Meeting Manners at Risk as Multitasking Becomes New Norm, According to New PGi Survey.

IT and SMB Professionals Value Technology That Enables Face-to-Face Moments

A new survey shows business professionals embrace the ease and freedom provided by virtual meetings, but are frustrated by less-than-mannerly behaviors in the boardroom or on conference calls. The survey, “Meetings Dos and Don’ts,” from PGi, (NYSE: PGI), a leading provider of meeting and collaboration solutions, polled small-business owners and IT decision-makers in March.

Overwhelmingly, survey respondents highly value technology that enables “face-to-face” moments without incurring travel costs.

“When you add the visual element to a meeting, you better connect with others and become even more productive,” said PGi CEO and Chairman Boland T. Jones. “A meeting isn’t just a business transaction; it’s an opportunity to establish trust. Technology doesn’t replace relationship building. Technology should support it.”

In the new PGi study, nearly two in three IT decision-makers surveyed consider monitor sharing to be the greatest meeting innovation of the last five years. Nearly six in 10 IT decision-makers cited video conferencing. In contrast, almost half of small-business owners surveyed consider video conferencing and the conference call to be the greatest meeting innovations to transform their operations.

Those surveyed said that while they overlook the distractions of virtual meetings, they prefer in-person meetings over conference calls (58 percent IT, 47 percent SMB). Ironically, even though business professionals want to see others during meetings, they don’t necessarily want to be seen themselves. Both IT and SMB survey respondents admitted to the same irritating behaviors they detest in others during meetings, like checking e-mail, searching sports scores or leaving the room.

“While people want total attention when they are leading a meeting, everyone also demands the freedom to multitask as needed,” Jones said. “No matter where people are in the world, technology makes it possible to replicate a face-to-face meeting over the Web, while liberating attendees from the strict decorum expected when people sit in the same room. As meeting experts, we know firsthand that people thrive when together, virtually or physically.”

Among the top meeting frustrations reported by business professionals surveyed:

• Engaging in side conversations: 72 percent (IT), 69 percent (SMB)
• Checking personal e-mail: 58 percent (IT), 64 percent (SMB)
• Zoning out: 49 percent (IT), 54 percent (SMB)
• Checking sports scores: 43 percent (IT), 51 percent (SMB)
• Leaving the room: 38 percent (IT), 41 percent (SMB)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGwLHDoG7rA&feature=player_embedded

To read the full story, click HERE!

Get Smarter

We’ve said it before, and also featured their Smarter Planet blog, but we’ll say it again and again; IBM is one smart organization. The company launched their Smarter Planet initiative to do one thing, make the systems of the world smarter. Much like SmarterMeetings.com is doing for meetings, IBM is doing it for the rest of the world. From electrical systems to traffic systems to human systems, IBM believes that everything can be, and should be, smarter.

This video is a brief overview of the work they are doing with Columbia University and the importance of green-based business and the future (environmentally-friendly) job market that graduates are entering.

You can read the full posting from the Smarter Planet Blog below!

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Green Skills for Smarter Cities

by Dr. Jack McGourty, Columbia University

Around the world, businesses, communities and governments are undertaking smarter cities transformation projects to make aging infrastructures such as buildings, electricity grids, water and transportation systems more sustainable. Here in the U.S., the Obama administration plans to help create five million new jobs by strategically investing $150 billion over the next decade to help build a clean energy future.

The technology is available. The dollars are beginning to flow. But what about the availability of new skills to support these transformations?

It’s only fitting that during this Earth Week the Columbia University School of Engineering and IBM are embarking on a new, collaborative initiative to help prepare the next generation of Columbia’s students for the emerging green economy.

This new Smarter Cities Skills Initiative is designed to help students find new ways to make infrastructures more sustainable. It builds upon our university’s existing academic programs and research efforts on sustainability issues, which spans diverse disciplines including business, law and engineering to name a few. Today, we offer more than 23 courses related to green and sustainability.

Through these research initiatives, academic programs, and our own environmental stewardship efforts, Columbia is committed to advancing the sustainability of local, national and global communities. Cutting-edge research by our scientists and engineers is helping develop a smarter electrical grid, improve energy efficiency, and make the New York City community more resilient to increasing energy demands.

In New York City, the population is expected to grow to an astounding 9.1 million in 20 years. Managing that population includes new challenges that go far beyond traffic congestion.

Columbia students and faculty, and IBM are working closely with city government to help achieve PlaNYC, Mayor Bloomberg’s roadmap for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and making the city more sustainable by 2030.

It’s a challenge that we’re working to solve, and this initiative with IBM couldn’t have come at a better time.

With the new initiative, Columbia faculty and students will begin to receive no-charge access to IBM software here at the university or via the cloud for developing applications for sustainability and green projects. IBM’s leaders in energy and the environment will provide technical support for our related courses that show students how to build energy efficient IT infrastructures for smart buildings, smart grids and smart water systems. And our faculty and students also will have the opportunity to learn from and collaborate with IBM Research experts on projects related to the future of smarter cities and sustainability.

