Hello dear readers and subscribers of Andrey Noak's Blog! Today I will tell you how to hold a planning meeting.

To manage any team, the leader must lead his subordinates. Effective team management should be carried out quickly, timely and efficiently.

The leader must monitor the work of certain people in a timely manner and, if necessary, direct their work. It is very convenient to use a planning meeting for this, where work is planned for a short period of time, most often it is one working day or one shift.

At the planning meeting, the leader has several tasks:

1. Monitor and ask subordinates the performance of production indicators.
2. Ask subordinates to perform technological discipline.
3. Monitor the implementation of safety procedures in production.
4. Check the progress of current affairs.
5. Get information about the stocks of raw materials and materials for the production of products.
6. Obtain data on production, implementation of the plan, compliance with safe working conditions.
7. Motivate workers.

The main task of the leader is to convey to the team his vision of the entire process of the work of the team, how, in the opinion of the leader, the site entrusted to him should work. His task is to set up and so that the work process is exactly the way he needs it.

Ways to increase the effectiveness of planning meetings

So let's figure out what needs to be done in order to competently conduct a planning meeting in production:

• It is worth being able to distinguish between a planning meeting and a meeting. A planning meeting is a short event where current issues are discussed, as a rule, the maximum time spent on a planning meeting is 15-20 minutes. The meeting takes much more time and discusses not so much current issues as issues for the future.
• Over time and experience, each leader determines some specific reference points along which he passes. For some points, every planning meeting, for some less often. So these questions should be before the head on paper. It is necessary to conduct a planning meeting according to the developed template, but if necessary, you can easily change the template.
• For the effective holding of planning meetings, it is necessary to fix the task for the leader for subordinates, the subordinate tasks that the leader sets. This is done in order to see the activities that need to be performed. Then it will be possible to say that there was a task from such and such a number and it was not completed. A map of actions for the nearest working time appears in front of the subordinate.
• At the planning meeting, the tasks and scope of work for the current period of time should be clearly distributed. Everyone should know who and what will do.

When is a mat effective?

Is a mat in production necessary at all, not to mention the fact that the boss raises his hand to a subordinate? There is no single answer today. But it is safe to say that given form government is outliving itself.

The leader must be respected in the team, and put in the place of a subordinate, give him motivation, sometimes it is easiest to do it in an elevated tone. The leader should not forget that if he wants respect from the team, he needs to learn to respect the team himself. Today we can say that the boss needs to understand and feel where to raise his voice, and where to speak in a calm tone:

1. If a constructive dialogue is needed, definitely a calm conversation. Where the employee's creative initiative is needed, so that the employee comes up with something new, there, as a rule, the planning meeting takes place in a more relaxed atmosphere.
2. If you need to motivate and put subordinates in their place, it is possible to knock on the table with your fist, say a couple of swear words. By the way, it is precisely about such cases that they often say: “Beat your own people so that strangers are afraid.”As a rule, raising your voice at a planning meeting is necessary where the direct execution of a task is necessary, without unauthorized actions of a subordinate. But do not forget that today is the age of technology, every mat can be recorded on a voice recorder and then sued.

Good luck and see you soon!

During the meeting, the leader must convey useful information to subordinates and set clear tasks for them. If everything is done correctly, labor efficiency will increase, otherwise the order of meetings should be reviewed.

How often do you hold meetings? How often do your employees get something useful from them? Do they understand the goals and objectives that you have set for them?

Does the efficiency of their work increase after planning meetings? Are you getting adequate feedback? If you answered “no” to at least one question, then you need to learn how to conduct effective meetings and planning meetings in order to waste a minimum of time on them and get the maximum benefit.

Effective meeting

With the help of meetings, communication is maintained between different departments and within the departments themselves, the decisions made are embodied and the motivation for the performance of work among individual employees is increased. But only an effective meeting can solve these problems, so check yourself if your meetings meet the following criteria:

1. Format conformance. There are several types of meetings: meeting, briefing and operative. Each of these meetings has its own goals and accordingly lasts for different times. The operative is designed to solve the problem that has just arisen.

It usually lasts 5-10 minutes, it gathers people directly related to the problem. A planning meeting is usually held every day in the morning and lasts 25-30 minutes. During this time, the manager needs to set tasks for the day, get feedback on the results of the previous day and adjust plans if necessary.

The meeting aims to find a solution global problem, form a new offer for your market, develop new program motivation, etc.

Often meetings are divided into two stages - the first is held in the evening, it sets the goals of the meeting, outlines the problems that will be discussed. In the morning, the second stage begins, which can last up to two hours. A full meeting is pure creativity.

2. Specification of tasks. Each meeting should have clearly defined tasks that are announced to the participants in advance. Deviation from the agenda is highly undesirable.

3. Rigid regulations. A meeting must have a start and end time, whether or not all the invitees show up. Set clear time limits, eg end agenda item 1 in 25 minutes.

Set aside a certain time for each speaker - 5 minutes is enough, this will teach people to talk to the point. If you hear extraneous conversations or digression from the topic, stop these attempts, save your time.

4. Optimal composition. The meeting must be attended by the people it concerns. Just like that, sit and listen, do not invite anyone. Let everyone mind their own business.

5. Word to everyone. Each participant in the meeting should have the opportunity to express their opinion on a particular issue. Do not interfere and, moreover, do not interrupt the employee’s speech, even if it goes against your point of view. Do you need adequate feedback?

6. Record keeping. Agenda is not the only binding document meetings. The protocol, which records all the main points, the employees who spoke in order of priority, their opinion on a particular issue, and most importantly the results of the meeting, is a very useful paper.

Be sure to send out a newsletter to the meeting participants so that they always have it at hand for clarification of any points. So it will be more convenient to control the implementation of tasks and analyze the results. It is the “task - results - control - task” scheme that allows you to make the meetings the most efficient and concise.

7. Planned meeting. Every employee should know when again invited to the meeting room. Surprise is a bad helper in organizing meetings, participants do not have time to prepare or do not come at all due to absence from the office.

If a problem arose suddenly, and you decided to call an operative to solve it, get ready for the answers “I don’t know,” “I need to check,” and “I will provide you with a report later.”

How to prepare and conduct an effective meeting?

To have an effective meeting, you must first prepare for it. Before starting the meeting, the leader should clarify the following questions for himself:

• What goals does the meeting pursue and what tasks does the meeting solve?
• what is the format of the meeting, what are the roles of the meeting participants. The roles of employees are distributed in advance: there must be a chairman and a secretary. Also determine the exact start and end time of the meeting.
• what is the structure of the meeting. A typical structure looks like this:
• greetings;
• announcement of the goals of the meeting, the tasks set, the format of the meeting;
• discussion and analysis of existing problems;
• receiving feedback from performers;
• analysis of the results and setting tasks for the near future;
• summarizing.
• What is the agenda for the meeting. Determine the exact time to work through each agenda item, allocate time for a break if the meeting involves a long time.
• what documents will be needed. Prepare all the necessary information that will be of interest to the participants, make a distribution of materials so that they are studied in advance.
• whether a meeting is necessary. Before sending out invitations to a meeting, check if it is really necessary.

Answer these questions for yourself:

• Do the tasks you set need to be addressed right now?
• What should participants take away from the meeting?
• How should their work change after the meeting?
• Has all the necessary information been collected? Will you get a "don't know" answer to any question?
• Is it possible to solve the problem in another way, without holding meetings?

Remember the simple rules for effective meetings, keep the audience focused on the main goal, keep the discussion positive or neutral, and encourage them to express their own opinions.

Then you will get an increase in the efficiency of your employees and at the same time reduce the amount of time wasted.

In Russia, it is not customary to gather in a team for work tasks. This is due to the fact that everyone is in a hurry to do their business at work, and not sit at meetings and procrastinate on obvious topics. But what if such meetings will be useful for everyone, they will be held efficiently and quickly? Then it is foolish to refuse them. Therefore, we introduce in your company such an event as a planning meeting, from the basics to ready-made templates.

Maybe we should not?

Have you ever tried to hold meetings with employees? If yes, then I'm sure you have come across at the end of the event with such statements as "We talked about nothing again." This is a classic situation and it is associated with not knowing how to conduct planning meetings, and not with the fact that it is generally bad and inefficient.

And in order to immediately dot all the points, let's fix the very concept of what a planning meeting is. And pay attention, I take it not from my head, but from any dictionary by type: Ozhegov, Efremov, Dal, Tikhonov or Kuznetsov. They all give, plus or minus, the same description.

Planerka - a short meeting to evaluate and determine the progress of the tasks.

Keyword- a short meeting. This is what distinguishes a planning meeting from a meeting. And since everything in the world is relative, let's define the maximum limit for how long such a meeting lasts - it's 60 minutes. Everything else is not a planning meeting, but, as we have already said, a meeting.

Types of gliders

Planerka planerka strife. At first glance, they are all the same, but in reality their structures and purposes differ from each other. Therefore, you need to know their types and use exactly those that your team needs.

Time spending

We can divide all meetings into three times: daily, weekly and monthly. Usually the company has only one of these options, all the others are considered unnecessary. Although they all carry different tasks and are carried out according to a different plan.

1. Daily planner. Needed in case vigorous activity or employee motivation. Its duration does not exceed 15 minutes, everything is short and to the point.
2. Weekly planner. We use it to take stock of the past week and make plans for the future. The duration of such a meeting is up to 30 minutes.
3. Monthly planner. A mandatory event to evaluate the results obtained for the month of work, which has developed from all days and weeks. Duration up to 1 hour.

Often the monthly planning is stretched to 2-3 hours. In this case, according to the rules of the Russian language, this is already a meeting. But since it is more important for us not the actual name, but the real appointment, we can allow such a meeting even up to 3 hours. The main thing is that all this should be in the case.

You also need to consider that there are non-systemic meetings to address urgent or pressing issues. Such planning meetings are called - unscheduled. Gathered, held and finished pretty quickly. But they are there and you can't run away from them.

It was noticeable if everyone, or at least many companies, worked like in the anecdote above. But, alas, such a scheme is almost never found. Therefore, we move on to the topics of planning meetings.

Topic of the meeting

In addition to the fact that planning meetings are divided into time intervals, they are also divided into topics. Although for the majority, a planning meeting is an assessment of the tasks completed for the week and a summary of the achievement of the sales plan. This format also exists, but everything is gradual.

1. Distribution of tasks. The purpose and result of such a meeting is employees who are overburdened with tasks for the near future.
2. One question. Most often these are unscheduled meetings, the topic for which is separate issues on the agenda.
3. Brainstorm. We often practice short meetings with a small part of the team to generate ideas on a given topic.
4. Informational. The very planning meeting to which we are all so accustomed, voicing the actual situation at a given point in time.
5. Motivational. People need to be energized, especially if they have a very stressful job. Through such meetings you will have the opportunity to do this, because this is a great method of motivation.
6. Educational. Little knowledge in a short amount of time. This will not get boring and will be useful, especially if you do it often.

