Maintenance Management Expert Joel Levitt Releases Ground Rule Tips for Great Meetings

(PRWEB) February 25, 2014

Joel Levitt, a maintenance management expert with over 25 years of experience in the field, today released a tip sheet focused on giving managers advice on setting up ground rules for great meetings.

Ground rules, sometimes referred to as “meeting norms,” “rules of engagement,” “team agreements,” or “conditions for success” are the foundation of a good meeting. Ground rules set both the limits and boundaries of allowable behaviors at a meeting. Pick and choose the ground rules that suit your organization and meeting culture, and if a rule gets in the way of a successful meeting, remove it from the list.

Here are 10 Joel Levitt recommended Ground Rules for solid, dynamic meetings:
1. Set up a focus so that everyone knows what a particular meeting is trying to accomplish. There might even be a statement about how this fits into your overall mission.
2. Distribute an agenda before the meeting begins, which gives participants time to think about and prepare for the specific issues that will be raised.
3. Make it mandatory that people RSVP, and make them understand that if they accept, they should attend. If someone can’t come at the last minute, tell that person to contact the chair or secretary.
4. Start and end on time.
5. Make attendees understand that if they were given an assignment at a previous meeting, they need to have it ready. If someone wasn’t able to complete his or her homework, the chair needs to be told so in advance of the meeting.
6. Everyone has to pay attention, so: set phones on vibrate. Deal with urgent – life-or-death urgent -- texts or emails outside the meeting room. Ban Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or random surfing.
7. Be courteous. Only the Chair can interrupt a speaker, and then, only to bring the conversation back to the agenda, or to help manage the discussion.
8. Focus. Discuss only the topic on the floor. Make sure all the topics are on the agenda.
9. Encourage and nurture participation. Every participant should take an active part in the meeting to the extent of his or her ability.
10. Keep minutes and action lists which will spur and support follow up. All participants should have access to these documents.

“These ground rules are easy to follow, and should instantly produce measurable results in your next meeting,” said Levitt. “The goal was to give managers actionable advice that would have an immediate impact, and I believe we accomplished that with this tip sheet. There are even more tips to be had in my new book, ’10 Minutes a Week to Great Meetings.”

About Joel Levitt
There are many fine trainers and consultants from around the world, so let’s be blunt: why pick Joel Levitt? The main reason is results. Joel has produced excellent results, for a wide range of clients, for over 25 years.

He has trained people from virtually every one of the Fortune 500, and from most of the Fortune Global 500. Many have come back and requested consulting or customized maintenance management training for their in-house staff. Over 15,000 maintenance professionals worldwide have enjoyed the intensive nature of our maintenance training, given in over 500 public workshops in more than 20 countries. 98% of attendees rate the program very good to excellent!

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