What is America's attitude on meetings in the workplace?

The average American spends 5.5 hours of their week in meetings, and 70% of those people believe the meetings are a waste of time. The monetary cost of ineffective meetings at $37 billion annually.

Tuckman's Group Formation Model & it's relationship to meetings

Informatin Sharing Meeting

• update or brief co-workers
• de-brief co-workers, leadership
• downward communication

Problem Solving & Decision Making Meeting

• Majority of meetings this type
• much more interactive
• action oriented
• more challenging to handle

Ritual Activity Meetings

• can be formal or informal
• relational work is accomplished
• informal networking is done

Conditions for holding a meeting

• the task is beyond the capacity of one
• decision making will benefit from multiple perspectives
• when there is high interdependence in task completion
• when misunderstandings or reservations are likely

Conditions for NOT holding a meeting

-the matter can be handled just as well over the phone

-you can send an e-mal, memo, or fax

-key people are not present

-the subject would be irrelevant or trivial to most people

-working with time constraints

-members aren't prepared

-the meeting is routine and there is no compelling reason

-your mind is already made up, and it is not necessary for others to know your decision

How do you prepare for a meeting?

• Set and distribute the agenda
• distribute list to all participants
• circulate necessary background information
• list out items and goals for meeting
• prompt pre-meeting work that needs to be completed

John Tropman's Agenda Bell Curve

Techniques for balancing participation in meetings

• make room for the introverts
• invite comments from people who don't volunteer
• invite comments after the meeting if you have the luxury of time in decision making process
• be aware of how you treat dissenting ideas or minority ideas

Types of Meeting Questions

-Overhead: for the entire group

-Direct:aimed at one particular person

-Reverse: aimed at the person who asks the initial question

-Relay: redirecta question asked of the leader to the entire group

*use questions carefully...especially reverse and direct

Describe the Normal Group Technique

This is used as an alternative to the traditional brain storming process.

-Step 1:ideas written down anonymously

-Step 2:all ideas posted for everyone to see

-Step 3:discussion is open but criticism is witheld

-Step 4: each idea is rank ordered privatly by each member

-Step 5: highest preferred ideas are critically and thoroughly evaluated and discussed.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths: resources internal to the organization that can be made available for the completion of the project.

Weaknesses: resources necessary for the completion of the project that are lacking.

Opportunities: external areas for advancing or improving the project.

Threats: external barriers preventing the completion of the project.

*It's a project management tool, and it provides a framework to have a productive conversation regarding a project. Rely on expertise and knowledge of the situation to increase efficiency of analysis.

Crisis Evaluation Model

Description: create a clear picture as possible of the range and scope of crisis.

Loss: evaluate the loss of resources, and any diminished capacity to function.

Take stock: evaluate the resources available to put towards management/mitigation/resolution.

Prioritize: decide what priorities (mitgate loss, short term resolution, long term resolution)

Triage: devote available resources to the most effective locations given priorities.

Re-evaluate: evaluate the effectiveness of the triaging process.

Techniques to keep meeting on track

• Remind group of time pressure
• Mark agenda with time limits & designate a time keeper
• Summarize discussions and paraphrase decisions
• Use Relevancy Challenge...carefully & sparingly (since it causes significant face threat)
• Promise to deal with good ideas later

Techniques to keep a positive tone

• Enhance the value of members' comments...("and" instead of "but")
• Acknowledge good ideas and recognize members for them
• Identify the merit of "bad" ideas, and explain concerns, and invite options for enhancing the idea
• Pay attention to cultural facts

Decision-Making Methods

Consensus: most productive and the most time consuming

Majority Vote: not the best approach on critical issues, especially in small groups 

Minority Decision: "moving to committee," efficient, and effective in a well functioning group

Expert Opinion: effective, if the resources are available, and there is acceptance regarding expertise

Authority Rule: doesn't mean autocratic. Efficient and effective, but may lead to isolation within the organization

Concluding a Meeting

Close a meeting when: when the scheduled time has arrived, when the groups lacks resources to continue, when the agenda has been covered

Conclude a meeting: signal when time is up, summarize the accomplishments of the meeting, thank the group and acknowledge individuals who made significant contributions

Theory of the Firm

*First articulated to counter the economic concept of the firm

-first articulated to counter the economic concept of the firm

-chief responsibility of the firm is to satisfy the long-term needs of the customer coalition

-the firm is "a network of internal coalitions"

-firms survive only to the extent to which they satisfy the "real" needs of their customer coalition

-the firm tries to implement the marketing concept

Critical Questions of Theory of the Firm

-To what extent should the customer be satisfied?

