Effective Meeting Basics

8/20/2019 Effective Meeting Basics

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Effective meeting

An effective meeting is a business meeting that serves certain desired purposes in anoptimal way. While meetings are among the core tools for making things happen in any

organizations, they often consume too much time and resources. The two natural benefits of

more effective meetings are:

• Better desired outcomes for you and your organization, including higher uality and

uantity of the results from your pro!ects, better decisions, motivation of the people

involved, and so on.

• "ower costs in time, energy, and other resources for you and your people, leaving

more of those resources to other mission critical tasks.

To ensure higher effectiveness for your corporate or other business meetings you will need

to reevaluate and possibly improve your actions in the following two main areas:

• #eeting planning and preparation, covering such critical elements as clarifying the

desired outcomes in an agenda, communicating those ob!ectives to the people

involved, inviting the right people, allowing people to prepare, choosing the proper

time and place, and arranging the necessary technical support.

• $onducting meetings, including such meeting management aspects as keeping the

meeting focused, using an effective meeting chair, maintaining atmosphere when all

participants can contribute most effectively, and making sure that all valuable points

are properly captured %in the meeting minutes&.

'inally, if you want to improve !ust one thing this time, then start from being more selective.

Before another meeting is called, ask yourself wether this meeting is worth everyone(s time.

)oes it really surve any worthwhile purpose* +robably the least effective meeting to have is

the one that has a hidden agenda to simply make an impression of activity. To create an

ecuse to procrastinate on or escape from taking the necessary actions. To substitute

activities for accomplishments.



Effective meeting planning and organizationguidelines

-ood meeting planning is a necessary prereuisite for any effective business meeting. ere

are the key considerations and practical tips to guide you through the meeting organization

process.

The first and foremost uestion to ask before you start planning any meeting is “What are

the desired outcomes from that meeting?”$larify the answers and write them down.

Addressing this uestion first is absolutely critical for anything else you do in connection to

that meeting.

The second critical uestion is “What is the best tool to reach that

outcome?” /emember that a meeting is !ust one of the tools of interpersonal

communication. "ike any tool, it serves well for certain situations, but may be inadeuate or

inefficient for others. 0n particular, could any of the ob!ectives of the epected meeting be

better achieved some other way* 'or eample, by sending an email, writing a memo, having

a one1on1one conversation, or !ust making a decision on your own. 2r maybe the purpose is

already obsolete, and your meetings are held !ust by tradition*

0t does not make much difference how well planned is the meeting if that meeting does not

need to be conducted in the first place.

The net important uestion of meeting planning and organization is“Who are the right

people to be at the meeting?” Are there any people who are not epected to get any

noticeable benefits or to give any relevant help in this particular meeting* 3o need to waste

their time. 2n the other hand, could you invite an additional person who could provide some

helpful epertise, insights, or first hand facts relevant for the meeting purposes*

)ecide on the appropriate meeting format. -iven the meeting purpose and participants,

would it work better as formal or informal* +ublic or private* #ore like a conference with anumber of presentations* )oes it have to serve certain corporate regulations*

Who will chair the meeting? The chair person, whether it is you or somebody else, needs

enough authority and ability to keep meeting running smoothly. At the same time, the chair

person should be able to remain neutral and not dominating in conducting the meeting. is

or her focus is on keeping the meeting productive, rather than on !ust using his role to



promote his or her own contribution or standing. An effective chairperson keeps the meeting

on track, maintains constructive and positive atmosphere, ensures that nobody hi!acks or

sabotages the meeting, and helps all participants contribute most effectively.

The net meeting planning step is to decide on time and place. 2f course, you want to

schedule time when all the participants, or at least the ma!ority, are available. 4et, pay

attention to other factors as well. Are there any events or engagements near the meeting

time that will compete for the attendees attention. What would be the likely energy and

mind state of the participants* 0n particular, you may want to avoid #onday mornings or

'riday afternoons for a corporate meeting that focuses on mission critical business issues.

As for meeting location, use the following considerations.

•

#inimizing interruptions and distractions.

• 5ase of access to any special sources of information, if relevant for that meeting.

• #aintaining energetic business atmosphere. 4ou may want to avoid too relaing or

too recreational environments, or too much food.

• 6eeping the costs reasonable, adeuate for the meeting purposes and contet.

At this point of meeting organization you are finally ready to prepare and distribute an

agenda, based on the desired outcomes of the meeting.

The agenda is one of the most important documents of meeting planning. 0t should

communicate clearly and briefly the purpose of the meeting, the schedule of the

presentations by the participants, and the key points for discussion, all with specific time

frames. +ut the more important presentations and points first.

aving a clear agenda that is properly communicated to everyone before the meeting

serves a number of purposes, both before and during the meeting. Before the meeting, the

agenda allows everyone to prepare. 5ven when no practical action steps are reuired ordone, the agenda prepares everyone7s conscious and subconscious minds for more effective

work during the meeting. )uring the meeting, the agenda sets priorities and time

frames. 0t is a necessary tool for keeping the meeting focused and productive.



What is planning and why you need to plan

+lanning is one of the most important pro!ect management and time management

techniues. +lanning is preparing a seuence of action steps to achieve some specific goal.

0f you do it effectively, you can reduce much the necessary time and effort of achieving the

goal.

A plan is like a map. When following a plan, you can always see how much you have

progressed towards your pro!ect goal and how far you are from your destination. 6nowing

where you are is essential for making good decisions on where to go or what to do net.

2ne more reason why you need planning is again the 89;9 /ule. 0t is well established that

for unstructured activities 89 percent of the effort give less than ;9 percent of the valuable

outcome. 4ou either spend much time on deciding what to do net, or you are taking many

unnecessary, unfocused, and inefficient steps.

+lanning is also crucial for meeting your needs during each action step with your time,

money, or other resources. With careful planning you often can see if at some point you are

likely to face a problem. 0t is much easier to ad!ust your plan to avoid or smoothen a

coming crisis, rather than to deal with the crisis when it comes unepected.

How to write an action plan

When writing an action plan to achieve a particular goal or outcome, you can get much help

from the following steps.

• Clarify your goal. $an you get a visual picture of the epected outcome* ow can

you see if you have reached your destination* What does make your goalmeasurable* What constraints do you have, like the limits on time, money, or other

resources.