In real conditions, our planning meetings are like a snowball of different topics. It's not bad. The main thing is that everything can be given sufficient attention. The strategy of “Golop across Europe” will not lead to anything good, since eating a fish and not washing a frying pan will not work. It is a myth.

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Components of a successful planning

Before we move on to specific templates for planning a meeting, let's define the main points for conducting such a meeting. Because it is important not only WHAT, but also HOW to carry out. Everything gradually colleagues, do not rush.

• Reason for the meeting. We figured it out, every meeting should have a reason. And everyone should know about it;
• People. You must know in advance who will participate in the planning meeting and notify the participants about this;
• Location. Conference room, office or corridor - decide for yourself. I'm sure it's not difficult;
• Time spending. It takes a specific time, preferably always the same thing, to develop a habit;
• Meeting schedule. You and staff need to know the subtopics and timing of this meeting;
• Additional materials. Flipchart, paper, pens and other paraphernalia should be ready before the meeting;
• Curator. Usually the leader of the planning meeting is the boss or one of the leaders, but it may well be an employee;
• Secretary. The person who will record all the results of the planning meeting, the so-called protocol, for further distribution.

If you take into account these components, then the effectiveness of the planning meeting will be much higher, because you will be able to properly prepare for it and will know exactly what to say at the planning meeting.

Some of the list is obvious. But you think about how each of the points can be improved relative to the situation now. For example, what other people besides sales managers can be called to a meeting. Or he can make part of the planning meetings that the employees themselves conduct.

And one more significant plus for those who still doubt, see the video below.

Planning plan for implementation

I don't really like templates and swatches as they don't take into account individual characteristics every company. And after all each business is specific (I hear it constantly from heads). But if you are not a timid person, then you can easily convert this sample into a plan for a planning meeting for your company.

This is a plan for how to hold a meeting in the sales department once a week, the monthly version will look more ambitious, and the plan for the daily meeting will look more modest. And, of course, the results will be summed up either for a month or a day. But already on the basis of this, you can form your plan, regardless of what you have - retail, wholesale or services.

Fans of chips or important nuances

Any action can be done better. Therefore, when we are asked to evaluate the effectiveness of planning meetings, we can say with our eyes closed that there is room for improvement. Whether they are many or few, and most importantly, whether they are impressive or not, is another question. But you can definitely find them. And here is a list of the most popular improvements from our practice.

Planner on Skype. If employees cannot meet in life, this is not a reason to cancel the meeting. Spend it on Skype. You can also connect via Skype those who could not come, and hold a planning meeting offline and online at the same time.

Only positive. Try at such meetings to talk about everything from the side “How to improve it” and “What was done well”, then your meetings will be more motivational and positive character.

Bonuses for attendance. By default, you can fine for absenteeism or being late for a planning meeting, or you can give a bonus to those who did not miss even one.

Latecomers are standing. Those who are late not only receive a reprimand and a lot of contemptuous glances, but also spend the entire planning meeting standing on their feet. Fun? You definitely, but not so much for a latecomer.

Time keeping. Determine a specific amount of time for each block, and if you go beyond it, then just cut off the conversation. At first it will be bad, then learn to be more effective.

Snack before planning. You can pour yourself coffee and eat cookies only before the meeting. After the start, the regime operates - “Who did not have time, he was late”.

Gift for the active. The most active can and should be encouraged. You can single out each planning meeting those who participate a lot and give a mini-gift for this. A trifle, but nice.

Glider summary. When the “secretary of the meeting” sums up, then it must be distributed to everyone or, even better, placed in the most visible place for better assimilation.

Briefly about the main

In my entire team, 90% of the people are team players, so we like to fanatically hold small meetings. Since our team is relatively young (up to 35 years old), it is very difficult for us to hold planning meetings, because everyone strives to laugh and talk “for life”. We could hold a planning meeting for 3-4 hours. But it was like that before.

Now we are a team that really understands the power, the process of planning meetings and what they are for. We have internal rules(no phones, we speak the language of decisions, no negativity, etc.), we have ready-made regulations, there are responsible persons (each time new ones) and much more. All this helps us to be more efficient.

When we come to a company for marketing consulting, the planning meeting is one of the first tools that we implement. And every time we see how “the cart barely moves”. But everything passes. And the main rule in this is not only the quality of the planning meeting, but also its regularity. Therefore, here you can use a slightly modified well-known phrase - "Having tried a few times, I eat now." Successful implementation. There will be questions, write in the comments.

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in-scale.ru

How to hold a planner

Planning meetings, operational meetings and meetings are an integral part of the working day of almost every employee. Sooner or later, the leader is faced with the need to independently conduct a daily planning meeting. But as often happens, no one really teaches this. Therefore, the question often arises - how to conduct a planning meeting?

Goals of the planning meeting

The first thing to do is determine the goals you want to achieve with the meeting. As a rule, the main goal of such meetings is the creation of a single information space among all employees, as a result, the achievement of higher staff motivation and coherence of work. Planners help to solve the following tasks:

1. Setting goals and objectives for the team;
2. Bringing general information to the whole team;
3. Solving general issues;
4. Motivation and involvement of personnel;
5. Training of employees, through the transfer of best practices;
6. Teambuilding

Agree, the achievement of such goals is of great interest to any manager. Therefore, the practice of planning meetings is so common in business. But achieving efficiency from meetings is not so easy, it is important to adhere to a clearly defined plan of action and prepare for each planning meeting.

Plan of the meeting

So, we have determined that the meeting is an important and useful thing, but in order not to turn this tool into another useless torture of subordinates, the leader should approach the preparation of the planning meeting with all seriousness. Earlier, we discussed the goals of the meeting, the task of the leader, depending on the goal, is to draw up a plan for the planning meeting. Naturally, the meeting for sellers and for TOP managers will be radically different from each other. Although the structure itself will be approximately the same.

A very important point in holding any meeting is to give subordinates the opportunity to speak as soon as possible. It is desirable from the first minutes to involve as many participants of the planning meeting as possible. This will help set up the team.

Secrets of the success of the planning meeting

The most important! For a meeting to be interesting, you must prepare for it. The success of a meeting depends on several important factors:

1. information component. The information provided at the meeting should be useful and interesting. If the information is boring and monotonous, then make an interesting way of presenting information. Remove boring and not useful information;
2. emotional component. Even the most interesting topic can be ruined by the wrong presentation. Remember your teachers from the university, at some lectures the entire audience is sleeping, and at others it is full house.
3. The leader who leads the meeting. The more authoritative the host, the better the audience perceives him. If your authority is not high, carefully work on points 1 and 2.

Rules for holding a planning meeting

Late employees

Someone is always late for a meeting. Such employees bring great destructiveness and you need to fight desperately. I'll forgive you just to agree in advance with all team members what we do with latecomers. There are several examples: a latecomer brings everyone coffee or fruit, a latecomer tells a joke, a latecomer sings a song, etc. The most important thing is that everyone knows the rules and everyone follows them. If the rule is thought out and accepted by the team, then you will reduce lateness to a minimum.

Same meeting times

It is very important to follow a strict schedule of meetings. There is nothing worse than unscheduled meetings, it disrupts the plans of subordinates, does not allow them to properly prepare. The attitude towards such meetings is initially negative, which does not have a working mood.

Any meeting should be notified in advance, it is best not to change the dates and times of meetings unless absolutely necessary.

Don't delay meetings

It is very important to follow the timing, if you have determined that the meeting should not last more than 30 minutes, then keep your word. The longer the meeting, the less effective it is. If you need to decide difficult questions and it takes a long time to work out the details, then create working groups of competent employees. Often most of meetings to be spent on elaboration organizational moments, and most of the listeners generally flies out of the dialogue.

Only the presenter speaks

I often see a picture when employees are afraid of their boss and as a result the meeting turns into a dictator's monologue. As a rule, all this happens in deathly silence, and tension is felt in the air. The directive style of management is not appropriate at meetings, it contradicts the essence of this event. Ideally, all participants should speak at the planning meeting.

Discussion of private issues

Sometimes one of the participants in the planning meeting may try to use this event to solve a private issue. As a rule, it is beneficial for an employee to raise a question publicly. Such an approach can turn the meeting into a farce. Therefore, it is necessary to immediately stop such manipulations and set time to resolve private issues.

Impact of the meeting on work

Everything that you agreed on at the meeting should be carried out and controlled by you. If there is no control, employees will quickly adapt and stop following your orders.

How to check the effectiveness of a meeting

The effectiveness of the assembly is easy enough to check. Ask your subordinates what happened at the meeting? 5 minutes after the meeting, 3 hours later, and the next day. The answers to these questions are feedback for the planning meeting organizer. If there is a lot of information, make employees keep records. But in any case, everyone should record information.

worldsellers.ru

"Planerka" as a way to increase the loyalty of the company's staff

If the number of your company is two or more people, then communication, that is, the exchange of information, is an integral element of your management activities. After all, information is connecting link all parts of the organization. Disruption of communication (errors in the transfer of information, poorly structured exchange, etc.) by levels, for example, a boss - a subordinate or a sales department - a purchasing department, always entails a decrease in performance indicators. And here one of your main tasks is to provide employees not only with tools or raw materials, but also, most importantly, with information for the quality performance of their duties, and, therefore, to increase the profits of your business.

Communications in an organization can have the most different forms and be implemented different ways. A good example of communication is the holding of "gliders" (meetings, "meetings") with employees. We will talk about what a planning meeting is, as well as, most importantly, why regularly gather employees in one place, as part of a series of posts on HR on our blog today.

Why do you need a planner?

The planning meeting can be described as a short operational meeting to discuss the results of work and current problems. Options for solving these problems can also be discussed, but then it will be a longer meeting on a specific issue. And the main goal of the planning meeting is to control the current situation and monitor current problems in the company's work.

Let's figure out what to say at the planning meeting and what questions you answer together with your employees:

• what happened yesterday (the day before yesterday, last week), why;
• what failed to do, why;
• what and how we plan to do today (tomorrow, next week), what results we expect.

It is also necessary to note the role of the planning meeting in shaping the loyalty of the company's personnel. Employee loyalty, or, in simple terms, loyalty to the company, is formed among employees not only and not so much at the expense of wages and other wealth(although they certainly play a role). Loyalty is not bought. Then how to hold a planning meeting to increase it? Loyalty arises through properly built communication. Thus, the planning meeting can be an excellent tool for increasing this very loyalty.