-What is the evidence that a satisfied customer leads to profitability?

How are customer needs determined?

Do customers know what they want or what their future needs are? 

Critical issues in theory of the firm: customer needs and desires

-customers regularly don't know what they want, especially long term (5 years out)

-only 30% of new customer ideas came from customers

-only 36% of customers ideas for consumer products were successful, R&D ideas were successful 39% of the time

-Long-term behavior of the customer is a better alternative

Critical issues in theory of firm: extend of satisfaction

-optimal conditions for satisfying customer needs = optimal conditions for long-term survival

-concept that counters this^ = market enslavement

-complete satisfaction of every customer can become prohibitively expensive and consequently unsustainable 

TOTF: conditions for long-term survival

Market Enslavement

Strategic Alliance

• Negotiating market share
• Shared or cooperative licensing of technology
• Advertise for industry competitor

Globalization

• global corporation vs. multinational corporation
• covergence of product and marketing strategies

Total Quality Management

-market product in all steps of consumption: procurement, transportation, installation, after-sales-service

-more services for higher price

-"total-customer-satisfaction"

Philanthropic Economics

Purchasing customer loyalty through social responsibility

Transactional Marketing

-Middlemen marketing

-Caused by mass production and segregated functioning

-Distanace between the producer and the customer

-The economics of the transaction are important 

Relational Marketing

*Relationship marketing attempts to involve and integrate customers, suppliers and other infrastructural partners into a firm's developmental and marketing activities

-direct marketing (pre-dated the industrial era)

-furthered by new technologies that give producers direct access to consumers

-promotes intimate understanding of consumers and consequently an emotional attachment

-relationship and loyalty are important

Forces that shifted to and from Transactional Marketing

-rapid technological advancements, especially in information technology

-the adoption of total quality programs by companies

-the growth of service economy

-organizational development processes leading to empowerment of individuals and teams

-increase in competitive intensity leading to concern for customer retention

Characteristics of a relational marketing philosophy

-retaining customers, influencing repeat purchases fostering trust

-facilitating future marketing

-development of "branding" as a concept, quality assurance as practice

-continuity and security

-product customization 

Competitive Advantage

This is maintained by "resources that it is about how the organization survives"

Resource

This is delineated as Assets, Processes, and Capabilities

Attributes

Tangible, can be copied by competitor, evaluated prior to purchase

Benefits

Intangible, ease-of-use, reliability, ease-of-learning

Attitudes

Brand loyalty, firm image

Network Membership

Access, value by association, endorsement

Customer Value (RBV Perspective)

Imitability

Rival's imitation capacity, enhancing resource imitability

Durability

Durabilit of product, durability of an attitude, attribute, benefit, or network

Hallmark of Communication Based Approach to Marketing

"Not persuasion, but conversion"

How is communication-based approach different from the other approaches?

"Transactional" vs. "transaction"

Two-way communication vs. buy-sell

Information

The product of communicaiton, it is the tie that binds in any relationship

Managerial Level

Keeping industry practices

Marketing Level

Price fixing, product design

Marketing Communicaton Level

One-way mass media messaging and feedback from consumer base.

Considerations about the audience in a presentation

Who are the key members? How much does the audience know? What do they want to know? What are their personal preferences? Which demographic characteristics are significant? What size is the group? What are the listeners attitudes?

Considerations about the speaker in a presentation

Considerations of the occassion in a presentation

-Facilities...what is available, what is appropriate (conference, classroom, etc.)

-Time...time of day you're speaking and length of time.

-Context...Preceding speakers and current event.

Thesis in a presentation

This aligns with your goal, it's a supporting argument that persuades your audience. Discuss potential drawbacks, potential remedies, and restate thesis to connect to goals.

Avai Adakkam

Ways to organize your presentation

-Chronological: arrange points by their sequence in time.

-Spatial: arrange your points by physical location, or manner of construction.

-Topical: loose organization of logical themes.

-Cause Effect: action and sequences

-Problem Solution: similiar to C&E, but with positive framing.

-Criteria Satisfaction: set standard the audience accepts and inform how to achieve it.

-Comparative Advantage: compare viable alternatives and make an argument for one over the other.

-Motivated Sequence: attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, action.

Functions of the Introduction

Types of Opening Statements

Body of Presentation

Functions of the Closing

Types of closings

-Return to theme of opening

-Appeal for action: asks for action by the audience

-End with a challenge: demands action from the audience.