• Write a list of actions. Write down all actions you may need to take to achieve

your goal. At this step focus on generating and writing as many different options and





. $hoose a location suitable to your group(s size. <mall rooms with too many people get

stuffy and create tension. A larger room is more comfortable and encourages individual

epression.

C. =se visual aids for interest %e.g., posters, diagrams, etc.&. +ost a large agenda up front to

which members can refer.

8. Dary meeting places if possible to accommodate different members. Be sure everyone

knows where and when the net meeting will be held.

'uring &he #eeting

>. -reet members and make them feel welcome, even late members when appropriate.

;. 0f possible, serve light refreshmentsE they are good icebreakers and make your members

feel special and comfortable.

?. <tart on time. 5nd on time.

@. /eview the agenda and set priorities for the meeting.

. <tick to the agenda.

. 5ncourage group discussion to get all points of view and ideas. 4ou will have better

uality decisions as well as highly motivated membersE they will feel that attending

meetings is worth their while.

C. 5ncourage feedback. 0deas, activities and commitment to the organization improve when

members see their impact on the decision making process.

8. 6eep conversation focused on the topic. 'eel free to ask for only constructive and non1

repetitive comments. Tactfully end discussions when they are getting nowhere or becoming

destructive or unproductive.

F. 6eep minutes of the meeting for future reference in case a uestion or problem arises.

>9. As a leader, be a role model by listening, showing interest, appreciation and confidence

in members. Admit mistakes.



>>. <ummarize agreements reached and end the meeting on a unifying or positive note. 'or

eample, have members volunteer thoughts of things they feel have been good or

successful or reiterate the organization(s mission.

>;. <et a date, time and place for the net meeting.

fter &he #eeting

>. Write up and distribute minutes within ? or @ days. Guick action reinforces importance of

meeting and reduces errors of memory.

;. )iscuss any problems during the meeting with other officersE come up with ways

improvements can be made.

?. 'ollow1up on delegation decisions. <ee that all members understand and carry1out their

responsibilities.

@. -ive recognition and appreciation to ecellent and timely progress.

. +ut unfinished business on the agenda for the net meeting.

. $onduct a periodic evaluation of the meetings. 3ote any areas that can be analyzed and

improved for more productive meetings. <ee a sample meeting evaluation.

And remember, effective meetings will keep them coming backH

&ime management s(ills and techni)uesTime management skills are your abilities to recognize and solve personal time management

problems. The goal of these time management lessons is to show you what you can do to

improve those skills.



With good time management skills you are in control of your time and your life, of your

stress and energy levels. 4ou make progress at work. 4ou are able to maintain balance

between your work, personal, and family lives. 4ou have enough fleibility to respond to

surprises or new opportunities.

All time management skills are learnable. #ore than likely you will see much improvement

from simply becoming aware of the essence and causes of common personal time

management problems. With these time management lessons, you can see better which

time management techniues are most relevant for your situation.

Iust get started with them. #any of your problems gradually disappear.

0f you already know how you should be managing your time, but you still don(t do it, don(t

give up. What you may be overlooking is the psychological side of your time managementskills, psychological obstacles hidden behind your personality.

)epending on your personal situation, such obstacles may be the primary reason why you

procrastinate, have difficulties saying no, delegating, or making time management

decisions.

The psychological component of your time management skills can also be dealt with. The

time management skills information below will point at a relevant solution for your situation.

Eliminate procrastination

The essence of procrastination is very well reflected in this uote by Bernard

#eltzer: "Hard work is often the easy work you did not do at the proper time."

re you affected?

ave you ever seen your most important tasks being put off until later and then later and

later, while you are getting busy with many not so important activities* )id you hope that

you may have more time and better mood in the future to start the task and do it properly*

)oes an approaching deadline mean a crisis for you* )o you keep hesitating every time you

make a decision*



0f you often see yourself in such low productivity situations, then there is a big chance that

your life got under control of the procrastination habit. And those situations are only the

most eplicit symptoms.

What is it?

A basic definition of procrastination is putting off the things that you should be doing now.

This happens with all of us time after time.

4et, what makes a big difference for your success is your ability to recognize procrastination

reasons and epressions in their different forms, and to promptly take them under control,

before this bad habit steals your opportunities, damages your career and pride, or destroys

your relationships. <o why do not you do it now*

Causes of procrastination

What are typical reasons why you procrastinate* ere are a few

of the most common situations to consider in your anti

procrastination efforts.

0t can be as simple as

• Waiting for the right mood

•

Waiting for the right time

Then look at the way you organize your work. 4ou may notice other reasons for

procrastination like

• "ack of clear goals

• =nderestimating the difficulty of the tasks

• =nderestimating the time reuired to complete the tasks

• =nclear standards for the task outcomes

• 'eeling as the tasks are imposed on you from outside

• Too ambiguous tasks

And there are also many connections with



• =nderdeveloped decision making skills

• 'ear of failure or fear of success

• +erfectionism

&ime #anagement *ortress+ *ree ,ewsletter

ere 0 would like to invite you to my "Time Management Fortress" , a free newsletter

dedicated to building a stronger foundation for your success, one skill at a time.

4ou will be the first to receive some of my most important articles before they are available

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<ubscribe now and you will also get free access to my new report “Getting Unstuck When

You Hae Too Many Things to !o or Under ressure" .

To access your subscription bonus follow the link to the newsletter back issues page. 4ou will

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0 value your trust and respect your privacy. 4our email address is strictly confidentional and

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time.

'ecision ma(ing s(ills and techni)ues

We use our decision making skills to solve problems by selecting one course of action from

several possible alternatives. )ecision making skills are also a key component of time

management skills.

)ecision making can be hard. Almost any decision involves some conflicts or dissatisfaction.

The difficult part is to pick one solution where the positive outcome can outweigh possible

losses. Avoiding decisions often seems easier. 4et, making your own decisions and accepting

the conseuences is the only way to stay in control of your time, your success, and your life.

0f you want to learn more on how to make a decision, here are some decision making tips to

get you started.