During the planning meeting, barriers between departments of the company are destroyed, disunity is reduced. Everything that happens in the company (plans, tasks, problems) becomes closer and clearer to each employee, which increases the motivation and interest of people. After all, if an employee does not know (do not understand) the long-term and short-term goals of the company, performance indicators of its work, tasks for the next week, this inevitably leads to demotivation and, as a result, deterioration in performance and loss of controllability.

On the other hand, if you know how to properly hold a planning meeting, then employees understand well what is happening in the company, in each department, rejoice at common “successes” and achievements, share (just share, even if they do not solve jointly) problems. It is through such experiences that you can get at the planning meeting that loyalty and team spirit are formed.

A well-organized "planning meeting" allows you to quickly and effectively stimulate staff to solve daily tasks, motivate them to achieve common goals. This is one of the ideal tools for building team spirit among employees - in this regard, it must be emphasized that it is especially important to hold planning meetings during the period of introduction of changes in the company. Through the planning meeting, it is easy to receive feedback from the staff and adjust the innovation plan.

The signs of the effectiveness of the planning meeting are its results - something was planned, received feedback, allowed controversial situation, disseminated or collected new information, etc. By the way, it happens that employees, and sometimes managers perceive the “planning meeting” as a waste of time, but in fact this can only be said about an inefficient, poorly organized “planning meeting”. In this article, you will learn how to run a planning meeting in a way that is beneficial.

Rules for organizing planning meetings

First, the start and end times must be fixed and known in advance to all participants. It is better not to gather employees for more than 30 minutes: the work of the company or department will “get up”. If the company is small, you can bring all the departments together, if it is large - only the heads of departments (they will conduct internal "planning meetings" themselves) - one way or another, an adequate approach to the composition of participants is needed.

Secondly, at the place of the planning meeting. How to hold planning meetings in the sales department if there is no separate meeting room? You can gather everyone in the head's office or just in the largest office. By the way, if there is not enough space, it is even better to hold a “planning meeting” standing up - people will not be “tuned” for a long conversation: everything is short and clear, to the point.

In addition, today there are services that allow you to hold meetings and conferences online (for example, Skype). This is a good option if your company is very large or its departments are located in different geographic locations.

Thirdly, how to properly hold planning meetings in the sales department and how often should this be done? The frequency of this event may vary. In some companies it is customary to "get together" every morning, in others - on Mondays or at the beginning and end of the week. It all depends on the specifics of the company, the intensity of business processes, the speed of receipt new information and the quality of communications between departments.

Fourthly, like any other effective communication, it is better to start a planning meeting with a positive and end with a positive. It is imperative to discuss problems, but it’s good when the planning meeting ends with some inspiring words from the leadership, a call to action (“We are a team!”).

In conclusion, we would like to emphasize that the planning meeting, as a form of communication within the organization, is an excellent way to increase the loyalty of your employees, to make them “more loyal” to the company. And loyal employees definitely bring profit, while disloyal ones bring only rumors, speculation and mistrust.

Recognition from colleagues, praise from superiors, a friendly, warm atmosphere in the team - this is all the “right planning meeting”, which forms a healthy desire to “break” competitors for your company. This is what you need - moving forward. So "plan" wisely - bring everyone together, solve problems and inspire!

High conversions for you!

Daria Khoromskaya, Head of HR Department at LPgenerator

image source Pavel Kirillov

lpgenerator.com

why and how to carry out, pros and cons - SKB Kontur

Planerka is a derivative of the English plan, a short workshop dedicated to the progress of the planned plan. According to their typology, all planning meetings can be divided into categories according to three criteria - specific, temporal and quantitative.

According to the specific criterion, all planning meetings are divided into reporting (short meetings at which managers report on the progress of the relevant tasks), discussion (briefings on the possible change in the chosen path to achieve a particular goal) and motivational (meetings at which tasks are distributed and roles are determined in the process of working on a question, task).

According to the time criterion, the planning meeting can be a daily, weekly, monthly process.

According to the quantitative criterion, the planning meeting can be either mass (for all employees) or closed (for a separate initiative group, managers, board of directors of the company.)

Why hold a planner?

If you organize this process as a good tradition before the start of the working day, it will help discipline the team (reduce the number of morning lates), more clearly outline goals and objectives for employees (after all, as you know, a rational plan for the day is much more effective than a plan for six months) , makes it possible to see real results work more clearly (in the event that the reporting of the team to the head and the head to the team become mandatory elements planning meetings). In addition to the benefits already mentioned, a well-run morning meeting can energize employees, increase productivity, and motivate them to work effectively throughout the day. This psychological aspect, of course, plays an important role in establishing positive relations between the employee and the employer, and also contributes to team building.

Why do many people consider planning meetings a relic of the past?

Firstly, the very emergence of this process, most people refer to those times when they didn’t even hear about the telephone, and they didn’t even know what the Internet and multimedia technologies were. It turns out that the only way to meet in person and discuss important working moments was just those planning meetings. Due to the lack of operational means of communication, a lot of questions accumulated, and such an action took a lot of time (on average, three to four hours). On this occasion, one well-known American economist once remarked: “If there are planning meetings in your company, then you are on the right track. It remains only to fire all those who go there, and leave all those who are working at this time.

Secondly, most office workers have a negative attitude towards planning meetings just because about 20% of the time is devoted to this, and, according to many of them, the boss’s speech lasts, on average, half the time allotted for this process.

Thirdly, if planning meetings in the company are held daily, then soon this will certainly turn into a kind of formality. After all, most of the tasks that successful businessman, long-term, and a two-sentence daily report would be: "It's okay, we're working on it." The need for a daily planning meeting usually pops up at the moment when the enterprise begins the implementation of a new strategic objective in a critically short time, or during a crisis. At such moments, it is really necessary to constantly monitor the situation, to monitor the slightest changes.

Regulations

Any, even the shortest planning meeting should have its own rules. It somehow helps to work much more productively. pressing issues to make the process more dynamic and efficient. In the rules good manners send out the regulations to employees in the evening so that they can think over all the issues raised and come up with a constructive, meaningful proposal. Among other things, it is worth considering that by the time the morning meeting is held, each employee must have a copy of the regulations on hand. It is important to assign responsibility to certain person, which would keep track of time (if the speaker gets out of the time limit described in the regulations, then this delays the process of holding the meeting and, as a result, negatively affects the mood of the team).

To conduct or not to conduct? That is the question

The planning meeting is certainly an important process, at least in the context of timely goal-setting and employee motivation, but it's time to go beyond the ordinary understanding of this term. Perhaps it is not so important to gather the whole team every day in a stuffy office, but to master the conference technologies in Skype. It is also important to take into account the aspect that a constructive planning meeting should last no more than 15-20 minutes. Reporting on the activities of each department can be accepted and discussed with managers during the day, and the morning time can be devoted exclusively to the alignment of forces, the definition of tasks and priorities.

In any case, each entrepreneur chooses his management concept, however, in order to understand a little more carefully whether short meetings are necessary for your workforce, it is worth weighing the pros and cons:

Discipline the team

Possibility of morning motivation of employees;

Clear setting of goals and objectives;

The opportunity to be creative and hold a planning meeting in an unconventional style;

Protracted planning meetings tire and reduce the efficiency of employees;

Unscheduled planning meetings are usually ineffective.

kontur.ru

Secrets of an effective planning - Rjob.ru

Planerka - main part workflow. However, it can both become an incentive for an employee, a stronghold and springboard, or completely discourage all desire to work. How to effectively hold meetings to “ignite” subordinates? How can employees behave in meetings to make good use of their time?

What are planners for?

For about a year I worked in the editorial office of a magazine about construction and houses. The publisher, who is also the owner, was very fond of planning meetings. We gathered in her office every morning for one and a half to two hours and watched a play by one actor. The announced purpose of this meeting is to tell at what stage relations with advertisers are now. Hidden - to explain what kind of losers gathered at this table. Me (the editor) and the designer also needed to be present. Only the accountant received the “release”: she had to constantly monitor the account for the receipt of money that did not arrive at all. Because instead of working, we were sitting at a planning meeting.

We would have been glad to hear what our employer thinks of us, and see how she knows how to sell by phone, but the work was standing. The fact is that money will appear in the editorial office if managers sell advertising. To make an appointment with a potential advertiser, you need to get through to him. And it was most realistic to catch someone on the spot from 9 to 10, after which the people dispersed to their planning meetings, productions and meetings. In general, it was necessary to call just at the time when we were sitting in the director's office.

It was impossible to break this vicious circle. No, we said that managers need to be on the phone, and the editor and the designer would like to return to magazine pages. We asked many times to reschedule the meeting to another time. But if you gather for the sake of the meeting, forgetting about the benefits for the company, good times will not come soon.

1. Make a plan:

what is the main purpose of the meeting: to talk about innovations, listen to opinions, solve a problem, collect reports, etc.,

What questions should be discussed first?

what can be skipped and solved in working order if there is no time left, etc.

2. Define a goal

Formulate the query in the format of the result. Not "discuss the problem", but "develop a solution to the problem".

3. Fix the agreements and secure the responsibility with deadlines

If a proposal for a solution comes up, the result of the meeting will be an agreement on what steps will be taken, who will take responsibility and in what time frame.

4. Set a "convenient" time

So that employees do not stretch out reports, be more collected and think faster, schedule a meeting an hour before lunch break or the end of the working day. Tightened - skip lunch or go home later. And, of course, no one wants this.

5. Be close to the people

If you want to get frankness from your subordinates, to hear what they really think on this issue, sit among them. When you are at the head of the table, you are the boss and your opinion takes precedence. When you sit next to an employee, you are a colleague ready to discuss and find a solution together.

CEO LLC "Skladovka", a network of warehouses for individual storage of things (Self storage), skladovka.ru

The meeting should always be prepared by the leader in terms of the issues you want to discuss. Before you start, it is best to send out the agenda on which you want to get an answer or organize a discussion. The meeting should end with a protocol, where the decisions made, the deadline for execution and those responsible are recorded.

Each meeting is held on the principle of continuity, so that people understand the logic of the development of projects and have the opportunity to give feedback, report on the problems that have arisen in the process of implementing decisions.

Meetings at the facilities are very useful, and not in the manager's office. On the spot, you can immediately see what is really happening at the facility, what needs to be done for it to achieve its intended goals.

Working meetings of the head of the organization with representatives of departments make it possible to eventually track whether each department and the enterprise as a whole is moving towards the intended goal or deviating from it.

Development Director of CenterAgro

In our company, meetings are classified: councils, committees, meetings, which in turn have a clear time limit and agenda. Only situational meetings on force majeure do not have a predetermined agenda. For the rest, documents are prepared in advance and sent by mail to interested parties.

