Most of us think of meetings as boring or dislike them for one reason or another.   So, often they lack real progress, decisions are often avoided, they lack purpose, the wrong people are at the meeting or they last too long.

To avoid this history, here are three principles, you as a leader, can employ for more effective meetings:

• Consistency and clarity of purpose
• Foster healthy team debate
• Meeting agendas and best practices

Consistency and Clarity of Purpose: No one wants to hold a meeting “just to hold a meeting” and one shouldn’t.  Here are just a few reasons why holding regular team meetings can add value to your team.  

1. Regular meetings allow for clarity on projects and assignments
2. They help you reinforce important and timely goals
3. They give you space to discuss and clear roadblocks for near-term goals
4. They’re a great time to do some creative idea sharing around services
5. They’re great for recognizing great performance and...

Want something you can do that is free and yields a 40%+ growth in productivity?

In today’s blog we want to remind you of a free, yet powerful tool in your arsenal to help motivate employees and get them more engaged - showing appreciation.

Different from appreciation is recognition, where you point out something wonderful someone did.  Recognition is conditioned on behavior.   But appreciation has to do with the person… and how they add to the team.

Appreciation is based on who you are (your identity), and recognition is based on what you do your performance.  The benefits of expressing appreciation are stunning.  Both recognizing others and appreciating others has tremendous impact on employee performance.

According to a study by the HAAS School of Business at UC Berkeley, when people are recognized for work they did well (their actions) they are 23% more effective and productive over those that were not recognized.

Yet, when people felt...