A significant part of decision making skills is in knowing and practicing good decision making

techniues. 2ne of the most practical decision making techniues can be summarized in

those simple decision making steps:

>. -dentify the purpose of your decision. What is eactly the problem to be solved*

Why it should be solved*

;. ather information. What factors does the problem involve*

?. -dentify the principles to /udge the alternatives. What standards and

!udgement criteria should the solution meet*

@. %rainstorm and list different possible choices. -enerate ideas for possible

solutions. <ee more on etending your options for your decisions on

my brainstorming tips page.

. Evaluate each choice in terms of its conse)uences. =se your standards and

!udgement criteria to determine the cons and pros of each alternative.

. 'etermine the best alternative. This is much easier after you go through the

above preparation steps.

C. 0ut the decision into action. Transform your decision into specific plan of action

steps. 5ecute your plan.

8. Evaluate the outcome of your decision and action steps.What lessons can be

learnt* This is an important step for further development of your decision making

skills and !udgement.

'inal remark. 0n everyday life we often have to make decisions fast, without enough time to

systematically go through the above action and thinking steps. 0n such situations the most

effective decision making strategy is to keep an eye on your goals and then let your intuition

suggest you the right choice.

1se a decision tree analysis to systematically

arrive at your smartest choice

http://www.time-management-guide.com/brainstorming-tips.html

http://www.time-management-guide.com/brainstorming-tips.html



A decision tree is one of the most systematic tools of decision1making theory and practice.

<uch trees are particularly helpful in situations of comple multistage decision problems. 'or

eample, when you need to plan and organize a seuence of decisions and take into account

how the choices made at earlier stages and the outcomes of possible eternal events

determine the types of decisions and events at later stages of that seuence.

A decision making tree is essentially a diagram that represents, in a specially organized way,

the decisions, the main eternal or other events that introduce uncertainty, as well as

possible outcomes of all those decisions and events.

ere is a schematic eample that illustrates the basic elements of decision trees.

<uares represent decisions you can make. The lines that come out of each suare on its

right show all the available distinct options that can be selected at that decision analysis

point.

$ircles show various circumstances that have uncertain outcomes %'or eample, some types

of events that may affect you on a given path&. The lines that come out of each circle

denote possible outcomes of that uncontrollable circumstance. Write down above each such



line in the decision tree your best guesses for probabilities %for eample, J89KL or J9.8L& of

those different outcomes.

5ach path that can be followed along the decision tree, from left to right, leads to some

specific outcome. 4ou need to describe those end results in terms of your main criteria for

!udging the results of your decisions. 0deally, you will assign each end outcome a

uantitative measure of the overall total benefit you will receive from that outcome %you can

epress it as a perceived monetary value&.

3ow you have a complete decision making tree with specific numbers for both the

probabilities of the uncertain events and the benefit measures %desirability& of each end

result. At this stage the tree can give you more specific recommendation on what would be

your best choices.

0n particular, for each choice that you control %at the decision points shown by suares&, you

can calculate the overall desirability of that choice. Iust sum the benefit measures of all the

end outcomes that can be traced back to that choice %via one path or another&, weighted by

the probabilities of the corresponding paths. This will show you the preferred choice %the

one with the highest overall desirability&.

0f you have more than one decision point, you need to do that calculation for the decisions

that are at the latest stages first. 0dentify the choice that gives the highest overall

desirability and leave only that branch %removing the decision point&. )o the same with the

remaining suares, working your way to the left %to the first decision point in the seuence&.

&he power of intuition in decision ma(ing

As our life becomes more dynamic and less structured, intuition gains more and more

recognition as an essential decision making tool. 4ou have probably heard of eperienced

decision makers who are able to directly recognize the best option or course of action in

many tricky situations. The solution !ust comes to them from somewhere in their

subconscious mind, instead of being a result a lengthy chain of logical derivations or a

computer output from a complicated #onte $arlo simulation.



4es, intuition can make you a much more effective decision maker, especially when you deal

with non1standard situations or in epedient decision making. 4et, before you put more

weight on intuitive choices, there are a few important points you need to keep in mind.

When do you need intuition?)ecision making situations where intuitive approach can help most include the following.

• 5pedient decision making and rapid response are reuired. The circumstances leave

you no time to go through complete rational analysis.

• 'ast paced change. The factors on which you base your analysis change rapidly.

• The problem is poorly structured.

• The factors and rules that you need to take into account are hard to articulate in an

unambiguous way.

• 4ou have to deal with ambiguous, incomplete, or conflicting information.

• There is no precedent.

What is intuition?'irst, what do we mean by intuition in the contet of decision1making* While different

definitions emphasize different aspects, there are three key features that characterize the

intuitive mode of thinking.

>. The process is dominated by your subconscious mind, even if you use your conscious

mind to formulate or rationalize the final results.

;. The information is processed in parallel rather than seuentially. 0nstead of going

through a logical seuence of thoughts one by one, you see the situation more as a

whole, with different fragments emerging in parallel.

?. 4ou are more connected with your emotions. 'or eample, it may occur to you that

an option you consider does not feel right, even though there is no clear logic to

prove that.

-ntuition versus rational analysis

The main alternative to the intuition1based approach is rational thinking. The rational

decision making process relies mostly on logic and uantitative analysis. 4ou consciously



analyze all the options. 4ou formulate the main criteria for !udging the epected outcomes

of your options and you assign certain weights to those criteria to reflect their relative

importance. Then, based on the epected outcomes and their weights, you rate your options

by their perceived utility. 'inally, you choose the option that has the highest rating.

0f, for some options, the epected outcomes involve uncertainty, you will also need to

incorporate in your ratings the perceived probabilities of different possibilities, or even

perform a #onte $arlo simulation.

/ational analysis still plays crucial role in many situations, especially when you have clear

criteria and have to deal with etensive uantitative data, like uantitative finance. 4et, you

will likely face even more business situations where the rational decision making becomes

impractical.

How it wor(s

The simplest way to make sense of why and how intuition works is to think of it as an

advanced pattern recognition device. 4our subconscious mind somehow finds links between

your new situation and various patterns of your past eperiences. 4ou may not recall most

of the details of those eperiences. And even if you did, it may be very hard to epress the

lessons you learnt in a form acceptable for analytical reasoning. 4et, your subconscious

mind still remembers the patterns learnt. 0t can rapidly pro!ect your new circumstances onto

those patterns and send you a message of wisdom. That message comes as your inner

voice and will most likely be epressed in the language of your feelings. 'or eample, some

of the options or solutions you consider may not feel right to you.