The rules for the meetings are:

do not interrupt each other;

do not go out;

turn off phones;

show up on time.

The effectiveness of meetings is increased by preparing and pre-distributing documents, a clear schedule of meetings for planning the working time of employees.

Gliders in the distance

Every year there are more and more companies that refuse offices and switch to a remote format. How to hold planning meetings when all employees live not only in different cities, but also in different parts of the world?

Natalia Odegova

founder of the online training center 1day1step.ru

I used to work for a large corporation. Now all my employees are from different cities and even countries, and we communicate a lot online. Previous experience allowed us to take the best and change what was clearly ineffective.

People work online in order to have more time, so all meetings are much shorter and much more efficient. We do not gather people who cannot influence the solution of the issue to a meeting, and therefore we do not waste their time in vain. Planning meeting is concise and only on business. Often this is a Skype call for 5-10 minutes with a discussion of a specific issue.

There are indicators that we regularly monitor, but we don’t call each other on them at all, but post new data in a general chat and make decisions, discuss new steps for improvement.

In terms of deadlines: since we generally have a lot of freedom, I never squeeze the shortest deadlines in development projects, but I ask: “What deadline do you believe in? How long can you answer? This approach allows the employee to consciously take responsibility and great desire and pleasure to work on the task.

And it helps a lot with intermediate checkpoints when I look into the process and see if things are moving in the right direction.

Leave your phone, tablet and other gadgets in the office. You should not take your favorite toy to a meeting with the management.

Remember that the same principle applies in the meeting as in the school. Who listens attentively, nods and asks clarifying questions, well done. And why should we be good at work? That's right - so that they remember us when they distribute the prize.

Another school rule is “eye to eye”. When praised, send the manager an open look. Cursing fell down, start looking for the most interesting feature on the table or pay attention to your pen.

Record everything, everything. Then figure out what is useful and what can be thrown away. First, bosses love to be reviewed. Secondly, the records are an alternate airfield, if you need to hide from the menacing gaze. By the way, between the pearls of the leader, you can fix your thoughts.

Actively express your opinion, if it is provided for by the format of the meeting. Even if you share a banality, you will still look more respectable against the background of colleagues who are silent and looking at their shoes. Now the main thing is to show who is the most active participant here.

We don’t even talk about sleep, yawning and an absent look. You yourself understand that this is inappropriate.

If you are completely overcome by boredom, try working in your mind. Make a to-do list, think about your project globally. Or just dream.

Do not take the planning meeting as an empty pastime. This is part of your job. And if the boss agrees to pay you a salary for spending time in his office, this is his right. But how effectively you spend this time depends on you.

© Natalia Zhilyakova, RJob

When using materials from the site rjob.ru, the author's indication and an active link to the site are required!

rjob.ru

Planning meeting in the department: an effective tool or a formality?

The head of the department is a very busy person. Indicators, regulations, decisions challenging tasks, organizing everyone and everything to move towards the goal - everything is on his shoulders. The more correctly the set of management tools is selected, the more effective the leader. Is it worth spending time on such a tool as a planning meeting in a linear division?

Even in companies where planning meetings are mandatory and regulated, managers often approach them formally - shoot back for show and work on. Planning meetings are considered a waste of time, which theorists came up with. Their motto is "Practitioners need to work, not consult." At the same time, in companies where the planning meeting is optional and is a personal initiative, there are managers who, without additional reminders, gather employees at a certain time and talk to them.

Why are these "strange" leaders so "inefficiently" wasting their precious time, if no one obliges them to do so? I had to delve deeply into this issue in recent times. The crisis has required top managers to dive deeper into the business. The rules of the game in the market have changed, and in order for the company not only to stay afloat, but also to use the crisis to strengthen its position in the market, it is necessary to become closer to customers - both external and internal.

For rapid response to changes and increase the level of control over the situation, I, among other things, began to regularly join planning meetings in departments, compared various styles their conduct. The numbers were revealing: out of the 12 single-profile departments in which both sales and contract enforcement are carried out, the highest and most stable indicators were in those where planning meetings are held weekly. And this is no coincidence.

Purpose of the meeting

If the manager answers the question about the purpose of the planning meeting: “Because it’s supposed to,” it’s better not to hold it at all. Any formal events "for show" only work in the negative, they teach you to work not for the result, but for "the appearance of movement towards the goal." The name "plannerka" suggests that its purpose is to update the movement according to the planned plan towards the goals set.

If we consider this event from the point of view of the Deming cycle (Plan - Do - Check - Akt), then the planning meeting is a regular control (Check) of activities in order to draw conclusions and, if necessary, correct the movement (Akt). But there are statistics for this! Is it worth it to gather more people? It is certainly worth it, and the main functions of the planning meeting help us to make sure of this.

The main functions of the planner

1) Information. Employees have few ways to get information about the situation in the company and the market:

• official published information, which is sometimes overlooked or not fully understood;
• gossip, often very far from the truth, but discussed with great pleasure in canteens and smoking rooms;
• first-hand information, with explanations and emphasis on important points, which the leader gives at the planning meeting, paying due attention to working out objections and reducing the effectiveness of word of mouth.

And obligatory informing employees about the movement of the department along the intended path.

2) Control. In addition to dry and categorical figures, the ability to control the atmosphere in the team, clarify the reasons for success or decline in performance. Based on the results of the planning meeting, failures in the chain of interaction within the unit and in the company are often found out, and the manager immediately takes action to eliminate them.

3) Motivational. Employees need attention. Recall the famous Hawthorne effect in management - labor productivity increases from the fact that attention is paid to the activities of employees. Planerka one of better ways regularly remind employees that they are important and their work is given enough attention.

One of the employees in the department had a breakthrough, a take-off - a good reason to recognize achievements and, if necessary, support the competitive spirit in the department. And yet, in addition to numbers, you need to see the eyes of your employees. Managers need to listen carefully to their employees. The behavior of the employee has changed, the fuse has disappeared - a reason for the manager to include an individual conversation in the weekly plan.

4) Educational. In this function, the planning meeting is an indispensable tool for simplifying the manager's difficult managerial work. During the week, a work case, indicative for everyone, took place - the head writes it down and makes it public at the planning meeting. Thus, the annoying need to repeat the same different people many times left in the past, and we regularly and consciously “sharpen” our working tool.

5) Organizational. It is a good practice to invite representatives of related departments to meetings, especially at the moment of innovation. The opportunity to establish or adjust interaction, remove conflicts, exchange experiences.

6) Disciplining. Motivation, as a management tool, has one very significant drawback: its action is short-lived. Few people are capable of self-motivation, and it is people with this ability who most often become leaders.

Discipline, regular rituals and rules, which include the planning meeting, are designed to help motivate employees. Planerka is an event. Employees are getting used to the fact that they will need not only reporting in numbers, but also a willingness to justify their indicators. Questions are prepared for the planning meeting, employees collect and transfer cases to the head, which should be shown to the entire department in their opinion. Like a family dinner on Fridays, the planning meeting becomes a habitual disciplinary action according to the rules, when everyone must postpone their business, be sure to be present at the workplace, turn to face each other, finally. This is especially important.

How often to hold meetings

I believe that the daily team briefings are only suitable for newcomers who need a mentoring style of management and support every step of the way. For an established team, planning meetings should be weekly. The main thing is that they are carried out on the same day, at the same time, and approximately coincide in duration and order of actions, which will allow maintaining the disciplining function.

Example possible scenario planning meetings:

• The head does Announcement At the end, employees can ask clarifying questions.
• The manager announces planned indicators and asks employees questions about them. Arranges individual appointments as needed.
• The leader talks about a case study of the week or introduces an invited employee.
• The manager clarifies whether there are urgent work issues that are important for the entire department and require discussion at the planning meeting. Evaluates issues, decides what to discuss immediately, what will require a delayed decision.
• The leader talks about plans for the current week - significant events, meetings and completes the planning meeting.

Time costs

For a long time, we spend time - this is the main reason why leaders refuse to hold planning meetings. It leads to a complete rejection of this tool, or it all comes down to a brief monologue of the leader without feedback from subordinates. Only informational and slightly disciplining functions are preserved.

This is actually a problem: managing "humanely" is easier than working with a group. Managing group dynamics is the art of being a good leader. His goal is to briefly and clearly hold a planning meeting, and at the same time get feedback from employees, which will help, if necessary, correct the movement. The optimal duration is up to 20-45 minutes. It is this time from childhood that is laid in us as a period of concentration.

The strength of a leader is that he sets the rules. To prevent the planning meeting from stretching out, it is necessary to conclude a “contract for the planning meeting” with the employees. For example:

• We discuss only general issues, we take out specific ones for an individual decision.
• We are short and to the point.
• We are not distracted by work issues, we put the phones into vibration mode.
• By stating a problem, we offer a solution.
• Non-working issues are discussed during non-working hours.

The set of rules may vary depending on the situation. The main thing is that the leader manages the regulations and does not delve into the problems himself. The purpose of the planning meeting is to identify, and the decision can be made later, carefully weighing and studying all the details while the department is working. The main thing is to show employees that the stated problems are being solved. Sometimes there are situations in which the planning meeting goes beyond the allotted time, the intensity in the team is clearly visible. Then you need to arrange an additional meeting, often after hours. This is the skill of a manager - to prevent the situation from heating up, to identify markers that show negative aspects in the team.

Of course, it will take time to implement the planning tool in the department. Sometimes you have to carry out more than one event before the tool becomes truly effective. When a manager becomes open to feedback, he will be surprised to hear a lot of unsaid things that employees have long wanted to say, but never had a chance. And then he asked! You have to think over the roles of your subordinates and their use in group dynamics, work with objections, and argue at the highest level. Many leaders do not go exactly this way - becoming, and go into individual management, which is much more labor-intensive and less effective, when there are only two steps to success.

Managers who have a fine command of this tool use it in their departments with great success, because they were able to evaluate its effectiveness. The planning meeting is not a relic of the past and not a formality, but one of the most modern and effective tools that helps in solving the most difficult task to manage - the achievement of the goals of the unit. And it is precisely from these goals that the success of the entire company is formed.

www.e-xecutive.ru

How to effectively convey information to the team?

Some people view the planning meeting as a short-term meeting to prioritize work and actual tasks others are like a waste of time. Does it make sense to hold such meetings or is only the opinion of the leader sufficient? Let's try to figure it out together.

TOP 5 most necessary articles for a merchant:

Why do leaders planner

Planning (from English word plan) - a meeting of little time, but significant for the success of the chosen strategy, dedicated to the consideration of current working issues.

