastinate Effectively

An approach advocated by a number of effective procrastinators. If you accept that you’re going to procrastinate and get distracted, at least spend your procrastination time doing important things. Usually I procrastinate most about short-term things-the things that have upcoming deadlines but aren’t hugely important in the grand scheme of things. So while I’m procrastinating on those things, I use my time to work on things that aren’t as urgent, but are much more important in the long term–planning out projects, writing a draft of a document.

It’s amazing, because often by doing this I actually prevent procrastination in future tasks. Say I procrastinate from writing an email by working on ideas for a new brochure. The great thing is that once it comes time to implement some of the new ideas, often the work is almost completely done. The hard part is usually starting with a blank page, and by working without a deadline, often the page fills up much faster.

Mad Drafts

Since it’s so much easier to come up with things when there’s less pressure to get it right immediately, a great way to procrastinate or kill time is by writing drafts. Since I carry a notebook with me everywhere, any moment that forces me to wait is time for me to work on drafts. I don’t usually share my notebooks with other people, so that sense of privacy makes it easy to spew out a quick draft.

The funny thing is, often the drafts are nearly perfect. By just chilling and writing out a few notes, often I find I’ve done 90% of the work. When it comes time, I just do an electronic version in a jiffy and overall I’ve saved myself a lot of time.

Some of the things I’ve jotted down while waiting:

• Price revisions for existing products, with different scenarios. The math is too simple to require a spreadsheet, so paper works great.
• Course plans for training
• Advertising ideas (brochures, web sites, etc.)
• Long-term planning

Say No - LOTS

Learn to relish the feeling of saying, “I’m sorry, I won’t be able to make that meeting” or “no, I’m not interested.” The biggest thing I try to say no to is any kind of obligation that doesn’t either make money or in some way contribute directly to my goals. I don’t accept a lot of obligations any more, period. It doesn’t mean I won’t help people. I just won’t commit to helping someone at a specific time or place.

Have Fun

Often we procrastinate worst when we’re not allowing ourselves to have fun. So take a fun approach to what you’re working on, or intersperse work with fun things. A trick I’ve used for writer’s block is to deliberately start off writing the worst, most offensive thing I could possibly think of. Not only did it make the process fun, but it also often revealed some great ideas that wouldn’t have come to me otherwise.

Stay True

Sounds quixotic, but make sure that you do every day at least one thing that you’re passionate about, or that is related to your long-term missions. Don’t allow days to fill up with tedious tasks while you forget the stuff that really means something to you.

It’s easy for an entrepreneur with a small business to feel dwarfed by the marketing power of big business - companies that can afford to spend a million or more on changes to their image. Can you build an brand for less?

Yes.

Take logos. Seth Godin points out that logos are just placeholders and that generally speaking, investing a lot of money in a logo just doesn’t make sense. You don’t win customers because of your logo; you keep them coming back once they associate your logo with great value. So you need a logo? If you can’t do it yourself, someone else can do it for under $100.

What’s a brand, anyway?

Let’s look back to the origins of corporate image. It began with merchant marks, eventually becoming trademarks. Essentially, trademarks evolved because they enabled merchants to identify their goods and benefit from establishing a reputation for quality.

The big-business version of branding has evolved to create an image of more than just the product. Coke doesn’t compete with Pepsi over the quality of their sugar water, of course, but over associations people have with their brands. However, this is a waste of time for a small business.

Like the merchants, you should only care if you do two things:

1. Generate Sales
2. Bring Customers Back
   

With a new business, you don’t care if people associate your name or logo with “chic” or “rugged” or “daring” qualities. You’re not Nike or Apple; most people don’t even know what you do. So your first goal is for your advertising to bring them in. To that degree, the image your advertising projects may help attract the right customers. If your store sells trendy clothing, you should care most about whether your ads and signs convey what you’re selling and attract good leads. From that perspective, your ads could succeed without even having the name of your business, as long as there’s a way for the customer to take the next step.

Then bring them back. That means it’s all about the product. Focus on satisfying the customers, and that will bring them back. Past experience has shown me that even an unattractive logo and an unimpressive web site can work if your product is good enough, whereas the snazziest business cards, ads brochures and web site can’t save a horrible product.

One of the businesses I co-owned in the past was known among its customers for unattractive, largely inconsistent and even incoherent marketing. Multiple logos and even brands were used but almost interchangeably. Most clients were confused about which brand was even associated with which product.

To top it off, eventually a certain client of ours confided in me that she had initially been introduced to our company because a friend told her to “check out the worst web site you’ve ever seen.” (It was.) Not exactly what a business owner wants to hear, right? But people kept coming back because they liked what we offered. Most of our new business was from word of mouth, and a friend’s recommendation meant so much more than our ugly web site! The business is now very successful and the web site is still ugly.

So image means nothing? No. I’m not advocating ugly web sites as a marketing strategy, or neglecting image-building completely.  Even for small businesses, branding and image can have an impact. The key is identifying the parts of your business that are important. And better than image, is attitude.

Attitude. Instead of thinking about “image” - meaning a facade that your business hides behind - focus on keeping your attitude consistent in the employees you hire and the products you offer.

