by Ann Latham

Available in print, Kindle, and Nook

Under what conditions does it make sense to use email over a phone call or face-to-face conversation? 

1. When you have a straight forward question that requires an answer
2. When you have a straight forward answer to someone's question
3. When you want to confirm, document, or disseminate a decision, plan, or assignment  
4. When you are confident one round trip email exchange will resolve your issue
5. All of the above and only the above
6. Under many, many more circumstances

Make your selection and then click here for the answer.

Do these questions sound familiar?

• Did you finish X?
• Where do things stand with Y?
• Are we on schedule?
• Are you on budget?
• How long do you think that will take?
• Do you need help?
• What are we going to do about Z?

These are pretty typical questions managers and project managers ask their team members.  

Unfortunately, these are dangerous questions. They encourage a check-it-off-the-list, show-progress, and feel-good-mentality. The employee naturally wants to look good and you are generally eager to hear good news so you can turn your attention to more obvious problems. The conversation accomplishes little and you walk away either with a sense of false confidence or a nagging feeling that all is not well.

As manager or project manager, you are rightfully concerned with resources, budgets, and schedules. You want to see a plan and then see progress against that plan. However, plans are only accurate when the task is totally familiar, totally understood, and totally predictable. How often does that occur? 

Thus, the most important part of your job is not to monitor the plan. The most important part of your job is to anticipate and prevent problems arising from all the things omitted from the plan, the unfamiliar, the unpredictable, the unknown. And the questions above do little to uncover those potential problems.  

To improve your odds of success and decrease unwelcome surprises, try questions like these:

• What have you learned since we last talked?
• What don't we know yet?
• What are we taking for granted?
• What's changed?
• Why do you think you will finish on time?
• What could go wrong at this point?
• How will we know we've succeeded?
• Who are we forgetting?

Success requires learning what you don't know as early as possible. Get your whole team focused on anticipating and preventing problems, and you will see your on-time delivery improve while defects and rework drop. This is exactly what happened when I helped the design engineers at Hitachi establish a new design process. 

Your entire organization can benefit from this approach and I can help you create that mindset quickly. Call 800-527-0087 or email info@uncommonclarity.com today.

Gen X, Gen Y, the Greatest Generation - Give me a break!

Generalization X, Generalization Y, and the Greatest Generalization sounds more like it to me!

Imagine if all the energy and money devoted to trying to define and understand these generalizations, excuse me, generations, was instead spent on treating people like the individuals they are. 

Times change, but no one is a generation. When people describe Gen Y to me, they certainly aren't talking about my daughters. Nor does my nearly 90 year old father, who sends me narrated DVDs with background music that he makes from old home movies, fit the image of his generation.

You don't hire a generation. You can't teach a generation. You can't get to know a generation. And it's unfair to slap any stereotype on someone before you've even been introduced. It's wrong and it's insulting.

We know that race and gender stereotypes are inappropriate and yet we embrace generation stereotypes with writing, training, and endless discussion. Why?

It's much more productive to simply listen, learn, and respect individuals as the individuals that they are.

Jay Primack, Managing Partner, Moriarty & Primack P.C.

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"Uncommon Meetings is a quick read with simple, easy to implement, ways to make meetings shorter and more effective. You will get more time back and you and your co-workers will be more productive."

W. Lowell Putnam, Trust Administrator, Lowell Observatory

"Uncommon Meetings is a must read for everyone in any organization, not just top management."

Al Kasper, President & COO, Savage Sports Corporation

"I wish everyone read this book. Ann Latham's Uncommon Meetings is a quick read, packed with substantive ideas on how to get more out of meetings in less time. Everyone who runs meetings should read it!"

Janet Warren, President, MarCom Capital

Dianne Fuller Doherty, Regional Director, Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network

"To achieve your desired outcomes in less time and with fewer people, read this book! It has great tips and memorable examples for improving meetings and is concise and clear as well. All and all, a huge value for anyone who spends a lot of time in meetings as I do."

Simon Lingard, Director of R&D, Aspen Technology, Inc.

In addition, the CEO Refresher has placed Uncommon Meetings at the top of its recommended reading list.