Page 187 - Becoming a Successful Manager

178 BUILDING ON YOUR FOUNDATION

Who Will Do What on the Agenda?

Designate the people who will be called on to give a presentation
and what they will be expected to do. Since you want constructive
input, you must enable the speakers to prepare by giving them
suffi cient advance information. Everyone expected to attend is
entitled to have enough foundation and time to prepare and then

contribute. By making your goals known sufficiently in advance,
you will produce a more orderly and productive session.
Staff members should be able to suggest agenda items too, but
this should be done well in advance of the meeting so that you are
able to review the additions and make changes, if necessary. Surprise
agenda items often contribute heat but little light to a meeting.

Final Preparation Tips Summary
• Tip 1: Set up multiple ways for remote participants to facili-
tate feedback and communication during and after the meet-
ing. If people are not required, encouraged, or able to be an
integral part of the meeting, they won’t respect it. You need
to remove any excuses for people not to respect the meeting.
• Tip 2: When possible, send the agenda and/or presentation
materials to participants before the meeting with an expec-
tation that they send feedback regarding them before the
meeting. Invested participants are valuable participants.
• Tip 3: Store or save presentation materials in two places or
formats, that is, in addition to whatever will be used for
the meeting, in electronic or printed form. Have a backup
copy somewhere with you. It can be electronically saved,
sent through e-mail, or printed.
• Tip 4 (specifically for remote access meetings): Do your best

to ensure everyone has the materials, independent of any tech-