We Must Meet

From my experience so far, I learnt that one of the ways of carrying everyone along is through Meetings. Initially, my team members did not look forward to the meetings. The meetings were either too long or irrelevant discussions came up, or the meetings seemed to be like lectures. Knowing that I had the responsibility of conducting effective meetings, I had to change strategy.

Some of the things I learnt along the way are: -

1. Each team member surely has something to say. The meeting is an avenue where they can openly share their thoughts about the process and know what others think about it.
   
2. No suggestion is stupid.
   
3. Meetings should be planned. Agenda, time and venue should be communicated in advance. This would help people be prepared for the meeting.
   
4. The venue must be available. If you cannot get it done yourself, delegate.
   
5. Keep to time. The agenda should be such that time is allocated to each item. If something seems to take too much time, move the discussion to after everything in the meeting agenda has been covered or take it offline.
   
6. Always recap to ensure everyone got the objectives of the meeting.
   
7. Get action items and follow up on them.
   

For further information on how to conduct effective meetings, please visit here and here.

Time for Appraisals

Every quarter, I had a one-to-one appraisal with the team members telling them how they were doing. I joked that they were all D candidates and I expected them to prove me wrong by the end of the year. Yet, I did not look forward to my first end-of-year Performance Appraisal with them. Why? Was it because I did not know how to look into their eyes and say "You did not impress me?" or "You could have done better?"

Well, the time for appraisal had to come. This was the real thing not the quarterly laugh and joke appraisal. My guiding principle was "Be Objective".

The supplementary principles were
1. Be constructive
2. Discuss strengths and weaknesses and their relevance to the organization
3. Effectively listen to the employees feedback
4. Plan for development

All my team members are hardworking and I made sure we all had a one-on-one for the appraisal. The quarterly appraisals helped because it put them on track.

I told them their strengths. They are impressive. But I did not spare them their weaknesses for those had been reasons for frequent meetings and "calibrations" by my manager.

The time for appraisals have come and gone...it was not so bad afterall.

And I had to go for my own afterwards...

How To Conduct A Successful Performance Appraisal
Tips for Successful Performance Appraisal Meetings