We've Got to Start Meeting Like This

Spending several hours a month with those you supervise may seem like Meeting Impossible. But don't stop reading. Other aspects of these reviews may strike a chord with you. For one thing, talk of salary is forbidden in a JP&R meeting. Even more interesting, the subordinate, not the superior, leads the discussion, moving point by point through 10 areas of a review form that the subordinate has filled out in advance.

Vlcek's JP&R meetings include a discussion of the subordinate's dream or mission (a chief financial officer, for instance, might strive for 100%-accurate profit-and-loss statements that are never a day late, with zero past due in collections or payments to suppliers), an analysis of his or her role (what the employee does on a regular basis), a discussion of the employee's needs (both professional and personal, or the need for new software or more employees), and a report on achievements (accomplishments of the last 30 days) and struggles (which provides an opportunity to admit screwups before the boss identifies them). The benefit to the boss: a framework to diplomatically address job concerns. He or she might say, "Instead of this, I think I'd like to see you doing more of that." The meeting closes with a review of the goals and an action plan to meet them. And 30 days later, you're back revisiting those goals. Over time, says Vlcek, you learn to ask yourself, Can it wait till the JP&R? "Eighty-five percent of the time, it can," he says.

But how do you find time for all the hours spent in JP&Rs? Vlcek tells of an executive who countered, "I have seven people reporting to me; I can't spend 21 hours a month doing this." Vlcek handed him a stopwatch and provided these instructions: "Keep it with you. When you're spending your time on something that's screwed up, on something that other people are paid to do and now you're doing, when you're reexplaining things, start this stopwatch. I guarantee you, over the course of a month you'll spend more than 21 hours--because you and your people haven't come to mental agreement on key issues." The executive called back five days later; he was already up to 25 hours on the stopwatch.

Follow the Dots
Organization: An educators' task force
Purpose of Meeting: To write a vision statement for a new-concept high school in two sessions

To get from ground zero to a developed concept in only two sessions lasting two and a half hours each: that was the task facing a dozen educators charged with drafting the vision statement for a new public high school, a magnet-style school to be located on the grounds of the Minnesota Zoological Gardens.

The group succeeded, thanks to a high-speed, high-performance meeting powered by--no kidding--index cards. These workaday note cards form the backbone of a meeting method called "compression planning." A low-tech equivalent of computer-mediated meetings, the technique is taught in workshops by the McNellis Co., in New Brighton, Pa. GM has used it. So has Habitat for Humanity. And so did facilitator Burton A. Cohen, to run the meetings that gave birth to the now three-year-old School for Environmental Studies, in Apple Valley, Minn. (Cohen is now a teacher and administrator at the school.)

One idea of this storyboarding system that could be adapted to almost any meeting: there's no clean slate at the start. On the first board is a statement announcing the purpose of the meeting. On other boards appear ground rules: "We listen to each other." "No speeches." "We address ideas, not people." A meeting leader need only point to a statement to remind attendees of the guidelines.

At the school meeting, two designated people recorded ideas on three-by-five cards. Another person stuck them on fabric-covered boards four feet square. A designated timer watched the clock, signaling the facilitator when it was time to move from the exploration or brainstorming phase of the meeting to the focusing phase, then to the concept board, and finally to the action board. In the focusing phase, ideas were winnowed out and categorized by colored dots. Everybody converged on the boards, selecting their favorite ideas by sticking a dot on the appropriate card. Consensus was easy to spot. Everything was out in the open, and all eyes were on the ideas.

John Grossmann is a writer based in Mountain Lakes, N.J.

What Do You Do?
Has your company found ways to make meetings work? Let us know by E-mail (editors@inc.com), regular mail (Inc., 38 Commercial Wharf, Boston, MA 02110, Attn: Meetings), or fax (617-248-8090).

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