How to use intuition effectively

The first important thing to keep in mind is that even when you rely on intuition it is still

very important to do your homework. The intuition will help you navigate faster through

much of unstructured data and can work around certain gaps and conflicts in the available

information. 4et, even intuition can be misled if too many of your facts are wrong or

missing.

+ay attention to your emotional state. 0f you are stressed or in a bad mood, your true inner

voice will be distorted or lost in the background of your strong negative feelings. A similar

effect may happen with strong positive feelings. 0f you want to hear your inner voice, get

over the background of your strong feelings. 'eel them through or let them go. Take a walk.

)o something refreshing. <ay your prayers. 'orgive and accept. <igh. =nclutter your mind.



'inally, you can greatly increase the uality of your intuitive decisions if you include certain

elements of the analytical approach. 0n particular, try to follow the procedure of the rational

analysis first. As much as you can, capture on paper the ideas on the main options and the

criteria for evaluating your choices. Write down the key facts and factors you need to keep

in mind.

'ollowing this procedure is an effective way to feed your subconscious mind with all the

relevant data it needs. 4ou will help yourself even more if you put all those notes together

on paper as a mind map. By having all the important points written in one place you will

also uncluttered your mind. At that stage you are much more ready to listen to your inner

voice.

Enhance your brain power with mind mappingtechni)ues

#ind mapping is a powerful techniue for thinking on paper. 0t can help you greatly in such

tasks as

• goal setting %goal mind mapping&

• pro!ect planning

• organizing information for decision making

• studying new sub!ects or preparing for an eam

• preparing an oral presentation or writing an article or report

• note taking

• brainstorming

and many other Jthink on paperL types of situations.

<pecial role in the development and popularization of mind mapping techniues for

unleashing mind powers belongs to Tony Buzan, who is one of the leading authorities on

learning techniues.



The rationale for the use of mind maps or concept maps comes from a deeper

understanding of how the brain works with information. =nlike a traditional computer, your

brain does not process or organize information in linear seuences. 0nstead it naturally

operates with networks of associations between various ideas. 0f you present information as

a visual network, rather than a linear list, you will greatly enhance you mind powers to

digest that information. 4ou will also stimulate synergy of the left and right sides of your

brain.

To create a concept map you can proceed in the following way. Take a sheet of paper and

put in the middle the central concept of your topic of focus. 'or eample, in the case of goal

setting it can be the overall direction of your goals. 0deally, represent that concept as a

combination of words and an image. Then, starting from that central concept, draw lines to

the sides to represent the main related sub categories for your mind map topic. Take one

main keyword that you associate with each sub topic and print it in capitals over one of

those lines. When you are done with those sub categories, continue the process of

branching out lower level sub concepts. )raw lines from the end of each line from the

previous stage and, as before, mark those lines with the main keywords that distinguish

those concepts.

2ne variation of the techniue is to put sub concepts as a network of bubbles connected

with lines. The keywords are placed inside the bubbles rather than on the lines.

4ou can enhance the visual power of your mind maps by putting images near some of the

concepts. 4ou can also benefit from using colors for better grouping of the related sub

concepts.

0n contrast to a linear list of tet, a graphic concept map clearly represents relative

importance of different sub concepts %by how far they are from the center& as well as how

much they are related to each other %by their proimity on paper&. #ind map is also easier

to etend than a continuous tet. When you need to add a new concept, !ust find some

space to branch out a new line.

While such visual eercise can be done on paper, there are also a few graphic mind mapping

software tools that could streamline the process. #ind mapping software programs greatly

simplify visual map creation as well as management, especially when you need to modify,

store, and organize your mind maps on a regular basis.



How to use a decision matri$ to streamlineyour decision ma(ing process

)ecision matri is one of the simplest decision making techniues. 4ou identify the key

elements of your decision making situation. 4ou assign each such element a special number

%score&. 4ou then put those numbers into a special table and use a simple calculation to tell

you which choice is the best.

This allows you to process a comple decision on paper, one byte at a time, without choking

your mind with too many details at the same time. A decision making matri also makes it

easier for you to comprehend the bigger picture of your situation.

To build a decision matri you first need to decompose your decision making contet into its

basic elements, its building blocks. There are two main types of such building blocks. The

first type is your options oralternatives from which you are choosing. Write those down.

4ou may want to etend your options further by taking another sheet of paper and going

through a brainstorming eercise.

The second type of decision elements is the selection criteria you can use for !udging

your options. 'or eample, various kinds of costs or losses, as well as benefits %in terms of

money, time savings, health, fun, and so on&. Think carefully about those and list all of them

on paper. "ook at them again. $an you make them more clear and specific* Are you missing

any other relevant factors*

3ow you can make the first step in converting your decision contet into numbers. 0n

particular, based on your feeling of the relative importance of different factors, assign each

!udgment criterion %selection factor& some weight of importance. Iust pick some numerical

scale, let7s say > to . Then use that scale for weighing the importance of each criterion. The

more important a given factor feels to you, the higher number you give it, within your

chosen range.

3et use your lists to start a weighted decision matri table. The rows and columns of the

table correspond to your !udgment criteria and optionsalternatives, respectively. The first

column lists all selection criteria. The second column lists the importance weights of the



corresponding criteria. Then each additional column will describe your alternatives. +ut the

names of the alternatives across the top of the weighted matri as column headings.

2core your alternatives. Again choose some rangescale, like 9 to , or 9 to >99. The

roughest scoring system could be M>, 9, > %Jpositive impactL, Jnegative impactL, and Jdoes

not matterL&. 3ow go alternative by alternative %columns&, and then criterion by criterion

%rows&, and put some score at each table cell. The score should reflect your best !udgment,

based on your feelings and knowledge, of the benefits of a given alternative in terms of a

given selection criterion.

3ow based on all those numbers you can calculate the total score%overall desirability& of

each alternative in the weighted decision making matri. 'or each alternative %column& in

the table, multiply all scores by the corresponding weights of importance %from the second

left column&, and then sum those weighted scores together. This one number will be the

total scoredesirability of a given alternative. +ut such numbers in an etra row at the

bottom of the table.