Why do you need a planner:

• Holding such mini-meetings helps to evaluate the results of the work done step by step and serves as a guarantee of the timely resolution of all current problems. They are not used for the global search for solutions. Separate meetings, not limited in time, are devoted to this. The main task of the planning meeting is to promptly discuss the current situation, monitor current issues and their solutions.
• Daily participation in the discussion of the company's strategy and the expression of opinions on its improvement form the staff's devotion to the company, stimulating the loyalty and efficiency of employees no worse than material benefits. Properly built communication is the basis for successful employee motivation for mutually beneficial cooperation based on loyalty and respect.
• An active discussion in the morning at a planning meeting of current issues blurs the boundaries of the company's departments, makes the team more united. Every employee feels significant part in the implementation of plans, solving tasks or problematic issues. The interest of the staff stimulates its participation in the successful activities of the company. Lack of understanding of clearly defined goals and objectives of paramount importance, non-transparency of long-term plans and short-term prospects demotivate employees, reduce manageability and performance indicators.
• It is extremely important that the manager who conducts the planning meeting has the ability to correctly convey to employees information about the current activities and difficulties of each department and the company as a whole. It unites, makes joint both success and problems. It is the sense of importance of each employee in achieving a common goal, emphasized at the meeting, that forms and maintains loyalty and team spirit in the team.
• Professional approach planning meeting ensures its success, which is an excellent incentive for employees in solving everyday problems, motivates the desire to achieve results. Considering that such discussions provide an opportunity to receive all the necessary information from the staff in a timely manner, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of such mini-meetings during the period of innovation in the company. Quick response and elimination of errors allows the management to avoid risky situations and guarantees the success of the chosen strategy.

Signs of the effectiveness of the planning meeting are its positive results. Resolving issues, short-term planning, receiving or disseminating new information, responding to feedback - everything that constructively affects the workflow. If holding a planning meeting is perceived as a waste of time and nothing giving chatter, then this is a direct mistake of the management, who cannot clearly organize either the meeting or the work as a whole. This article will teach you how to conduct productive meetings with employees. Having understood the basic rules of the planning meeting, you will be able to accept and analyze operational information during a short meeting, draw timely conclusions and set your staff up for collective success.

What are the functions of a morning meeting?

1. Information.

For rate real situation affairs in the company, its competitiveness and success, employees can use several sources of information:

• MASS MEDIA. Various publications about the company, quite irregular and often out of date. General information and no specifics.
• Backroom conversations. Most often gossip that does not give any reliable information.
• Regular holding of planning meetings, at which the leader not only expresses his opinion and describes the situation firsthand, focusing on especially significant moments, but also gives employees the opportunity to bring up topical issues, constructive proposals for discussion and jointly analyze the stability of the situation in the company and in each of its departments.

2. Control.

In addition to monitoring digital indicators of work success, planning meetings help management see the real picture of relationships in the team, assess the impact of the microclimate on the growth or fall of indices. Thanks to these meetings, you can manage all parts of the workflow, find weaknesses and eliminate shortcomings in a timely manner.

3. Motivational.

The management of the company does not always have the opportunity to pay attention to each employee and the work performed by him. One of the positive aspects of holding planning meetings is the universal recognition of the achievements of a distinguished person and his encouragement, which develops a competitive spirit in the team. Otherwise, when marked negative changes, a timely individual conversation will be relevant, aimed at clarifying the problems of the employee, the reasons for their occurrence and providing the necessary assistance. It is important for any person to realize that his work is worthy of appreciation, that he is interesting as a professional, and involving him in discussing the affairs of the company will only improve his skills.

4. Educational.

The meeting also acts as a learning element of control. Demonstration of a successful case to the entire team at once, a general discussion of the details relieves the manager of the need to prepare each employee separately, saves his time and sharpens the working tool of the staff.

5. Organizational.

The minutes of the planning meeting allow for an invitation to discuss colleagues from related departments. This has the greatest reason in the case of innovations. Timely adjustment of interaction, exchange of experience and detailed discussion remove conflicts, building mutually beneficial relationships in the team.

6. Disciplining.

Without the proper participation of management, discipline and order in the company are unlikely to be optimal. Systematic training reporting on completed tasks in qualitative and quantitative terms, identifying problems in the workflow, compiling topical issues, the search for answers - everything that is regularly prepared for the planning meeting - disciplines people, organizes them and stimulates cooperation among themselves. There are other levers of control, but material motivation is short-term, and not everyone is capable of self-motivation. It is important for the team to get together, discuss the upcoming work plans, understand their tasks and choose the right strategy.

In what form can a daily planning meeting be held?

No. 1. Summing up, information meeting.

A meeting held to get up-to-date information about the course of the workflow in the context of divisions and departments, about the current and planned activities, emerging issues and problems - this is the so-called information planning meeting. Such meetings do not require daily holding. It is enough once at the beginning of the week for half an hour to gather the heads of all departments of the company in order to outline a work plan for the next five working days. Information meetings are especially significant for the leaders of fairly large companies that have at least four departments under their control.

No. 2. Planning meeting - distribution of current tasks.

Meetings of this format are held daily in the morning. The goal is for employees to receive tasks for the day. The leader should not spend a lot of time - give out instructions to everyone, formulate the final goal, give short instructions.

Number 3. Planner to discuss the issue.

In the work of the company, there are situations, tasks and problems that take a lot of time to discuss. In this case, the question is prepared and voiced to colleagues in advance, time is given to prepare the necessary information. At the same time, you determine the time limit for speaking, and a secretary is appointed. These meetings usually last up to two hours. It should also be foreseen that the discussion may drag on and breaks will be announced for 10-15 minutes, which means that tea and sweets may be needed. The results of such a planning meeting are usually sent to all its participants through the company's document management system.

No. 4. Creative planner.

Creative planning meetings are held with insufficient number or total absence own ideas. Such meetings are staged according to the principle of brainstorming, when all participants express thoughts that come into their heads on a topic, even the most ridiculous ones, and the most interesting and relevant ones are chosen from them. For such a meeting, any other creative method of searching for ideas will do.

No. 5. Planning meeting as a way to resolve conflict situations in the team.

In any team, the presence of explicit and hidden conflicts is inevitable. Often the only way out from the created critical situation will be a direct discussion between employees. Free and open discussion of the problem reduces its significance, the opportunity to express one's position without unnecessary accusations and insults transforms energy destructive conflict in positive energy creation. Deeply rooted misunderstandings between colleagues can be competently resolved by contacting HR specialists, an organization psychologist, or even senior management. For the discussion, a neutral topic for the opponents of the planning meeting is chosen. Warn participants that the meeting is about resolving conflict situation, not necessary. People should feel familiar, freely express their point of view and not understand that their conversation is carefully monitored and directed in a constructive direction by the leader. The results of the analysis of the observation, its results and conclusions must be conveyed to each participant in the conflict.

Sample meeting plan

Let's assume that the information planning meeting, lasting about half an hour, is held once a week, on Mondays. So, the rules of the meeting:

1. Information introduction of the head of the company. Answers to clarifying questions from employees.

2. Discussion of planned indicators, the level of their achievement at this stage. Questions from the manager to colleagues, in some cases - the appointment of individual meetings.

3. Demonstration of a demonstration case as an example of work or presentation to the meeting of an invited employee.

4. Identification of particularly urgent problems that require immediate solutions and discussion at the planning meeting. Analysis of questions and search for answers.

5. Informing the participants of the meeting about the planned events for the next five working days, short review upcoming events, meetings, achievements and possible difficulties. After that, the leader ends the planning meeting.

Why do you need planning regulations

For a meeting to be successful, it must be regulated. A clear ordering of the sequence and time of speeches and discussions optimizes the work of the audience, concretizes it and makes it more productive. Questions at the planning meeting can be varied, therefore, in order not to delay the process, common practice mailing of the material to the participants of the morning meeting in advance is considered. The employee is given time to think about the topic, prepare information, a response or a meaningful proposal, as well as to study the rules of the future planning meeting. Perhaps he will have questions for other participants. It is necessary to appoint a person who, during the planning meeting, monitors compliance with the time limit allotted for each item of the mini-meeting plan. Dragging out a speech or discussion, repeating the same thing, a long argument on one issue brings negativity, reduces attention to at least important topics which spoils the whole working mood of the team.

When compiling the regulations for the future planning meeting, the leader should rely on the following points:

1. There must be a specific goal of the planning meeting, a known composition of the participants.

2. The agenda should include information about the topic of the meeting, its tasks, issues proposed for consideration.

3. Mandatory presence of the leader, secretary, keeping the protocol, and participants responsible for preparing answers to the questions of the planning meeting.

4. Participants of the meeting must be informed in advance of the date, time, venue and agenda of the planning meeting.

5. The secretary keeps the minutes of the meeting, where he enters the instructions issued and the decisions taken.

6. The protocol is agreed upon, approved by the head and sent to all participants of the meeting and task performers.

7. Control over the execution of instructions is carried out by a responsible person. Compliance with deadlines and quality of performance are clearly monitored.

8. The minutes of the planning meeting are saved for analysis and use in finding solutions similar questions.

How to organize a meeting

• The first thing that the organizer of the planning meeting needs to pay attention to is a clear statement of the question and definition of the purpose of the meeting. The manager needs to think in advance what information will be needed to solve the work problem, who can provide it, what will be a positive result of the meeting, which specialists to familiarize with the issues raised in advance. Proper organization of the planning meeting will increase its effectiveness, discard unnecessary conversations, focusing the attention of the invitees on a specific topic.
• The second is the composition of the participants. The manager, knowing what kind of information he is interested in, must determine which specialists, managers or employees own it and can give answers to the questions posed.
• The third is the clarification of the venue. To get serious results, it is necessary that outsiders do not interfere with the discussion. The meeting room should be separate, impassable and large enough to accommodate all participants.
• Fourth, determine the start time of the meeting. by the most the best option there would be a choice of a regular day and time for planning meetings. However, if necessary, such meetings can be held at any time convenient for all its participants, especially the most important ones. Time is negotiated in advance, several hours or even days in advance.
• Fifth - drawing up regulations. The planning meeting should both begin and end at a predetermined time. Information must be presented as clearly and understandably as possible. It is for this that the order of questions and the time of the report of each of the participants are regulated. For example, the performance is given no more than 7 minutes.
• Sixth - pay attention to all the necessary details. Pens, paper, water, projector, screen, laptop, printer, etc. Everything should be prepared in advance and not take time at the planning meeting. It is better to check the technique further.
• The seventh is the appointment of a planning meeting secretary to fix the process, the results of the discussion and the preparation of the planning meeting order.

What questions to discuss at the planning meeting

The main task of holding planning meetings is to draw up mini-strategies and plans for each working day. The second task is to evaluate the previous day, reports, analysis of identified problems and assistance in their solution. You can make a table where employees will enter the received instructions, goals and a mark on their implementation. It is better to open access to all employees of the department and its head.

