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strong facilitation, will help to maintain momentum. However, where primed people, with little experience of meeting protocol, have their own agendas, meetings can become a talking shop, where people jockey for airtime and create conflict and resentment rather than this being a hallowed and respected space for sharing knowledge, making decisions and aligning purpose. So, stick to “the rules” and make sure your meetings are run effectively to allow for collaboration, accountability and agreement. Make sure no time is wasted that everyone who must attend knows exactly why they were invited and what the intended output is. Develop an inclusive agenda that enables attendees to participate then review the agenda at the beginning of meetings, enables and so it’s paramount everyone comes prepared and ready to contribute. If there are questions, bring the answers. Allow enough time in the meeting to cover all subjects and the cardinal rule is; no-showboating and floor-usurping presentations, and allow time for decision making and discussion, so that not too much is left hanging in the air. Have a defined schedule and stick to it. Conversely, sometimes effective progress is being made and meeting schedules will need to adapt, so respond appropriately to this. And finally, back to basics again, allocate actions and make sure someone is making notes and circulate these after the meeting with clear, time- bound actions.
Identify the team’s strengths, weaknesses, common behaviours and where there are risks, common and aligned plans, free and effective flow of information, shared understanding of progression, and a joint recognition of success and achievements are the key elements of collaborative teams. These five areas should form the basis of conversations, diagnoses and actions after the foundation of trust. And it will come as no surprise that resilient teams will minimise any challenges to effective behaviours and reduce the risk of reverting to “old behaviours”. In any collaborative enterprise, the wellbeing of people remains paramount as it does in everyday scenarios, not just in terms of them feeling confident and capable of their part in any project, but also stress levels - which can arise in, for example M&As - inhibits oxytocin production, the release of oxytocin increases stress. Building a team’s ability to bounce back at times of stress and pressure is a key development priority. Finally, recognising success is as important here as anywhere and people want to go home at the end of the day feeling they have made a positive impact. We have seen the recognition of success used as a weapon against collaborative behaviour, as teams strive to highlight the activities of their own people rather than celebrating other team’s inputs or, more importantly, the collaborative behaviours across functions. Recognition should, therefore, be about performance of others and the behaviours of our own. The collaborative foundations set out here are a base bedrock, whether merging teams post a merger, or a major infrastructure project. At the end of the day, running successful
meetings is about clarity, collaboration and shared responsibility, because when teams with common goals, equal responsibility and shared values, the environment to deliver on expectations becomes a greater reality. It’s rarely plain sailing, there will be obstacles along the way. But, best-practice and staying strong, focused and open to collaboration will win the days and avoid intimidating and off-putting huffs and puffs from any errant Big Bad Wolf.
•
IF THE ENGINEERS ARE FOCUSED ON ONE OUTCOME,
PROJECT MANAGERS ON ANOTHER AND FINANCE ON A THIRD, THEN THERE ARE MYRIAD OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONFLICT, INEFFICIENCY AND ULTIMATELY LOSING CONTROL OF THE PROJECT. THESE ISSUES ARE MULTIPLIED IF
RECOGNITION AND REWARD ARE LINKED TO THE DELIVERY OF DIVERSE, DISPARATE GOALS
FOR FURTHER INFO
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