'inally, the alternative that has the highest total score is your decision matri7s conclusion

on what is your best choice.

/eview of )ecision1#aking <killsN

2(ill E$planation E$amples of 1se

*rame a decision inseveral ways to

consider differentsorts of alternatives

&he deliberate use ofdifferent ways of phrasing a

decision that needs to bemade

Changing the wording in a

decision! such as 3How can weprovide low4cost health care to

everyone?3 to 3How can wereduce the cost of )uality health

care?3



eneratealternatives

Coming up with several

possible ways to satisfy thegoals of the decision

&wo possible alternatives are+ 56

provide incentives to (eep

health care costs down! 76 addbasic medical information to

high school curricula

Evaluate the

conse)uences ofvarious alternatives

&hin(ing through li(ely and

unli(ely results of differentalternative solutions

&he incentive system for healthcare might reduce the )uality of

care. iving everyone betterhealth education could prevent

some illness.

8ecognize the bias inhindsight analysis

Hindsight analysis is the

reevaluation of a decisionafter its conse)uences are

(nown

fter a parolee (ills someone!

many people want to fire theparole board. C& recognizes

that the decision may have beenreasonable at the time it was

made! regardless of pooroutcome.

1se a decision4ma(ing wor(sheet

procedure for listingalternatives and importantconsiderations and then

calculating a decision

-n deciding what to do about arevolution! the leaders could listpossible actions! analyze and

weigh them! and then calculate

a decision.

void the

entrapment bias

Entrapment occurs when acourse of action re)uires

additional investmentsbeyond those already made.

2hana decides to stic( with her

boyfriend who treats her badlybecause she has already

invested several years of timeand energy in the relationship.

2ee( disconfirmingevidence

&here is a pervasive bias tosee( information that

confirms what we believe tobe true! and to ignore or

minimize evidence to thecontrary.

#a(e a conscious effort to find

information that would notsupport the dicision to have

children when you are inclinedto have children.

%e aware of the

effects of memory on

decisions

We generate alternatives

and decisions that we can

easily recall.

2ee( a variety of input when

deciding which college to

attend.

N<ummarized from alpern, Thinking $ritically About $riticalThinking, "awrence 5rlbaum Associates, >FF.

%uild coping s(ills to withstand life9schallenges



4our coping skills are your ability to handle life(s challenges in the most effective ways,

maimizing your chances of success or survival, and minimizing the damages and other

negative conseuences. There is a virtually unlimited spectrum of difficult, or even

potentially devastating, situations that life could hit you with, sooner or later. 0t may be a

serious illness or chronic pain, an abusive relationship, divorce, big financial loss, burnout,

business or career failure, a child with A)) or autism, and so on. 0t could be a one time

blow, like a loss of loved one, or it could be something that stays a big challenge for many

years, even for life, without giving you much of break.

Will you be lost and destroyed under stress or will you have strong enough coping skills to

stay in control and do the best that can be done* Will you have the resiliency to come out

stronger than you ever were*

While some of the coping skills and strategies %or rather tactics& are specific to the type of

challenges you are facing, the most important of those skills are fairly universal. 4our ability

to cope well and stay in control depends most on your strengths in the following two areas:

• your actions,

• your emotions.

'ortunately, there are certain skills and coping strategies you can build or improve that

could make you much stronger in each of those areas.

:our actions

3early in every challenging situation there is a number of specific actions you could do to

reach a successful resolution or to ease the pain and minimize damages. 4our effectiveness

in that will mainly be determined by your thinking skills and abilities. 'or eample, if there is

no reasonable alternative in sight then you need to unlock your creativity to think laterally

and brainstorm some options. 0f there are too many options and difficult trade1offs then you

need your !udgment and your decision making skills to select the best course of action.

'inally, you most likely have only limited time and resources to realize that course. ence

you depend on good planning and time management skills to develop and eecute a good

plan.

#aybe you were content with your level of such thinking and coping skills in uiet times. But

now there is a complication. When faced with outstanding challenges you are often in

situations of high emotional arousal, under stress. And, as you may have already realized,



high emotional arousal can significantly distort our thinking, and very often not to our

advantage. ow do you deal with that*

A good line of defense is to learn and use more systematic thinking strategies. Think on

paper, as much as possible. "earn to think on paper %OpaperO could be a tet file on your

computer&. 0nstead of agonizing or letting your mind race, take a deep breath and !ot down

your main thoughts. Brainstorm on paper. 'ollow a seuence of systematic decision making

steps, on paper. -o as far as you can with that %even if your switch to pure intuition in the

end&. The more you practice that, the more robust and uncluttered your thinking will be.

'inally, for situations when you need to make uick decisions on the fly, your intuition is

probably your best guide, if you learn to tell apart its voice from the noises of the stressful

moments %4ou can strengthen this ability in the course of working on your emotional

intelligence skills&.

:our emotions

=nderstanding how to adeuately handle your emotions, your emotional intelligence, is an

absolutely critical aspect of coping skills. 5motions are essentially messages from your inner

brain to your consciousness. Those messages use a different language than your thoughts,

the language of physical sensations in your body. That language is more powerful, direct,

and efficient than thoughts in communicating certain types of information that are critical

for your survival.

4our emotions can carry valuable clues for finding solutions and navigating through the

most difficult problems you may face, if you learn to read them properly. owever, like any

concentrated power, emotions can turn highly destructive if mishandled.

There are two main ways how your emotions can work as destructive power against you.

'irst, they can cloud or totally block your thinking, decision making, and creative abilities.

Those abilities that you may need most to resolve the threatening situation. They can

paralyze your actions. 0nstead of being keenly aware of your emotions of the moment and

accepting them as nothing more as messengers you could fall into the trap of letting them

overwhelm you and take full control of your thoughts and actions.



