The Meeting Magic Method, Katherine Woods & Kevin Holligan

Available at www.meetingmagic.co.uk


Seven steps to successful meeting design

Now here is something completely different. An A3 workbook (plus a pocket version for on the hoof meeting planning) designed to lead you along the path to the perfect meeting.

I say ‘path’ advisedly since the authors use the visual metaphor of a journey throughout the workbook. It is designed to help business managers realise more effective results from any meeting.

Based on seven steps (there’s that figure 7 again! What is it with authors?) each A3 page (template) provides the opportunity to advance the development of your meeting;

1. Clarify why (the fundamental reason(s) for having a meeting at all)
2. Understand expectations (yours and others’)
3. Define the targets (what you and ‘they’ expect)
4. Outline the flow (how the targets are to be achieved)
5. Design the agenda (what most of us thought came first!)
6. Prepare resources (complete with checklist to avoid embarrassing gaps!)
7. Document and review (we’ve all wondered after a meeting what actually happened!)

The worksheets are very practical and beautifully designed and could make a real difference to anyone who struggles with the preparation of meetings (so that’s everyone who ever prepared a meeting, right?). The kit represents a serious investment at £97.00 though that does include a facility to download and print more templates and a half-hour coaching session from one of Meeting Magic’s facilitators.

Come to think of it, your first session could potentially save more than the cost simply in time saved. Assuming you are as disorganised as me when it comes to planning!

Answering the Ultimate Question

Richard Owen & Laura L. Brooks

 

Buy it now from Blackwell Books

 

Applying ‘Net Promoter’

 

Not ’what is the meaning of life?’ but, according to Owen & Brooks, ‘how likely is it that you would recommend this business to a friend or colleague?’

 

Developed from a 2006 best-seller, Net Promotion begins with a simple premise; ask people to rate the chances of their recommending you on a scale of 1 to 10. Based on answers given it is claimed to be possible to predict future success or failure. A whole methodology has grown around this basic idea and many are the adherents to Net Promoter and its tenets.

 

What we are talking about here is customer loyalty and, let’s face it, the majority of CRM efforts fall down at the implementation stage (the minority fall down elsewhere; successful CRM is an elusive target). This book provides a plan for implementing Net Promoter successfully and running what Troy Stevenson of Charles Schwab refers to as a ‘customer-centric’ organisation.

 

The authors have drawn on their own clients to provide case studies and those clients’ enthusiasm shines through in every case.

 

Net Promoter is not for the faint-hearted though and, unless your business is already a convert, you would be advised to read Fred Reichheld’s ‘The Ultimate Question’ before venturing into this volume.

Sticky Wisdom

Published by Capstone

Buy it now from Blackwell Books

The revolution starts here

How would you like to switch on your ‘creativity’ any time you wanted? Or help everyone in your organisation (your life!) be more creative? According to the unnamed authors (all staff members of the organisation ?What If!) there is a step-by-step how-to-do-it guide – and Sticky Wisdom the book is it!

There are, the book tells us, six behaviours that can be seen in all creative people and teams;

Freshness
Greenhousing
Realness
Momentum
Signalling
Courage

Unsurprisingly, Sticky Wisdom is divided into six chapters (plus an introduction, a ‘call to arms’ and an index) that explore the behaviours and guide the reader towards their implementation.

Is this just another book of to do lists? Not entirely; though it contains lists a plenty. Let’s face it, we would all like a simple template that could be applied and provide instant positive results. Not only for creativity but for all the other challenges that face us in life and business. So the authors have tapped into a universal desire for quick fixes. However they are codifying what their organisation does, very successfully, for a number of impressive clients; Microsoft and ICI for example. While I don’t imagine either of these organisations is completely immune from snake-oil salesman their presence on the client list does make the arguments put forth at least worth spending a little time on.

Like the company the authors work for, Sticky Wisdom is a bit off-the-wall but a good read and with some interesting ideas that could make a big difference if you are prepared to put in the not inconsiderable effort that will be needed. Proving yet again that there is not really any short cut to success beyond winning a lottery, Sticky Wisdom has found a space on my bookshelf.