Meetings, meetings and more meetings......
How do you balance the DOING with the TALKING ABOUT DOING? I attend many, many meetings (as I'm sure many of us do) that are intended to strategize, talk about the problem, and then, with the end in mind, develop workable solutions. But when does the DOING get done? In my perfect world you assess, create a plan and then implement. Unfortunately many times it seems we fail to get out of the assessment and planning phase and then, well, little to nothing gets done. So consider this path:
1. Assess to see where you are. Data is important but you can data yourself to death so know when you have a reasonable assurance that you've reviewed the RIGHT data and ENOUGH data. Your goal is to be reasonably confident you've assessed the situation correctly. If you find yourself circling the same data fields time and time again you need to disrupt the process and move forward.
2. Make a plan. Plans have to be reasonable, realistic and implementable. Make sure the people responsible for implementation have reviewed it for a reality check. Some of the best laid plans may seem right from the bird's eye view but they don't work on the ground.
3. Implement it. A plan does nothing unless it is implemented. You must DO to achieve.
Meetings should ALWAYS accomplish something. If after a meeting you feel it was time wasted, then reassess the agenda and whether or not this is a good use of your time. Meetings should move things forward toward an intended goal. Meetings should never be an end in and of themselves. Meet well, my friends.
-Mindy Muller, CFRE, President/CEO of CDP
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