The second destructive force, which is a longer1term effect, comes from emotions that were

left unresolved, from the past. Those emotions pile up with time, like unhandled mail,

somewhere in the background, underneath your mind. They become toic waste that keeps

draining your energy, narrows your thinking, makes you apathic or drives you to self1

destruction. That emotional baggage can hold you back in life and take a heavy toll on your

health.

ow do you prevent your emotions from turning into your enemy* 2ne of the main

strategies is to work on developing your emotional intelligence. 4our level of emotional

intelligence is not something you are !ust born with. 4ou can systematically build it, but it

takes some time and work.

The first necessary step on that path is gaining a good knowledge base on that topic, mainly

through reading. 0n the process, you can use your growing base for identifying and critically

reassessing your beliefs about emotions and your relationship with them. There is much

more to it than may seem on the surface.

8ecommended reading for developing coping

s(ills

ere is our very selective picks for what would be some of the most insightful and practical

books that can help you strengthen your ability to cope with life7s challenges. They can also

help you move faster to success in any area.

2urvivor 0ersonality by Al Siebert

A very good starting point and overall map for developing coping skills and resiliency. )r. Al

<iebert, a psychologist, has devoted over @9 years of his life to studying survivors, people

who were able to live through and rise from life situations where most perish or fail, from

death camps and incurable illnesses to a wide range of other scenarios of devastating

change. 0t appears that, beneath the surface, those people often share a number of key

traits in their thinking and approaches to life. <urprisingly, many of those traits are not uite

what you would epect from common stereotypes of survivors. The insights of this book can

drastically change how you go about challenges in your life.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0399522301?ie=UTF8&tag=personatimema-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0399522301




8aising :our Emotional -ntelligence+ 0ractical uide by Jeanne S. Segal

0n coping with change or other life7s challenges, your emotions can be your best friend or

your worst enemy. They can navigate you through the darkness and give you critical clues

for problem resolution, but they also have the power to override and block your thinking

and paralyze whatever other coping skills and strategies you may have, depending on your

level of emotional intelligence. This book is a good starting point and base for building

strengths on the emotional components of the coping skills.

&ime log techni)ues

Time tracking with a time log is much more than a boring eercise in book keeping. 0f you

approach it right, it will become a very effective time management learning tool. A few

minutes of writing and analyzing your time and activity logs will eliminate many hours of

wasted time.

Embrace the reality of your personal time

=nless this has already happen to you before, your time log is more than likely to surprise

you. 4ou will see how much time is wasted in many unepected ways. 2ften it appears that

the busier you feel the more time is wasted.

Another important discovery is how much time things really take. 2ne of the most common

problems in personal time management isunderestimating the time needed for each

specific activity. 'irst this is one of the reasons why planning and scheduling do not seem

work well for some people. 0f you always epect much more than you can fit in your time,

than writing plans and to do lists !ust gets you more stressed.





-et a realistic picture of your time and you will feel much more in control. 0n fact, you will

move much faster with less stress.

0reparing and writing your time log

4ou don(t need to keep writing a time log permanently. 0t is sufficient to do it for ?1C days,

and repeat this procedure time after time. 4et, when you write a time log, make sure you

don(t miss any even minor activity. )on(t let your time wasters to hide there. <o that not to

waste much time on writing time tracking records, take a little preparation step. Take a

sheet of paper and divide it into columns named like

• Time

• Activities

• <cheduled

• 0nterrupted

• =rgent

• +eople %involved&

Then continue with activities you would normally do that day. 2n the way, update your time

log. )o it either every time you switch to new activity or at some short time intervals, like

>91;9 minutes. Add entries to your OTimeO and OActivitiesO column, and try to put marks likeO4esO or O3oO in the O<cheduledO, O0nterruptedO, and O=rgentO columns. Where relevant,

make short notes on what people you spend time with too.

What does your time log tell you?

When you have your time log written, you can move to the most important part, the

analysis. /eview your records and try to get answers to the following uestions.

• What percentage of your time is spent in each of different areas of your life* ow is

it divided between Work, Business, 'amily, /ecreational, <piritual, ealth*

• What percentage of your activities are important*

• Are urgent*

• What people you spend more time with*

• What percentage of your activities go as planned*



• What are main interruptions*

Then think of possible ad!ustments and action steps. 'or eample:

• Are there any activities you can cut back on*

•

0s there anything you can delegate or simplify*

• $an you save time by grouping related tasks, like shopping*

-t will get you over the psychological barrier

ave you ever tried to convince anyone to change their view of him1 or herself* Was it

easy* We often feel resistance to eternal !udgments of our personality or habits. 0t is much

easier to accept a change if we discover things for ourselves, if the !udgment is our own.

<omething similar happens with time spending habits. When you discover how you really

spend your time, and do it yourself from your own time log, you will feel much more

comfortable when changing your time management attitudes and habits.

dvantages of a personal digital assistant

; 0' 6A personal digital assistant % +)A & allows you to efficiently access, organize, collect, store,

and process various kinds of information, and work with it on the run. 0t is small in size, like

a pocket calculator or a pocket address book. Being a hand1held electronic device, it is

designed to fit your palm as easily as your pocket. =nlike an ordinary computer, it is

always with you.

4et, a handheld +)A is much smarter than most pocket electronic devices and time

management tools. 0t is a computer with a powerful processor and uite a large chunk of

memory, like 81>;8 #b. A +)A allows you to run any of thousands of various kinds of

software applications currently available for it.



:ou can easily communicate with a 0' via its oversized interactive screen area, its

special pen %the stylus& for touching that screen, and support of a few etra buttons at its

bottom. A +)A often can recognize your hand writing.

Basic functionality of a +)A is to store and retrieve phone numbers andaddresses,

maintain a to do list and a calendar. 0t is also a memo pad for taking notes at meetings, as

well as for capturing ideas, observations, and personal comments.

There are two main features that put a hand1held +)A much above a basic personal

organizer. 2ne is its ability to be connected and communicate with many other electronic

devices, like a +$ or digital camera. The other is the etensive abilities of the pda software.

Together with the third, the Oalways with youO feature, all this combines into a powerful and

versatile personal assistant.

<o, the first important point is that you can connect a 0' to other electronic devices,

though sometimes it may reuire additional +)A accessories. That allows you to work with a

larger variety of data, much beyond of what you can !ust type in into a basic personal

organizer. 0n particular, many +)As can be connected to your 0C for a data or file

echange. 4ou can add the information you(ve collected with a +)A to some central

database or to a report that you do on your +$. 4ou can also get more information into your

+)A from your +$, for eample, from internet downloads %e1books or newspaper files& or

other files. Another common situation is to get into your +)A images from your digital

camera.

