APPENDIX IX SUMMARY OF THE CRUCIAL BEHAVIORS FOR CONDUCTING EFFECTIVE MEETING

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This knowledge about running group meetings can be translated into specific behaviors that a manager should demonstrate. The 12 most important ones are summarized next.

1. Prepare a meeting agenda. A large part of the chairperson's contribution occurs before the meeting begins. You will need to have a clear understanding of what is to be done at the meeting and what, if any, decisions are to be made. You'll have to determine who should attend and the right number of attendees to optimize the group's effectiveness. You also will need to draw up the planning document that will guide the meeting - the agenda.

As a general rule, keep the number of participants as low as possible. It is unusual for more than a dozen people to do anything important at a meeting. When you get beyond 10 or 12 participants, meetings typically get unwieldy In fact, a meeting of more than a dozen probably exceeds a chairperson's span of control. Evidence indicates that decision-making committees of five are highly effective when all five members possess adequate skills and knowledge. When you're preparing a meeting, include only people who either have the skills and knowledge to contribute or who are important links in the communication network. In addition, keep in mind that effective interaction is less likely when the number of participants exceeds a dozen or so.

Is it only to exchange information or is it to make decisions? Will all relevant parties in the organization be included or merely their representatives? If decisions are to be made, how are they to be arrived at? Will consensus be sought? If decisions are to be made by voting, what constitutes approval: a simple majority, a two-thirds majority, or another voting outcome? These issues should be clarified ahead of time in the agenda.

2. Distribute the agenda in advance. If you want specific people to attend your meeting, and particularly if participants need to do some homework beforehand, get your agenda out well in advance of the meeting. What's an adequate lead time? That depends on such factors as the amount of preparation necessary, the importance of the meeting, and whether the meeting will be recurring (e.g., every Monday at 8: 30 A.M.) or is being called once to deal with an issue that has arisen and will be repeated only under similar circumstances.

3. Consult with participants before the meeting. Unprepared participants can't contribute to their full potential. It is your responsibility to ensure that members are prepared. What data will they need ahead of time? Do they have those data? If not, what can you do to help them get them?

4. Get participants to go over the agenda. The first thing you should do at the meeting is have participants to review the agenda. Do modifications need to be made? If so, make them. Clarify the issues that you plan to discuss. After this review, get participants to approve the final agenda.

5. Establish specific time parameters. Meetings should begin on time and have a specific time for completion. It is your responsibility to specify these time parameters and to hold to them.

Maintain focused discussion. It is the chairperson's responsibility to give direction to the discussion; to keep it focused on the issues; and to minimize interruptions, disruptions, and irrelevant comments. If participants begin to stray from the issue under consideration, the chairperson should redirect the discussion. Similarly, one or a few members cannot be allowed to monopolize the discussion or to dominate others. Appropriate preventive action ranges from a subtle stare, a raised eyebrow, or some other nonverbal communication, on up to an authoritative command such as ruling someone " out of order'' or withdrawing someone's right to continue speaking.

7. Encourage and support participation by all members. Participants were not selected randomly. Each is there for a purpose. To maximize the effectiveness of problem-oriented meetings, each participant must be encouraged to contribute. Quiet or reserved personalities must be drawn out so their ideas can be heard.

8. Maintain an appropriate level of control. The style of leadership can range from authoritative domination to laissez-faire. The effective leader pushes when necessary and is passive when need be.

9. Encourage the clash of ideas. You need to encourage different points of view, critical thinking, and constructive disagreement. Your goals should be to stimulate participants' creativity and to counter the group members' desire to reach an early consensus.

10. Discourage the clash of personalities. An effective meeting is characterized by the critical assessment of ideas, not attacks on people. When running a meeting, you must quickly intercede to stop personal attacks or other forms of verbal insult.

11. Exhibit effective listening skills. If your group meeting is to achieve its objectives, you need to demonstrate the listening skills. Effective listening reduces misunderstandings, improves the focus of discussion, and encourages the critical assessment of ideas. Even if other group members don't exhibit good listening skills, if you do, you can keep the discussion focused on the issues and facilitate critical thinking.

12. Bring proper closure. You should close a meeting by summarizing the group's accomplishments; clarifying what actions, if any, need to follow the meeting; and allocating follow-up assignments. If any decisions have been made, identify who will be responsible for communicating and implementing them.

