288 / COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR TEAM
Running briefings
and meetings
Organizing a meeting
Be clear about the purpose of any
meeting before you start planning.
Invite only those people who are directly
related to your goals, and make sure
you include all the key decision-makers.
Once you’ve arranged a time, place, and
date that is convenient to everyone, send
them all an agenda, making clear the
meeting’s theme and goals. In putting
together the agenda, consider the
following questions: What do we need to
do in this meeting? What conversations
will be important to those who attend?
What information will we need to begin?
Briefings and meetings are an inescapable part of business life. They
are a means of sharing information, initiating strategies, perpetuating
a culture, and building consensus around business goals. Done well,
they’re good for business and good for morale.
Prioritize the most important items
so they will be discussed early on in the
meeting, and assign a certain amount
of time for each agenda item.
ASK YOURSELF…
YES NODo I need to call a meeting?
1 Do I need to motivate people, giving them a jump-start
to get going? ......................................................................................
2 Do I need to share general company or market information
with people to help them do their jobs? ..........................................
3 Do I need to initiate a new program or project? .............................
4 Do I wish to introduce people to one another, so they can
benefit from each other’s experiences? ..........................................
Giving a briefing
Briefing is a process by which you
provide information to those who need
it. As with any form of communication,
think about your audience, your purpose,
and the occasion. Find out all you can
about the audience, and what they hope
to take away from the session. State
your purpose clearly and simply at the
beginning of the meeting: “The purpose
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RUNNING BRIEFINGS AND MEETINGS / 289
ANTICIPATE QUESTIONS
Do your best to address
audience concerns, questions,
doubts, and fears in advance.
Plan the content of your
briefing around the needs
of those in the audience.
Tip
CASE STUDY
A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
As CEO of the international retail
giant Walmart, David Glass knew
the company would have to be quick
off the mark with merchandising
strategies, particularly in response
to moves made by competitors.
Each Saturday morning, when
sales results for the week were
transmitted to the corporate
headquarters, Glass would
gather key subordinates to share
information from people in the field.
They would tell the sales team what
their competitors were doing;
the senior team would then
focus on corrective actions
they wanted to take. By noon,
regional managers would telephone
district managers, and they would
discuss and agree the changes they
would implement in the next week.
“By noon on Saturday,” Glass said,
“we had all our corrections in place.
Our competitors, for the most part,
got their sales results on Monday
for the week prior. They were
already 10 days behind.”
Delivering a brief
When giving a briefing meeting, choose
the delivery that best suits your speaking
style and the needs of the audience.
There are three forms to choose from:
•
Memorized presentations These are
delivered verbatim, just as you wrote
them. This gives you total control
over the material, but unless you’re
a trained actor, there’s a risk that
you’ll sound wooden and the material
contrived. Worse yet, you may forget
where you are and have to start again
or refer to notes.
•
Scripted briefings These are more
common, but they can also sound
stilted. The problem with reading
is that you risk losing eye contact,
lowering your chin, and compressing
your vocal pitch. If you do use a
script, rehearse carefully and look
up frequently, making regular eye
contact with your audience.
•
Extemporaneous briefings These are
delivered either without notes or with
visual aids to prompt your memory.
They are the most effective choice,
looking more spontaneous, while
actually being thoroughly researched,
tightly organized, and well rehearsed.
of this briefing is to look at budget
projections for the next 90 days.”
Let them know why you’re calling
the meeting now.
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