0t is also important that two 0's can tal( directly to each other via infrared signals

%ObeamingO&, which allows an easy echange of information, for eample, e$change of

business cards, without typing anything in. This is particularly convenient when working in

a team. 'or eample, if one of the team members has collected certain important data and

made updates for himself or herself, those updates can be distributed among all team

members via beaming. This is one of the reasons why many business owners buy +)As for

their employees.

As for +)A software applications, they include word processing, spreadsheets, games,

money management, weight or fitness monitoring, electronic boo( reading programs,

street map +)A software, bible software, a 0ower 0oint presenter and many more. <ome

for general users, some for more specialized professional groups, like car salespeople, real

estate agents, medical doctors, or lawyers. <ome +)As allow e4mail and internet access,

http://www.time-management-guide.com/to-do-list.html

http://www.time-management-guide.com/to-do-list.html



while on many others you can prepare e1mails on a +)A but send them later, when you

connect to your +$. <ome of that software may already be installed on your +)A when you

by it. 2ften you need to buy or download it from the internet, sometimes for free.

3ote that, in combination, all those possibilities of echanging information and keeping

electronic files and software on your +)Agreatly reduce the amount of paper %document

and reference printouts, various notes& you need to shuffle and carry around.

What about security concerns* With a +)A you can do a regular bac(up of your +)A held

data onto your +$. <o, security1wise, a +)A still beats paper systems.

0da comparison tips+ Choosing the best pdafor you

Before you move on to pda comparison charts and start reading pda reviews, it is important

that you prepare yourself first.

<tart by clarifying your personal needs and getting the overall picture of various pda

features and their relevance for you. Without such a picture you may be misled by some

pda comparison charts that are limited to only most obvious, but often not most relevant,

pda characteristics, or that only emphasize the strongest features of the specific handheld

computer brand they are promoting.

3ote that a simple pda rating by price is not a good strategy in finding the best pda. The

most epensive pda may actually appear the worst for your personal needs. 4ou may be

paying a lot for features that you don(t use, or, even worse, for features that only make your

every day pda use more complicated and less convenient.



'irst, think about, or even write down, your different epectations for how a pda could help

you in your every day activities. +rioritize. Which of those epected benefits are most

important for you and you are most likely to use in practice* 'or eample:

• )o you want to have an effective personal organizer for your appointments, plans,

and contacts*

• )o you also want to run certain software relevant for your business* %"ike a

database of real estate or customer information&

• )o you want to minimize distractions or would rather turn your pda into a portable

entertainment center*

• )o you need to check your email from a pda* 2r you come by your desktop or laptop

computer often enough to do it more conveniently from there* The same uestion

for pda internet browsing* %3ote that pda internet browsing convenience is relatively

far from that on an ordinary computer, due to much smaller screen&

• 2r maybe you !ust like the feeling of having all the newest technology advances in

your hand held computer, no matter that you use them only occasionally, if ever*

ave you ever used any hand held computer before* 0f yes, what can you learn from that

eperience* What features worked best for you* 0f this is your first pda, it is wise to go

more conservatively and start from a more basic model. 0f needed you can always move to

more advanced models later, as you learn and as you clarify your specific needs and tastes

from eperience.

,eed wireless connectivity?

0f you want to check emails, browse the internet, or connect to remote computers from your

pda, you need a wireless enabled piece. The main kinds of options are BlueTooth, wireless

ethernet %Wi1'i&, and a cellular phone type %like -<# or +$)&.

BlueTooth is the simplest and most short range option: you can connect to anothercomputer in the same room or to a BlueTooth enabled cell phone, and then connect to the

internet via those devices.

Wireless ethernet is still short range %within ?99 feet or less& and allows you to connect to

only non1mobile local network or computer, not to a cell phone. Wireless ethernet also

consumes more battery power.





0rioritizing effectively

+rioritizing skills are your ability to see what tasks are more important at each moment and

give those tasks more of your attention, energy, and time. 4ou focus on what is important at

the epense of lower value activities.

$. /ay Iohnson, in one of the final chapters of his book $52 "ogic : ow to Think and Act

"ike a $hief 5ecutive, summarizes: "Prioritizing is the answer to time management

problems - not computers, efficiency experts, or matrix scheduling. ou do not need to do

wor! faster or to eliminate gaps in productiity to ma!e better use of your time. ou need

to spend more time on the right things..."

We all have many things to do, and we never have time and

energy to do them all. We don(t have time and resources to do

them eually well either. #any things will be left undone, no

matter how hard you try. +rioritizing is a way to solve that

frustrating problem.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1564143511






2ne key reason why prioritizing works, and works well, is the 89;9 /ule. The 89;9 /ule

states that 89 percent of our typical activities contribute less than ;9 percent to the value of

our work.

<o, if you do only the most important ;9 percent of your tasks you still get most of the

value. Then, if you focus most of your efforts on those top value activities, you achieve

much more than before, or you will have more time to spend with your family.

+rioritizing is about making choices of what to do and what not to do. To prioritize effectively

you need to be able to recognize what is important, as well as to see the difference between

urgent and important.

The important, or high priority, tasks are the tasks that help us achieve our long1term goals

or can have other meaningful and significant long1term conseuences.

At first glance, many of the tasks we face during a day seem eually urgent and important.

4et, if you take a closer look, you will see that many of the urgent activities we are involved

are not really important in the long run. At the same time, things that are most important

for us, like improving ourselves and our skills, getting a better education, spending time

with family, often are not urgent.

With good prioritizing skills, you finish as soon as possible all the important urgent tasks,

the ones that would get you into a crisis or trouble otherwise. Then, you focus your

attention and try to give more and more time to those most important, but not urgent

tasks, the ones that are most rewarding in the long run.

+rioritizing principles can be applied to both planned and unplanned activities.

'or planned activities, like the ones included in your to do list, you can mark each of your

tasks with OAO, OBO, or O$O, depending on its importance. The OBO tasks should be done only

after you are finished with all the most important OAO tasks, the ones that !ust must be

done. 0f you have time after you are finished with the OBO tasks, you can move on to the O$O

ones.