APPENDIX X PRESENTATIONS

Dealing with Fear

To calm your nerves as you prepare to give an oral presentation,

· Be prepared. Analyze your audience, organize your thoughts, prepare
visual aids, practice your opener and close, check out the arrangements.

· Use only the amount of caffeine you normally use. More or less may make you jumpy.

· Avoid alcoholic beverages.

· Reliable your nerves. Instead of saying, " I'm scared, " try saying, " My
adrenaline is up." Adrenaline sharpens our reflexes and helps us do our best.

Just before your presentation,

· Consciously contract and then relax your muscles, starting with your feet and calves and going up to your shoulders, arms, and hands.

· Take several deep breaths from your diaphragm.

During your presentation,

· Pause and look at the audience before you begin speaking.

· Concentrate on communicating well.

· Use body energy in strong gestures and movement.

APPENDIX XI PERSUADING

The bigger the group is, the more carefully you need to enunciate, that is, voice all the sounds of each word. Words starting or ending with f, k, v, and d are especially hard to hear. " Our informed and competent image" can sound like " Our informed, incompetent image."

To enunciate, use your tongue and lips. Researchers have identified 38 different sounds. Of these, you make 31 with your tongue and 7 with your lips. None are made with the jaw, so how wide you open your mouth really doesn't matter. If the tongue isn't active enough, muscles in the throat try to compensate, producing sore throats and strained voices.

Tongue twisters can help you exercise your tongue and enunciate more dearly. Stephen Lucas suggests the following:

Sid said to tell him that Benny hid the penny many years ago.

Fetch me the finest French-fried freshest fish that Finney fries.

Three gray geese in the green grass grazed.

Shy Sarah saw six Swiss wristwatches.

You can also reduce pressure on your throat by fitting phrases to your ideas. If you cut your sentences into bits, you'll emphasize words beginning with vowels, making the vocal cords hit each other. Instead, run past words beginning with vowels to emphasize later syllables or later words:

Only for

Ourselves

And

Our families but for

Our communities

Our country.

Smooth phrasing protects throat:

We must take more

Responsibility

Not only for our

Selves and our

Families but for our

Communities and our

Country.

You can reduce the number of uhs you use by practicing your talk several times. Filler sounds aren't signs of nervousness. Instead, say psychologists at Columbia University, they occur when speakers pause searching for the next word. Searching takes longer when people have big vocabularies or talk about topics where a variety of word choices are possible. Practicing your talk makes your word choices automatic.

CONCEPT QUIZ

The following 10-question quiz is based on the previous material. If you miss any of these questions, go back and find out why you got them wrong.

Circle the right answer:

True False 1. Authority is an effective means of influencing superiors.

True False 2. Oral persuasion seeks to induce others to take action.

True False 3. The evidence demonstrates that age and credibility are

positively correlated.

True False 4. An effective argument should include every possible reason

you can find.

True False 5. Oral persuasion works best when it focuses on logical

reasoning and avoids appeals to emotions and feelings.

True False 6. Persuasion encompasses active and passive approaches.

True False 7. An understanding of oral persuasion tactics ensures success.

True False 8. You have nothing to gain by talking down to a person you are trying to persuade.

True False 9. If a well-thought-out argument works with one person, it is

likely to be effective with most people.

True False 10. You should rely more on emotions than on your formal position when attempting to persuade nonauthoritarian types.

Answers: (1) False; (2) True; (3) False; (4) False; (5) False; (6) True; (7) False; (8) True; (9) False; (10) False

APPENDIX XII DELEGATION

CONCEPT QUIZ

True False 1. Delegation requires shifting decision-making authority to a
lower-level employee in the organization.

True False 2. Delegation is the sharing of authority between a manager and
a subordinate.

True False 3. Responsibility is the passing of formal rights to a subordinate
so that person can act on a manager's behalf.

True False 4. Authority should be equal to responsibility.

True False 5. Accountability adds a performance requirement to
responsibility.

True False 6. Managers who delegate can never be accused of abdicating
responsibility.

True False 7. Delegation works because most subordinates can perform
tasks better than their managers can.

True False 8. The most important determinant of whether or not a manager
delegates is how heavy the manager's workload is.

True False 9. Reverse delegation is synonymous with participation.

True False 10. Delegation still can be effective if subordinates make occasional mistakes.

Answers: (1) True; (2) False; (3) False; (4) True; (5) True; (6) False; (7) False; (8) False; (9) False; (10) True

BIBLIOGRAPHY

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