For example, conditionally tasks and goals can be subdivided:

1. for clients on a specific day;
2. on payments for a specific day;
3. on accounts receivable and the work done on it.

The third task is typical for thematic planning meetings. Here it is important to dedicate the maximum meeting time given topic or discussing a predetermined issue.

How to conduct planning meetings creatively, eradicating boredom

1. Nothing has such a beneficial effect on the working mood as a change of scenery. To make the planning meeting creative, it is better to choose an unexpected place for it. It can be a street, a cafe or just a cozy space within walking distance from the office.
2. The time of the event should also be unusual. Half an hour before a pause or end of work, during a lunch break or in the middle of a working day.
3. A creative approach can be expressed in the selection of unusual material or the issuance of it not to each participant, but only to some.
4. Switching off phones during the planning meeting is a prerequisite for focusing on solving the task. You can put them together, emphasizing the cohesion of the team.
5. The organization of the planning meeting will also become creative not in the meeting room, but in the conference call mode or via Skype.

The choice of the method of conducting should be dictated by the objectives of the meeting. It is not worth solving global issues at planning meetings prepared in the form of a game. It's more like a farce and a waste of time. Discussion of organizational issues, competitive amateur performances, corporate events, incentives, etc. - here suitable topics for creative planning sessions that reveal the potential of employees.

Like any other meeting, the creative mini-meeting ends with the head's words of gratitude for participation, summing up. He can make notes about the conclusions, further goals and an effective solution to the working problem found at the meeting.

Expert opinion

Visualization on the board - an effective means of conveying information

Alexander Vinogradov,

founder and CEO of startup Revenga, Moscow

I have no doubt that displaying sentences on the board is very fruitful. Participants in the discussion are much more active in expressing their opinion, offering various options. In my previous office, there were about eight such boards. We hung them in every department and in common room for meetings. There were cases when a specially painted wall replaced the board, allowing you to write with an ordinary marker and erase it with a sponge. However, the paint was not of very high quality, it quickly fell into disrepair, and we returned to the regular format negotiating board.

Discussing any issues with a marker or chalk and a blackboard is very effective. Everyone sees your point of view, understands it, agrees, and if not, then write your own. As a result, joint efforts easily solve any problem.

The board is convenient not only for holding planning meetings, you can place important notes, reminders on it, any scheme looks clearer, you can write down step by step and immediately discuss the process, come up with a new product. Recording thoughts removes their blinders, allows you not to miss a single detail, especially if the process lasts more than one day. By my example, I would like to convince my colleagues and newcomers that you should not consider the presence of the board as a coercion to publicly express your thoughts. The board is an indispensable attribute of successful work. You are used to using e-mail, Skype, and here - realizing the convenience and benefits of discussing on the board, be sure to place it in your office.

Many years of practice have confirmed my opinion that all disputes, erroneous decisions and problems are always the result of unwillingness or inability to listen to the opinions of others. In such cases, I learned to give a marker in my hands and ask me to write or draw what they are trying to convey to me. I draw or write from above, as I see it. By comparing the pictures, we see the problem more clearly, and understanding the problem is half the solution.

A new look at holding a planning meeting: meetings “on their feet” and at the signal of Elvis Presley

Most people at the word "meeting" imagine an uncomfortable room, relaxed listening to long, drawn-out reports, fruitless and not always clear discussion of some issues. Such an environment does not allow the staff to concentrate, realistically assess the situation and express a useful opinion, and the leader is forced to constantly attract the attention of the audience and remind the theme of the planning meeting.

The hallmark of a successful leader is the ability to organize and conduct the most effective meetings of employees. The regulations prepared by him clearly define the topic of the meeting, do not give the opportunity to get away from it or move on to another one. Specific questions require specific solutions.

To come to a constructive proposal, it is not necessary to sit in chairs. Active time makes more and more popular planning meetings, most often held in high-tech companies, where innovative approaches to solving any issues are quickly picked up. Such meetings "on the legs" allow top managers to avoid protracted negotiations with large audience, maybe not even included in the process under consideration, but expressing empty opinions.

For example, the management of Atomic Object, a software development company, starts every morning with a stand-up meeting. Mandatory attendance, keeping discussions of non-working moments to a minimum, clear questions and the same answers make these meetings as productive as possible. It has been practically proven that the duration of such meetings “on their feet” is no more than seven minutes, the staff receives the task and immediately goes to carry it out. Such a format does not allow you to relax, on the contrary, it mobilizes and sets you in a working mood.

The Wall Street Journal claims that such quick meetings were common during the First World War, when delay in making a decision was like death. Business later adopted this practice for the rapid exchange or clarification of information and setting short-term goals.

Science also became interested in innovation. Research by Alain Bludorn, an American scientist, representative of the University of Missouri, conducted in 1998, showed that standing meetings take a third less time, and the results are no worse than meetings held in the hall in the usual format.

In 2011, VersionOne conducted a survey of over 6,000 employees at various technology companies. 78% of them confirmed the presence of daily short meetings.

The innovative planning meeting, held while standing, is not the only trick used by Western entrepreneurs to optimize work with the staff.

One of the well-known tricks of Facebook's Mark Tonkelowitz is to organize short meetings 15 minutes before the break. He argues that this approach greatly motivates employees to speak briefly and to the point.

Holding quick meetings eliminates the delay of employees. Delayed workers should not be allowed to the ongoing discussion, as they might not hear all the information, and, delving into it, will only slow down the process.

Adobe Systems employee Jan Witutsky equated the time lost due to late participants in daily meetings to the time spent developing a new software product, and introduced a penalty of $ 1 for each delay.

Another innovative nuance is the Turnstone division of furniture company Steelcase, which uses the music of Elvis Presley, in particular, his “A Little Less Conversation” (“Less chatter”), as a signal for staff meetings.

In the activities of any company, there are situations when there is no time either for serious meetings or for “stompers”, as they call standing meetings. In such cases, experienced managers recommend using mobile technologies and holding meetings on the job. Of course, virtual communication and resolving issues through corporate mail or chat will not replace live contact, but sometimes this is the best way out. While stand-up planning meetings are superior in importance not only to traditional meetings, but also meetings with the use of advanced technologies.

Effective planning rules

Rule number 1. Availability of preliminary discussions. First, the problem is considered in small groups, a consolidated solution is developed, and it is submitted for general discussion. A preliminary analysis can be carried out e-mail. After receiving a letter from the head with instructions and necessary material, the employee studies the issue, prepares an answer and sends his options for solving the problem to the authorities.

Rule number 2. Set the exact start time of the meeting. Based on experience, successful leaders have noticed that if you call a meeting at 13-00, then it will start at least at 13-10. But if you designate a start at 12-13, then the staff takes it literally.

Rule number 3. Preparing a written agenda. Even the shortest meeting should be orderly. A written agenda for the planning meeting should be prepared and sent to the invitees in advance so as not to turn a serious discussion into unnecessary disputes.

Rule number 4. Participant interest. You cannot delegate control of the meeting to any speakers. Careful organization, a variety of tempo, format and styles of presentations will make the discussion as effective as possible. With the participation of two opponents in the meeting, who have ceased to pay attention to the others in the dispute, it is possible to change the image of the meeting and organize, for example, a meeting of two opponents.

Rule number 5. Brevity and capacity of speeches. Leadership speeches should be short and full of information. You should voice the problem, express your point of view and stop. Under no circumstances should you interrupt the speaker. Even if his opinion is completely at odds with yours, let him finish his speech, and only after that defend his position. This is not just an element of politeness, it is an emphasis on the priority of one's views.

Rule number 6. Each presentation has a short summary. The writing on the board of the topic of the meeting and brief postulates of each report will be visible to all participants. This will help not to deviate from the topic and discuss only pressing problems.

Rule number 7. Each participant has his own place. In order to avoid conflict, people who have opposing views on the issues under discussion, should not sit across from each other. It is better to unobtrusively plant them side by side, without focusing on this.

Rule number 8. Formation of an action plan. It is important to show the staff that the opinions expressed during the planning meeting are important for the entire team. Based on joint decisions, a clear action plan is formed, which everyone is obliged to adhere to, including the leaders of the company.

Rule number 9. Restriction of leader participation. The leader does not have to be a participant in all meetings, only those where his presence is really necessary. At the same time, he must know exactly why he is going to the event, what he must convey to the staff and what information to receive. Only the people involved in resolving the issue are invited to the planning meetings, since a large number of participants greatly complicates the discussion process.

What can be done to improve the effectiveness of planning meetings

Planning meeting time is dedicated only to the most important. Information relating to the main work of specialists with clients may come without personal interaction.

In addition to general planning meetings, it is necessary to hold meetings of the administration, meetings of the head of the company without the participation of employees, only by the management team.

The work of the team must be measured by pre-conceived clear indicators. This is the number of meetings, calls, invoices, or sales made that a specialist must complete in a certain time. You also need to know how exactly it will be evaluated. For example, if the call is successful, it entails arranging a meeting, identifying needs, updating data, etc.

In order to control the effectiveness of the transaction, tools are being introduced to track its progress. The main points in working with the client are fixed - from the first call to the receipt of funds to the current account. Clear parameters for the transition between the stages of the transaction are determined. You should also pay attention to progress in customer relations.

The key to increasing profitability is to control the dynamics of changes client base. Quantitative Analysis newly arrived consumers, lost and returned customers will help to take timely measures and prevent risky situations.

Expert opinion

Do employees come to planning meetings as something routine? There is a solution!

Valery Metelitsa,

CEO, Lindner, Moscow

In our company, Monday morning begins with an hour and a half meeting. We listen to experts' reports on the work done during the week, I set tasks and plans for the current week, and jointly discuss the progress of projects. Over time, the activity of staff at planning meetings has decreased. People began to perceive such meetings as something unimportant, they are sleepy, there is no emotional return, they may even be late. And I came up with an idea, the purpose of which is to diversify a routine event, to introduce an element of novelty into it.

To do this, I prepare in advance short, but very exciting speeches on a variety of topics: a positive attitude in psychology, unusual stories from the lives of prominent people, self-realization and self-improvement, unrealistic scientific achievements, etc. I take some stories from books, facts from the Internet, something from periodicals. I speak, I read, I quote. Sometimes I use a flipchart - I post information, then I comment. The most important thing is that the information is of interest to everyone without exception.

My blog on the infonsuccess.ru resource about success also helps me. There I test themes, analyzing the reviews of friends, subscribers, business partners. Stories help me to positively influence subordinates, examples of success always inspire and awaken the desire for self-improvement.

