by Ann Latham

Available in print, Kindle, and Nook

Does the word accountability bring to mind uncomfortable images and words such as: 

• Holding someone's feet to the fire
• Watching over someone's shoulder
• Pressuring, pushing, prying, or punishing

If so, this 2 minute video is for you!

Could your meetings be shorter and more powerful?

I guarantee it. I have no doubt that 25 - 50% of the time you spend in meetings could be avoided or used to accomplish far more.

Unfortunately, few organizations recognize the incredible potential to save time and money while improving productivity and morale by improving meetings. Try totaling the dollars devoted to this month's meetings. Figure out what percentage of your people are effectively employed just to attend meetings. Imagine your productivity on a day uninterrupted by meetings. The value of better meetings in half the time is enormous!

Ironically, those that do recognize the potential for improvement often react by scheduling a series of meetings! They get a bunch of interested people together to develop new rules that they think will solve the problem. Once they've all agreed, everyone else is invited to more meetings to learn the new rules.

Too bad those rules are just bandaids and do nothing to eliminate the cause of the problem. 

You can't solve a problem without eliminating the cause. If you can't identify the cause of ineffective meetings, give me a call. I'd be happy to save you oodles of time, money, and frustration in the short term, and much more time, money, and frustration once your meetings are short, powerful, and known for getting better results in half the time!

Call 800-527-0087 or email info@uncommonclarity.com today!

If you are familiar with the concept of a "driving force" you know that strong, thriving organizations take their driving force seriously. 

Apple's driving force is super cool products. You would never catch them launching something that wasn't sleek, flashy, high tech, and intuitive. 

GE is driven by profits and is willing to acquire any business from appliances to healthcare to water quality as long as the profit is impressive! Slip and you are gone in a blink. The products and markets involved are irrelevant. 

Gerber is a good example of a company that is market driven. As they've expanded beyond baby food into children's clothing and life insurance, their market has remained the constant.

Additional driving forces include: capacity, production capabilities, sales channels, distribution channels, natural resources, and social cause. A good strategic planning process establishes this kind of clarity.

What is your driving force? 

But before you compare your company to the options mentioned above, take a moment to consider your REAL driving force?

What individuals, decisions, opportunities, capabilities, concerns, trends, lack of decisions or opportunities, or other forces are most responsible for your current status and trajectory? Could it be:

• Your biggest or most demanding customers
• The strongest voice on the executive team
• Fear of failure
• The last great idea you read about in the WSJ
• Your inability to develop a strategy with a clear driving force
• Your inability to get agreement on a strategy
• A nicely profitable opportunity that popped up a quarter or two back
• The path of least resistance
• Your most competent group of managers
• Luck
• Inertia
• A well thought out and well executed strategy

Take a good look at why you are where you are and the forces at play. There is no sense in spending precious time developing a strategy if your future is going to governed by something other than a well thought out strategy!

Strategies rarely fail in the creation. It is the execution that counts.

Want to make your strategy more than an interesting conversation? Give me a call today! 800-527-0087.  

Tim Sneed, Executive Director, Massachusetts Career Development Institute

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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.