Teams: 8 things that can go wrong.

Nº 1. Problems with meetings and what to do.

Lots of people associate "teamwork" with "meetings". Especially when meetings become bad experiences. Here is a list of features that are typical of the kind meetings that destroy teams or even ensure that a true team spirit never comes to life.

Meetings start late

People arrive late

The first item is interminable and the other items are rushed

You want to fall asleep or your mind is a million miles away from the meeting

Meetings always finish late

One or two people dominate the talk space

You and others don't contribute

People leave with feelings of frustration, anger, energy loss, depression

No decisions taken or arbitrary imposition after inconclusive discussion

Private agendas and conflicts between participants

These features of bad meetings have a very strong impact on team functioning and on team spirit. Left alone, things get worse. Relationships between team members can be irretrievably damaged.

So what can be done?

Well, surprisingly much of the damage can be stopped with some simple steps:

- Agenda and support documents are sent out well ahead of the meeting.

- Firm Chairing of the meeting. The meeting leader should be clearly in control of the meeting.

- Clear action points with names and timings associated to them.

- Meetings start and finish on time and they as short as possible.

Spend 10 minutes at the end of the meeting to review how it worked.

- Minutes of the meeting are sent to particpants within 2 days.

There are other steps to take if these measures are not enough to make positive changes. They involve taking a step back to analyse how the team works. One by working within the team to develop a problem-solving process. The other is to work with someone from outside the team to analyse how the team works.

We will look at the other 7 problems in future newsletters. The information and advice is focused on team working, but is also of much wider application in our day-to-day lives.

On the first day, God created the dog and said:

"Sit all day by the door of your house and bark at anyone who comes in or walks past. For this, I will give you a life span of twenty years."

The dog said: "That's a long time to be barking. How about only ten years and I'll give you back the other ten?" So God agreed.

On the second day, God created the monkey and said:

"Entertain people, do tricks, and make them laugh. For this, I'll give you a twenty-year life span.

"The monkey said: "Monkey tricks for twenty years? That's a pretty long time to perform. How about I give you back ten like the Dog did?" And God agreed.

On the third day, God created the cow and said:

"You must go into the field with the farmer all day long and suffer under the sun, have calves and give milk to support the farmer's family. For this, I will give you a life span of sixty years."

The cow said: "That's kind of a tough life you want me to live for sixty years. How about twenty and I'll give back the other forty?" And God agreed again.

On the fourth day, God created man and said:

"Eat, sleep, play, marry and enjoy your life. For this, I'll give you twenty years."

But man said: "Only twenty years? Could you possibly give me my twenty, the forty the cow gave back, the ten the monkey gave back, and the ten the dog gave back; that makes eighty, okay?"

"Okay," said God, "You asked for it."

So that is why for our first twenty years we eat, sleep, play and enjoy ourselves. For the next forty years we slave in the sun to support our family. For the next ten years we do monkey tricks to entertain the grandchildren. And for the last ten years we sit on the front porch and bark at everyone.

Life has now been explained to you....