To be honest, initially the staff took everything very wary. The looks and whispers betrayed everything. But now the “morning readings” have captivated almost everyone. Uninvited experts can also come to the beginning of the planning meeting. For example, at the first part of the planning meeting dedicated to reading, I always see the secretary and the chief accountant. Bottom line: morning planning meetings have become very popular and interesting for employees. Lateness has stopped, people are active, interested in the next topic in advance and waiting for something positive. The productivity of meetings has also increased. The dry format of meetings was diluted with an element of drive and positive. The readings have given rise to discussions, and colleagues are more open in their conversations with me and with each other. Many offer their examples and topics. I suggested to the head of sales to prepare information about fitness for the brain.

Business plan for a beauty salon for an employment center

We recommend reading it to everyone who has to organize planning meetings, five-minute meetings and other meetings. Many do it, but few do it well. The article describes the stages of preparing a meeting, its structure, evaluating the effectiveness and fixing the results - everything you need to know in order to conduct a really useful meeting.

Author about himself

Evgenia Koryakovtseva. Consultant, independent business coach. She has worked with the retail format for more than ten years, she has worked as an external consultant in a consulting agency and as an internal trainer in retail chains, she managed the B2B sales department.

Experience in conducting seminars, trainings, lectures (more than 400 projects). Knowledge of modern methods of management, training and evaluation of personnel in retail; formation complex projects along these lines. Experience in describing business processes, building training systems, developing personnel motivation systems and project management.

We all participate in meetings. And someone even has to prepare and conduct them. Or gliders. Or group discussions. Admit it, many of us extremely dislike such "talkers".

Why? Because the attitude has been absorbed into the blood of any of our people: a meeting is when they talk for a long time, officially and tediously, but after that nothing is done anyway. Well, isn't it a waste of time?

This wonderful format

Meetings in companies are often scheduled unexpectedly, held on a case-by-case basis. In addition, they are not properly prepared, and leaders do not know how to organize the discussion. Therefore, many participants perceive the information incorrectly (didn’t hear, didn’t understand, forgot) - the necessary decisions are not made (postponed and hang), and if they are approved, they are often not implemented. So right?

It's a shame for me for this wonderful format of work. That is why in today's article we will discuss why it is good, what makes group discussion indispensable, how to conduct it effectively.

To begin with, why do we need all this? Why bring together a lot of busy people, tear them away from work?

A quality meeting allows you to use the key mechanisms that increase productivity, which is more...

The principle of synergy. The synergy effect has long been known to psychologists. Remember? — The efficiency of the whole is higher than the total efficiency of its individual parts. Or even simpler: one head is good, but two is better. And it is true. It is together that we are able to generate more ideas, find many solutions to the problem and choose the optimal one from this variety. In the group discussion mode, people begin to work as a whole, complementing each other. Efficiency also multiplies - check. That's why, if you need to solve a series of operational issues, then a quality discussion, this huge resource, should not be neglected.

The principle of unity. A team, that is, people who see the same goal, trust each other and know how to work together, is more effective than one person. Do you agree? How will your employees become a team? Suddenly? By yourself? Maybe immediately highly effective? And for what? The key to team building is to move towards the goal together, active and organized. And all these conditions live in the meeting mode. Meetings and planning meetings are a powerful tool for rallying, building respect for colleagues and the leader, and an excellent training tool. Therefore, if it is important for you that employees work harmoniously, and not just appear in one department or company, conduct weekly meetings with high quality.

Understanding principle. Many people are afraid of the unknown. Normal person- voluntarily or involuntarily, consciously or not - resists the incomprehensible and unfamiliar, and this is absolutely natural. But what if the company’s goals, its performance indicators, tasks for the next month, etc. suddenly fall into the category of incomprehensible? How does a person feel when they demand to dig a hole, but do not say why, how deep and where? Of course resistance and demotivation.

Meetings are a platform for explaining the "party course", increasing its clarity, acceptance by employees, and, consequently, a tool for reducing their resistance to uncertainty. Therefore, if you implement changes, take them through a series of planning sessions and meetings.

An experienced leader knows that meetings create an organization. With their help, you can maintain communication within the company and implement decisions, verify how employees see goals, and break down barriers between departments. If you do not hold meetings, then rumors and speculation are born in your organization. This is a problem that leads to disunity and uncertainty of employees in the future, and here it is not far from losing control.

Well-run meetings can do wonders. The key word here is good. What should be taken into account when holding meetings?

Principles for Effective Meetings

Compliance with tasks

There are several meeting formats: meeting, brainstorming; glider, five minutes. Each format has indications for use and methodology. Deciding to gather people, soberly evaluate your goals and objectives. What do you want from this format? People need to find a solution? Then it's brainstorming - you are all on an equal footing and take into consideration any ideas. Do you want to set tasks? Then this is a planning meeting with a protocol and an agenda ... The format is determined by key points: the role of the leader of the meeting, the style of communication at the meeting, the result of the meeting.

Format examples:

Meeting. The goal is to generate ideas, evaluate options, find solutions. That is, the team is working in creative mode. The apotheosis of this format is brainstorming. A prerequisite is the opportunity to voice an idea / opinion, that is, a culture of free communication at a meeting. People should feel free to express their thoughts, this should be encouraged. Therefore, there should be no harsh non-constructive criticism.

Planerka. The goal is to analyze the current state of the process and identify new tasks. This format is closer to verbal reporting on the given indicators, so the presence of these same indicators is mandatory for it. The planning meeting always takes place on business, according to the agenda.

Five minutes. The goal is to set priorities, to form a working mood. Five-minute sessions are not held to solve global problems and answer the questions “Who is to blame?” and "What to do?" This is a reminder format. The key requirements are positive and short-term. Remember, morning meetings play the role of a stimulant-activator-motivator. Their duration is from 5 to 15 minutes - no longer!

concreteness

Are the tasks themselves defined? Before the meeting, write down the agenda clearly and prepare the materials you need. Send the agenda to all participants in advance (no later than three hours before the start, but preferably the day before) so that they too can prepare. This will allow all of you not to get lost in tasks, stick to the line of the meeting and meet the allotted time.

brevity

Any meeting should fit into a minimum possible time. Ideal is 30 minutes, maximum is an hour. It is very bad if you have to prominate the fifth point for several hours. Why? Arbitrary human attention tends to dissipate over time, and specifically - within 30-40 minutes. With a monotonous process, what is happening ceases to be perceived after 20-30 minutes. And with a decrease in attention, a person’s memory works much worse ... This tells us: after 3 hours of a meeting, people will be very inefficient.

Timing

A prerequisite for an effective meeting is strict timing or regulations. Set a start and end time for the meeting. Start at the designated time, regardless of whether everyone has pulled up - this will teach people not to be late. Set a HONEST deadline in time (for example, an hour and a half) and 10 minutes before the deadline - finish, regardless of the result. Set a five-minute timer for each speaker, this will teach people to speak to the point. Stop off-topic conversations at the meeting, bring people back to the topic. Have a clear agenda for the meeting. It should be in front of all participants.

Adequacy of participants

The meeting should be attended only by those employees who are affected by the agenda. NEVER invite people to a trailer meeting, just sit. Follow the principle of optimality: there should be fewer participants, but the level of their influence on the question is higher.

Right to speak

Are you familiar with meetings in which employees only speak when they are asked and give the manager socially desirable answers, such as “yes, of course we will”? Why is this happening? Because people are used to getting "on the head" for expressing an opinion, especially for doubting. If the manager asks to evaluate whether the problem can be solved, the employee shows doubt, and the manager silences him in response - what then do the rest learn? Be silent and don't get angry. And what do we need from them? Intelligence and analysis. Incompatible things, right? Therefore, it is during the meeting, like in no other time, that employees need to be given the right to speak, to have opinions, ideas, doubts, questions. Moreover, it is necessary to learn how to answer the questions of employees: briefly, to the point, while stopping unnecessary and long moans about the hard office life.

Consolidation of results

Every meeting, and especially one where you set goals, should have a written outcome. I recommend keeping an electronic record of the meeting. For example, in this form:

After the meeting, minutes are sent to all participants. It is the protocol of the meeting that becomes a control tool, allowing you not to miss anything, not to forget a single task. And the transfer of the protocol to an electronic system (for example, 1C or Lotus) makes it possible to integrate it into the task setting system. And most importantly, you should definitely ask about the tasks set at the last meeting. It is the cyclic mode of meetings "analysis → tasks → control → analysis" that allows you to transfer the meeting from the idle talk mode to the work format.

Scheduled meeting

Everything that can be transferred to a planned mode must be transferred. The only way to get used to control procedures is to lay a planned course for them. Ideally, all employees should know when they will be asked for this or that matter, that is, when they need to report - in order to have time to collect data and prepare a meaningful report. Unscheduled meetings are appropriate only for urgent and important matters, and the proportion of such unannounced meetings should be low. Otherwise, the employee simply does not have time to prepare (which means you will hear “I don’t know”), sometimes he won’t even be able to be present (two come instead of eight, the rest are “in the fields”), he is distracted from work (and high performance requires concentration), etc.

To evaluate the effectiveness of your meetings, take the test:

Do you have this?	Not really
Meetings are held irregularly.
Meetings are scheduled suddenly (unexpectedly, like an urgent TASS announcement).
Topic not set. There is no regulation. Participants do not know in advance what will happen at the meeting. The leader himself does not know exactly what he wants.
Duplicating the agenda at different meetings. Chewing on known information...
The leader knows what he wants to say, but has not thought through how to do it more effectively. As a result, information is distorted, misunderstandings arise, unnecessary disputes arise, decisions are executed poorly or not executed at all...
The meeting is not complete.
The manager often postpones meetings, starts at the wrong time, and does not follow the rules.
Participants do not fit into the rules. As an option: they get distracted, do not follow the timing, jump from topic to topic, interrupt each other.
The host speaks, speaks ... The participants are bored, think about their own, talk.
The leader is the first to express his opinion on the issue under discussion. Employees understand that their opinion is no longer important.
The leader does not speak his mind. Doesn't respond to numbers. Doesn't analyze facts. The meeting becomes sluggish and colorless. Lost purpose and meaning. No solutions, no incentives - wasted time.
Discussion of hot issues (salary, fines, etc.) turns into a "bazaar".
At the meeting, a "public execution" takes place.
The employee should talk about some issue at the meeting. You instructed him to do this, but did not check how he understood the task and what he was going to say. And so he speaks, and you become ill.
Decisions made are not controlled, not checked, not implemented.
The leader does not analyze his mistakes in the meeting.

Do you have more than 3 "yes"? Let's optimize!

Stages of preparing and holding an effective meeting

Define the goals and objectives of the meeting. What issues need to be addressed? What information to track? What conclusions to draw? What is the best way to structure tasks?

