Deadlines loom, phones ring, e-mail goes unanswered and what are you doing with your time? Going to meetings! Oh, what fun, you think, coffee mug in hand, ready to watch the second hand move ever so slowly across the face of the clock like a kid waiting for the bell to ring on the last day of school.

The fact is, you spend way too much time in meetings, and they drain away a tremendous chunk of your life. Respondents to a Microsoft survey a couple years back said they spent 5.6 hours each week in meetings, and 71 percent of them thought the meetings weren’t productive.

If you truly want to know how much time – and money – trickles away while you try to stay awake at a conference table, check out http://tobytripp.github.com/meeting-ticker/. Plug in the number of attendees, an hourly rate that includes salaries and facility rental, and calculate the financial waste, second by second.

Though we hate to admit it, meetings are sometimes necessary and can be productive. The trick, then, is keeping them on track. Here are a few ideas on how to do that:

1. Set a time limit. Everybody has something else to do, and having a confab drag on is usually not on that list. Start on time, finish on time, and if you don’t get it all done, follow-up e-mails or calls may accomplish the task.
2. Know why you’re there. Distribute an agenda or outline in advance. Be open to adding items to the agenda offered up by those attending the meeting, if they are pertinent to the task at hand.
3. Come prepared. This goes for those leading the meeting, and those attending it. Review the documents, bring the proposal, whatever it takes. No one wants to stare at you while you rifle through your briefcase, looking for what you need.
4. Speak up. Make a suggestion or offer to do some research before asking for bid proposals. The meeting will be less of a drag – and go faster – if you feel engaged.

Meetings aren’t fun, and they take up a lot of our time, but they will always be with us, so you might as well do what you can to make them short, sweet and bearable.

Labels: efficiency, management tools, meeting agendas

If you worked long and hard and put in extra hours on a project, you’d ask for the well-earned overtime. If your supplier’s prices suddenly went up for services or much-needed materials, you’d use your standing as a long-dedicated contractor and work for a better price. If a potential employee wanted a salary that was too high for their experience level and what the job required, you’d talk them down to a wage that was more in line with what the position required.

A recent study by the market research firm America’s Research Group found that 72 percent of American consumers had recently haggled, compared with 33 percent two years earlier, according to a recent article on Forbes.com.

The still-struggling economy provides more opportunity than ever to get what you want for the price you want. And what works for buying a car or a house – offering a price lower than what is being asked and knowing you will meet somewhere in the middle – can work in the business world, too.

When done correctly, negotiating helps everyone come out a winner. Both sides are satisfied they have been treated fairly during the process, a skill we learn early when vying for a later bedtime and parlay later in life into signed contracts and pay raises.

Here are a few tips from Forbes to get you started in the fine art of haggling:

1. A friendly, calm manner sets the tone for negotiating. Sugar, as they say, attracts more flies than vinegar.
2. Sincerity counts, so tell the employee or service provider what your goal is and where you’re coming from. That gives the negotiations a starting point.
3. Be flexible about what you’ll take, whether it’s extra vacation days in exchange for a lower salary or another time frame for when the work will be completed.

The link for information found for this blog is the Forbes.com Website, http://www.forbes.com/2009/10/08/negotiate-haggle-relationship-skills-forbes-woman-net-worth-retail.html.

Labels: haggling, negotiating

The project is going poorly. You know this. The client won’t cooperate, the deadline is looming, and there seems to be nowhere to turn. Do you go to your boss? Her boss? Or sit and stew and do the best you can?

Recent studies show that employees know the chain of command, which dictates turning to an immediate supervisor when trouble lurks, but are unlikely to follow that chain for an assortment of reasons.

According to an article in the July edition of the “Journal of Business Communication,” based on a survey of about 150 employees in a major U.S city in a variety of fields, employees skip the usual path for three reasons:

• Supervisor inaction, when an employee’s concerns were met with a shrug or unfulfilled promise.
• Supervisor incompetence, when an employee’s boss mismanaged an assortment of tasks, from scheduling vacations to conducting performance evaluations.
• Supervisor missteps, when an employee’s higher-up showed questionable behavior through harassment, unethical behavior and abuse of organizational policies.

According to the Reference for Business Website, the chain of command was formalized during the 20th Century. But communication is key in keeping that system alive. Some businesses have adapted systems that are more flexible and respond more quickly to change, especially since employees may have more than one supervisor.

The Reference for Business Website notes that for the chain of command to be effective these days, “individuals working in these organizations learn to share power, use open confrontation to resolve issues, and to utilize all directions in the organization to disseminate information.” The chain of command remains important in most organizations, the Website says, but it is not as binding.

So if you have problems, don’t just look up, look around. The help you need may be closer than you think.

This blog was adapted from a study on the Harvard Business School Executive Education Website, www.strategy-business.com/article/re00089?gko=94546, and information on the Reference for Business Website, /www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Bun-Comp/Chain-of-Command-Principle.html.

Labels: chain of command, communication, management tools

We’ve all had those days. The 10-minute scramble to find the car keys. The search for the missing file, whether it’s hardcopy or tucked somewhere on the laptop. The hunt for the kid’s missing library books, due in the morning, child-size tears flowing over the horror, the horror, of not being able to check out a new book unless the old one is returned.

Sigh, we say as we get in bed, after the nightly scavenger hunt to find our pillow. There must be a better way.

Well, there’s always getting organized. That sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Like a New Year’s resolution we make every Jan. 1, and break by Jan. 3? And the reality is, sometimes, we are organized. We put that file where we were sure we would remember to find it, and then couldn’t.

In advance of the upcoming hectic holiday season, when crazy-busy rapidly trumps everything, including organization, here are a few tips for getting started. It doesn’t have to be pretty or perfect, but sometimes, anything is better than nothing:

• Put stuff away. File it where it belongs, put it in the drawer, in the folder on the desktop, wherever. If the spoons are always in the silverware caddy, you will always find one when you need it.
• Try, try, try to control clutter. Recycle or throw out the papers you don’t need. Put the bills and correspondence in their place. Create someplace – a caddy, a desk organizer – to put the rest of it, divvied up between new clients, pending contracts, school calendars, whatever works for you.
• Designate a spot for things and stick to it. The kid’s library books always go on the shelf next to the television in the living room. Folders for ongoing projects are to be placed in the left-hand corner of the desk, in the green basket, and organized by deadline.

You get the idea. And if you still can’t find it, take a deep breath. Close your eyes. Can it be replaced or recreated? Does it matter if it can’t? Have you checked under the bed? It’ll turn up eventually. It always does.