When you set priorities in to do lists, also keep asking yourself if any of your tasks can be

eliminated or delegated.



When you prioritize unplanned activities, you often need to make uick decisions, and you

don(t have time to analyze the situation in full. 0t is best !ust to keep in mind your goals and

rely on your instincts. 4our effectiveness in such situations depends very much on the clarity

of your goals.

Effective delegation s(ill

)elegation skill is the ability to effectively assign task responsibility and authority to others.

2r, in other words, delegation skill is your ability to get things done by using work and time

of other people.

5ffective delegation is a critical survival s(ill for managers and supervisors, and this is

what many delegation training resources are about. 4et, what is less often emphasized is

that understanding delegation skill and knowing how to use it right is an

important personal time management s(ill. 3o matter if you have subordinates or

bosses, if it is at work or at home.

'o you have to do everything yourself?

The delegation process normally starts from asking yourself if you are the right person to do

the task, and then who is the right person for this task. A common trap here is thinking

like O0f you want anything done right, you have to do it yourselfO. <uch thinking is a sure

way to stay overloaded with the same kind of work. 0t is a severe limit on how far you can

go and how much you can grow in your !ob, business, or personal life.

Who should do it then?

The first important component of the delegation skill is choosing the right person to

delegate the task to %delegatee&.

4ou can use the following simple strategies. 'irst, if you have subordinates, can any of them

do the task at lower cost than you* 0f you are concerned with that they do it worse than

you, can they do it at least 89 percent as good as you would, or could you train them to do

it so*

0f the task reuires making decisions you are not authorized to make, when it is very right

to delegate it to your boss.



*ind a win4win deal

2utside the standard boss1subordinate situation, a key component of the delegation skill is

the ability to find a win4win deal, and still delegate the task to someone.

A common win1win situation is when delegating the task saves your time and gives avaluable learning eperience, skill training, or an interesting opportunity for the delegatee.

2ne more situation is task or service echange, when someone does a task for you in

echange for that you do another task for herhim. 'inally, it may be more effective !ust to

buy some particular service from outside, or delegate the task to technologies, for eample,

to some special software.

:ou still have responsibilities

'or your delegation skill to work, make sure that you will be able to monitor the progress of

task eecution and know if the task is actually completed. When you delegate, normally you

are still responsible for that the tas( is completed. Avoid delegation when you are

unable to monitor the completion status.

:et! delegate the whole tas(

What you live to the delegatee is the responsibility for how the tas( is e$ecuted, the

method of eecution. When you do this, for the delegation to be effective it is important that

you delegate the whole tas(. 4ou need to effectively and clearly communicate to the

delegatee what outcome is epected and what reuirement are for the task results.

This is very important for the delegatee(s motivation and performance, as well as for your

satisfaction with the task results.

&eam wor( and team building essentials

Team building skills are critical for your effectiveness as a manager or entrepreneur. And

even if you are not in a management or leadership role yet, better understanding of team

work can make you a more effective employee and give you an etra edge in your corporate

office.



A team building success is when your team can accomplish something much bigger and

work more effectively than a group of the same individuals working on their own. 4ou have

a strong synergy of individual contributions. But there are two critical factors in building a

high performance team.

The first factor in team effectiveness is the diversity of skills and personalities. When people

use their strengths in full, but can compensate for each other(s weaknesses. When different

personality types balance and complement each other.

The other critical element of team work success is that all the team efforts are directed

towards the same clear goals, the team goals. This relies heavily on good communication in

the team and the harmony in member relationships.

0n real life, team work success rarely happens by itself, without focused team buildingefforts and activities. There is simply too much space for problems. 'or eample, different

personalities, instead of complementing and balancing each other, may build up conflicts. 2r

even worse, some people with similar personalities may start fighting for authority and

dominance in certain areas of epertise. 5ven if the team goals are clear and accepted by

everyone, there may be no team commitment to the group goals or no consensus on the

means of achieving those goals: individuals in the team !ust follow their personal opinions

and move in conflicting directions. There may be a lack of trust and openness that blocks

the critical communication and leads to loss of coordination in the individual efforts. And on

and on. This is why every team needs a good leader who is able to deal with all such team

work issues.

ere are some additional team building ideas, techniues, and tips you can try when

managing teams in your situation.

• #ake sure that the team goals are totally clear and completely understood and

accepted by each team member.

• #ake sure there is complete clarity in who is responsible for what and avoid

overlapping authority. 'or eample, if there is a risk that two team members will be

competing for control in certain area, try to divide that area into two distinct parts

and give each more complete control in one of those parts, according to those

individual(s strengths and personal inclinations.



• Build trust with your team members by spending one1on1one time in an atmosphere

of honesty and openness. Be loyal to your employees, if you epect the same.

• Allow your office team members build trust and openness between each other in

team building activities and events. -ive them some opportunities of etra social

time with each other in an atmosphere that encourages open communication. 'or

eample in a group lunch on 'riday. Though be careful with those corporate team

building activities or events in which socializing competes too much with someone(s

family time.

• 'or issues that rely heavily on the team consensus and commitment, try to involve

the whole team in the decision making process. 'or eample, via group goal setting

or group sessions with collective discussions of possible decision options or solution

ideas. What you want to achieve here is that each team member feels his or herownership in the final decision, solution, or idea. And the more he or she feels this

way, the more likely he or she is to agree with and commit to the decided line of

action, the more you build team commitment to the goals and decisions.

• When managing teams, make sure there are no blocked lines of communications and

you and your people are kept fully informed.

5ven when your team is spread over different locations, you can still maintain

effective team communication. Iust do your meetings online and slash your travelcosts. Clic( here for a free test drive.

• Be careful with interpersonal issues. /ecognize them early and deal with them in full.

• )on(t miss opportunities to empower your employees. <ay thank you or show

appreciation of an individual team player(s work.

• )on(t limit yourself to negative feedback. Be fare. Whenever there is an opportunity,

give positive feedback as well.

'inally, though team work and team building can offer many challenges, the pay off from a

high performance team is well worth it.

http://www.kqzyfj.com/click-1762329-10363078




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