Determine the format of the meeting based on the tasks. Select participants and meeting time. The meeting MUST have a chairperson/facilitator who will keep track of the rules. This person should have less responsibility for solving the problem that the meeting is about. Then he is less fixated on emotions (than, for example, the initiator of the meeting) and does not lobby, voluntarily or involuntarily, for decisions that are beneficial to the latter. And the right to speak is given honestly to all present.

Determine the structure of the meeting. The meeting should have a clear structure and each time take place exactly in the order envisaged by it.

Typical planer structure:

• Opening speech / warm-up.

  Goals. Regulations. Format.

  General issues.

  General results of the work. Fulfillment of assigned tasks.

  Private results / reports of participants.

  Analysis of results. Setting goals. Summarizing.

Typical meeting structure:

Designation of the problem, goals. The importance of the topic. Plans.

Goals. Regulations. Format.

Discussion. Analysis.

Analysis of results. Setting goals.

Summarizing.

Typical brainstorming or discussion structure:

Introductory speech / goals of the meeting / regulations.

The problem and why it matters.

Generation of ALL solutions.

Discuss the pros and cons of each option.

Choice of solution. Based on it, setting tasks for the participants.

Preparing minutes of the meeting.

Define a regulation. When developing the regulations, remember that it should be convenient for both the leader and the participants. Standard: 3-7 minutes for a presentation on setting goals; 5-7 minutes for debate. Breaks are useful to provide at the rate of 10-15 minutes for every 45-60 minutes of active work. By and large, meetings longer than an hour are a risk of losing the attention of the participants. Such meetings can be ineffective.

Establish the order of issues to be addressed. Issues under the regulations are determined by those key points on which the overall result and quality of the company's work depend (for example, feedback from customers, reaction to advertising, information on new products, etc.).

Divide all questions into three groups.

1. Regular questions - according to the rules. Try to quickly deal with regular questions. At first, their discussion can take all the time. Then current questions will be added to them - people will themselves be active. But your priority, which determines the speed of moving forward, is development issues. Spend up to 50% of your meeting time on them.

   Current questions - according to the meeting plan: ideas that have arisen, problems, what hinders the work and how to optimize it. In total, you can make out no more than 5 questions. Always start with the most important. It is better to finish with one important issue than to leave dozens unresolved.

   Development issues - according to the development plan.

Prepare the necessary documents and forms. In order to effectively work through the issues, it is extremely important to properly prepare the material for the meetings and send it to everyone in advance. At the meeting itself, it is necessary to keep minutes of the meeting, where all decisions taken should be recorded.

Determine the time of the meeting. If employees do not differ in discipline, they are often late, I recommend holding weekly meetings in the morning, right at the beginning of the working day - a timely arrival to work is guaranteed. The most malicious "latecomers" will be re-educated in a few days. Always include an end time for the meeting. Try to finish a little earlier - it becomes pleasant surprise for participants. In any case, there should still be some time left after the discussion of planned issues. Then employees will have the opportunity, reason and incentive to ask their questions - that is, to be active and think. And what could be better for a leader than an active and intelligent employee!

Make sure the meeting is necessary.

Answer yourself the following questions:

1. Are there questions for the meeting? Is this what we need to talk about today?

   Does the form of presentation of the material correspond to the purpose, audience, content?

   What should happen / remain in the minds of employees after the meeting?

   Is it possible to skip the meeting and achieve the same result?

If you answered “Yes” to questions 1, 2 and “No” to question 4, feel free to hold a meeting!

The head of the department is a very busy person. Indicators, regulations, solving complex problems, organizing everyone and everything to move towards the goal - everything is on his shoulders. The more correctly the set of management tools is selected, the more effective the leader. Is it worth spending time on such a tool as a planning meeting in a linear division?

Even in companies where planning meetings are mandatory and regulated, managers often approach them formally - shoot back for show and work on. Planning meetings are considered a waste of time, which theorists came up with. Their motto is "Practitioners need to work, not consult." At the same time, in companies where the planning meeting is optional and is a personal initiative, there are managers who, without additional reminders, gather employees at a certain time and talk to them.

Why are these "strange" leaders so "inefficiently" wasting their precious time, if no one obliges them to do so? I had to delve deep into this issue lately. The crisis has required top managers to dive deeper into the business. The rules of the game in the market have changed, and in order for the company not only to stay afloat, but also to use the crisis to strengthen its position in the market, it is necessary to become closer to customers - both external and internal.

In order to quickly respond to changes and increase the level of control over the situation, I, among other things, began to regularly join planning meetings in departments and compared different styles of conducting them. The numbers were revealing: out of the 12 single-profile departments in which both sales and contract enforcement are carried out, the highest and most stable indicators were in those where planning meetings are held weekly. And this is no coincidence.

Purpose of the meeting

If the manager answers the question about the purpose of the planning meeting: “Because it’s supposed to,” it’s better not to hold it at all. Any formal events "for show" only work in the negative, they teach you to work not for the result, but for "the appearance of movement towards the goal." The name "plannerka" suggests that its purpose is to update the movement according to the planned plan towards the goals set.

If we consider this event from the point of view of the Deming cycle (Plan - Do - Check - Akt), then the planning meeting is a regular control (Check) of activities in order to draw conclusions and, if necessary, correct the movement (Akt). But there are statistics for this! Is it worth it to gather more people? It is certainly worth it, and the main functions of the planning meeting help us to make sure of this.

The main functions of the planner

1) Information. Employees have few ways to get information about the situation in the company and the market:

• official published information, which is sometimes overlooked or not fully understood;
• gossip, often very far from the truth, but discussed with great pleasure in canteens and smoking rooms;
• first-hand information, with explanations and emphasis on important points, which the leader gives at the planning meeting, paying due attention to working out objections and reducing the effectiveness of word of mouth.

And obligatory informing employees about the movement of the department along the intended path.

2) Control. In addition to dry and categorical figures, the ability to control the atmosphere in the team, clarify the reasons for success or decline in performance. Based on the results of the planning meeting, failures in the chain of interaction within the unit and in the company are often found out, and the manager immediately takes action to eliminate them.

3) Motivational. Employees need attention. Recall the famous Hawthorne effect in management - labor productivity increases from the fact that attention is paid to the activities of employees. A planning meeting is one of the best ways to regularly remind employees that they are important and their work is given enough attention.

One of the employees in the department had a breakthrough, a take-off - a good reason to recognize achievements and, if necessary, support the competitive spirit in the department. And yet, in addition to numbers, you need to see the eyes of your employees. Managers need to listen carefully to their employees. The behavior of the employee has changed, the fuse has disappeared - a reason for the manager to include an individual conversation in the weekly plan.

4) Educational. In this function, the planning meeting is an indispensable tool for simplifying the manager's difficult managerial work. During the week, a work case, indicative for everyone, took place - the head writes it down and makes it public at the planning meeting. Thus, the annoying need to repeat the same thing to different people many times has remained in the past, and we regularly and consciously “sharpen” our working tool.

5) Organizational. It is a good practice to invite representatives of related departments to meetings, especially at the moment of innovation. The opportunity to establish or adjust interaction, remove conflicts, exchange experiences.

6) Disciplining. At motivation, as a management tool, there is one very significant drawback: its action is short-lived. Few people are capable of self-motivation, and it is people with this ability who most often become leaders.

Discipline, regular rituals and rules, which include the planning meeting, are designed to help motivate employees. Planerka is an event. Employees are getting used to the fact that they will need not only reporting in numbers, but also a willingness to justify their indicators. Questions are prepared for the planning meeting, employees collect and transfer cases to the head, which should be shown to the entire department in their opinion. Like a family dinner on Fridays, the planning meeting becomes a habitual disciplinary action according to the rules, when everyone must postpone their business, be sure to be present at the workplace, turn to face each other, finally. This is especially important.

How often to hold meetings

I believe that the daily team briefings are only suitable for newcomers who need a mentoring style of management and support every step of the way. For an established team, planning meetings should be weekly. The main thing is that they are carried out on the same day, at the same time, and approximately coincide in duration and order of actions, which will allow maintaining the disciplining function.

An example of a possible planning scenario:

• The head makes an informational message, following the results, employees can ask clarifying questions.
• The manager announces planned indicators and asks employees questions about them. Arranges individual appointments as needed.
• The leader talks about a case study of the week or introduces an invited employee.
• The manager clarifies whether there are urgent work issues that are important for the entire department and require discussion at the planning meeting. Evaluates issues, decides what to discuss immediately, what will require a delayed decision.
• The leader talks about plans for the current week - significant events, meetings and completes the planning meeting.

Time costs

For a long time, we spend time - this is the main reason why leaders refuse to hold planning meetings. It leads to a complete rejection of this tool, or it all comes down to a brief monologue of the leader without feedback from subordinates. Only informational and slightly disciplining functions are preserved.

This is actually a problem: managing "humanely" is easier than working with a group. Managing group dynamics is the art of being a good leader. His goal is to briefly and clearly hold a planning meeting, and at the same time get feedback from employees, which will help, if necessary, correct the movement. The optimal duration is up to 20-45 minutes. It is this time from childhood that is laid in us as a period of concentration.

The strength of a leader is that he sets the rules. To prevent the planning meeting from stretching out, it is necessary to conclude a “contract for the planning meeting” with the employees. For example:

• We discuss only general issues, we take out specific ones for an individual decision.
• We are short and to the point.
• We are not distracted by work issues, we put the phones into vibration mode.
• By stating a problem, we offer a solution.
• Non-working issues are discussed during non-working hours.

The set of rules may vary depending on the situation. The main thing is that the leader manages the regulations and does not delve into the problems himself. The purpose of the planning meeting is to identify, and the decision can be made later, carefully weighing and studying all the details while the department is working. The main thing is to show employees that the stated problems are being solved. Sometimes there are situations in which the planning meeting goes beyond the allotted time, the intensity in the team is clearly visible. Then you need to arrange an additional meeting, often after hours. This is the skill of a manager - to prevent the situation from heating up, to identify markers that show negative aspects in the team.

Of course, it will take time to implement the planning tool in the department. Sometimes you have to carry out more than one event before the tool becomes truly effective. When a manager becomes open to feedback, he will be surprised to hear a lot of unsaid things that employees have long wanted to say, but never had a chance. And then he asked! You have to think over the roles of your subordinates and their use in group dynamics, work with objections, and argue at the highest level. Many leaders do not go exactly this way - becoming, and go into individual management, which is much more labor-intensive and less effective, when there are only two steps to success.

Managers who have a fine command of this tool use it in their departments with great success, because they were able to evaluate its effectiveness. The planning meeting is not a relic of the past and not a formality, but one of the most modern and effective tools that helps in solving the most difficult task to manage - the achievement of the goals of the unit. And it is precisely from these goals that the success of the entire company is formed.