Mediocre to Masterful: 

Three Tips for Meeting Leaders

By Susan de la Vergne

My boss several years ago was a masterful meeting leader. Even when he wasn't officially leading the meeting, he was good at it. What was his secret? He did his homework. He prepared. He had not only completed whatever assignment he had, but he'd also gauged the situation and participants beforehand. Who would be there? What were their agendas? What disagreements were likely? And--very importantly--how should we manage ourselves, given the dynamics?

If you were going to the meeting with him and the stakes were high, he'd invite you to pre-meet. Together you'd size up the situation--who wanted what, who would be prepared and unprepared, who the "power" person in the room would be and what he or she might do with their power.

I tell you what: if I ever have to go before Congress to testify, I'm taking him with me!

So, then, tip #1: Do your homework. Size up the participants and think through how the discussion will go before it happens. 

But the stakes aren't always that high, and the lay of the land isn't always treacherous.  Two more meeting tips.

Time-Tested and Erroneous

 Project Management Assumptions 

By Steve Wetterling

Back when the Project Management Institute was an unheard-of start-up organization, I took my first project management course. The instructor was Ron LaFleur, a dynamic teacher who had managed all sorts of military and aerospace projects for Raytheon during the height of the Cold War. In the three-day course, he shared with us what he had learned during his long and varied career.

A few hours into the first day, he showed us an unpronounce-able abbreviation:

T  S  R  I  P  A  K  E  C  C

Then he asked us what we thought it might mean. We had no idea, of course, but we hemmed, hawed, spluttered and guessed.  After we'd all failed, he told us:   Find out.