In some businesses image and attitude are the product: if you’re running a restaurant, the image and attitude create your ambiance, and ambiance can be more important than food in attracting customers. I often patronize one restaurant because its outdoor terrace with a view means more than the mediocre food: it creates ambiance.

Similarly, if you’re running an online business, your web site isn’t just an internet brochure or comforting presence, it IS part of the product.

Ugliness matters

While our ugly web site didn’t seem to affect our ability to get clients, hideous web sites and marketing materials can have an affect: on the employees.  If even you are reluctant to show clients your web site or business card, run, don’t walk, to hire a graphic designer.

Still, it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.

Good enough

You can start building your brand with things that are “just good enough.” Despite what I’ve said, you don’t want an ugly web site or business card, but you don’t need a work of art, either. For under $100 you can get something good enough designed and then move on to the only parts of small-business branding that matter: getting customers, and keeping them.

Schmoozing, the art of making conversation, is a big part of doing business. So why are some people so bad at it? And how can wallflowers become great schmoozers?

There’s no doubt that great conversationalists are usually born with the gift of the gab, but there’s a lot you can learn from great talkers.

Start with a smile. Learning how to look at someone warmly is the most important part of schmoozing. We’re not talking about fake smiles, either. It’s about letting warmth and happiness radiate from you so that people naturally just want to bask in your glow. You can learn to smile warmly at will.

When I had my first serious job interviews, I trained myself to react to pressure by smiling. I’d imagine myself feeling nervous in front of an interviewer and I forced myself to smile broadly and warmly. By the time I got to the interviews, sure enough, it worked. The more nervous I got, the bigger my smile got, and by smiling I relaxed. Many of the interviewers commented on how easy-going and friendly I seemed. If only they knew why!

Schmoozing is about learning who people really are. Ultimately you’re trying to learn about the person behind the face, name and job title. That’s how you build a connection with a person.

So how do you do it? First, don’t let common myths about schmoozing stop you from being a great conversationalist.

THE MYTHS

1. You need a great opening. The only opening you ever need is “hi!” with a big smile. Your attitude says much more to a stranger than the specific words.
2. You have to remember everyone’s name. Some of the best conversationalists I know are lousy at remembering names. It’s good to keep track of people, but more important is the way you treat them. A warm smile and “hey, I can’t believe I’ve forgotten your name!” can be just fine. More important than their name is who they are.
3. I have nothing to say. This might be true. If you’re not a great schmoozer, you probably don’t know what to say. The best idea is to learn more about the people you’re talking with. So prepare a list of things that you should seek to find out, such as:
   • Name - Obviously.
   • Job - What do they do? Do they love or hate their job? What would they rather be doing?
   • Hobbies - Eg. “Harry, I imagine you don’t get a lot of time away from your law practice, but what do you do to relax?”
   • Opinions - What systems or languages does the programmer like? How does the investor feel about technical analysis versus value investing? What does the Yoga instructor think of Pilates or the Alexander Method?
   • Advice - Often people love to give advice related to their area of expertise.
4. Never discuss politics or religion. Simply wrong. You won’t get people talking if you stick to the weather, and you won’t learn who they are until they reveal what they care about.
5. Let them do all the talking. It depends. The key is being truly interested in the people around you and in what they say. One on one, you can often learn a lot by just listening. At the same time, by talking and opening up to the other person, you make them more comfortable opening up to you. And at larger gatherings, the key is to connect with what people are saying. Don’t compete for air time. The best way to enter the conversation is to reference what someone else has said, since by recognizing their contribution to the conversation you make them interested in what you have to say and demonstrate that you’re not just barging in.
6. Don’t prepare, just act naturally. That works for experienced schmoozers whose lifetime of schmoozing serves as preparation, but if schmoozing came naturally you wouldn’t need this list, right? You give yourself an advantage if you prepare for situations in advance. Find out who’s coming to a party or event and Google them or ask around. Going to a gardening conference? Pick up a horticultural magazine. Prepare a list of people you’d like to meet and things you’d like to ask them.

How do I break into a group of people talking?

Sometimes it can work to simply stand or sit down beside the others and start listening. However I’ve found it even more effective to create segues. You’re walking by a group and overhear something. “Hey, did you just say that Windows Vista had a better interface than MacOS X?” “Did you say you’d seen the new Tom Hanks movie? Is it good?” As I’ve said before, more important than the words is the way you say them. If your smile is good enough, you can use just about any segue, even a fake one:

You: “Hey, did you just say you’d installed Linux on your kid’s computer?”

Guy: “Uh, no…”

You: “Oh really? I could have sworn I heard ‘Linux’!”

Guy: “Haha, actually I said I was reading limericks to my daughter before bedtime.”

You: “That’s great that you’re reading to your daughter. They say that reading to your children greatly increases their interest in reading later on. Have you ever read her The Giving Tree?”

Guy: “Yeah, that’s a great one!”

You can try your segue, and see how the group reacts. If you seem to have interrupted a private conversation, just move on and harass someone else at the party. Eventually you’ll find someone desperate enough to talk to you.

Just kidding.

Speaking of which, that’s the other most important thing. Along with your non-fake smile, try to take it easy and laugh a lot. Either people will like talking to you because you’re fun, or at least you’ll be able to laugh at their lack of interest in what you have to say. (Cretins.)