Building smarter cities, or a smarter planet, can’t be achieved by any one group. It takes collaboration among many. Government, private and public sectors, and academia must not only cooperate, they must actively take new steps and engage with each other to create this new world for our own and future generations.

We’re very much looking forward to growing our relationship with IBM — for our university, of course, but more so, for a smarter city, country and planet.

Dr. Jack McGourty is Senior Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, Columbia University

New SmarterMeetings.com Product Guide!

This morning I was doing a little research on the effect meetings have on our mental health. During my search, I came across a live vote being conducted by msnbc, which asks the following two questions:

1.     Do you have too many meetings at work?
2.     Do good ideas come out of your meetings?

Close to 6,000 people have responded. Over 81% of those respondents confirmed that they are asked to attend too many meetings, and not only that, but after attending a couple of meetings in a day, their mind goes blank. So it comes as no surprise that only 2.1% of respondents felt that their teams thrive on sharing ideas and are able to generate good ideas “all the time” in their meetings. 40% felt that good ideas sometimes came out of meetings depending on the topic, and 58% responded that the same people usually dominate the discussion, so good ideas are rarely generated.

The poll confirms what we already know. Meetings as they currently exist in most organizations are a huge drain on our mental and economic resources. People are feeling drained by meetings and ineffective meetings are draining organizations everywhere.

Smarter Meetings are essential in every organization. By inviting the right people to the meeting, providing a detailed agenda prior to getting together, and following a smart process based on a common language, people will be able to increase how much work they get done, better engage minds and hearts, save time and improve the quality of meeting results.

It happens to us all. At one time or another we’ve all walked into the wrong washroom inadvertently. Upon realizing our mistake we exit rather rapidly giving the sign on the door a more thorough check as we wonder to ourselves how we could have possibly made the mistake (again?) It must have been the sign’s fault!!!

As humans we rely on all manner of signs to direct our behaviour and steer us in the direction we want to travel. If we’re driving at 80 kms per hour and the traffic signs aren’t clear or obvious it can lead to disaster. If we ignore the signs it can lead to traffic mayhem. In the absence of signs we each choose our own direction, which can be a lot more fun but the results could be equally as disastrous.

Why is it then that as groups of people meeting to collaborate, make rapid decisions and create innovation we don’t have some helpful signs for directing our behaviour? Why do we expect that groups of people without agreed upon signs will move forward together in the same direction at the same speed while accomplishing anything?

Is it time for agreeing on some signs for meetings together?

Despite the frivolous use of his hands, Ken Blanchard is one smart guy.

Happy Friday everyone!

One Dumb Meeting

It goes without saying that most people dislike politicians. Since the infamous ‘economic collapse’ of ‘08, there are piles of people who now have an active distaste for US bankers AND the politicians that protect them. As the major US banks are holding very important meetings this coming week, the people are planning to take to the streets. It’s time to let them know that they should pay for what they’ve done to the people. 

This is one meeting that is sure to be anything but ‘smart’…and we mean the meeting of the Banks, not the meeting of the people to protest the collective greed.

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Protests Planned for Banks’ Shareholder Meetings

A coalition of labor unions and liberal interest groups are taking to the streets in a number of demonstrations against Wall Street as the fight over financial reform heats up in Washington.

The groups are planning protests outside the annual meetings of several big banks, as well as marches in Washington and New York. They will speak out on an array of issues, from loan modifications for struggling homeowners to high credit card interest rates.

But the main impetus is ensuring tough new rules governing the financial industry are passed.

“Over the past year and a half, we had multiple mobilizations targeting Wall Street, but now that all eyes are focused on financial regulatory reform people want to see some results,” Marcus Mrowka, a spokesman for the Service Employees International Union, one of the groups leading the coalition, told DealBook.

The groups, ranging from church groups to veteran organizations, will hold small protests in their local communities and then converge in May for a demonstration in Washington. The coalition expects as many as 2,000 people to attend the latter, which will target lobbyists of the banking industry pushing back against tougher financial reform.

Protests are also being for the annual meetings of Bank of America in Charlotte, N.C. and Wells Fargo in San Francisco, with both firms targeted because of their extensive mortgage lending businesses and retail operations. (Last year, the S.E.I.U. led a protest outside Bank of America’s shareholder meeting and called for the resignation of the firm’s chief executive, Kenneth D. Lewis.)

The groups also plan to hold a march down Wall Street on April 29, with organizers expecting as many as 5,000 people in attendance.

Besides the S.E.I.U., other participating organizations include the A.F.L.-C.I.O., the National People’s Action, PICO National Network and the North Carolina United Power/IAF Southeast.

– Cyrus Sanati

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/protests-planned-for-banks-shareholder-meetings/

Depending on your own beliefs, or those of others that you trust most, some will say that the Obama health care efforts are truly historic, and others will say they are anything but. No matter how you look at it, or no matter what side of the flag you fall on (Democrat or Republican) there is little debate about the staggering waste of time, energy, and tax payers money that occurs within the walls of Congress.

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Health summit failed? Blame bad meeting design.

By BOB FRISCH

No sooner had last month’s White House summit on health-care reform concluded than “leaders from both sides…held separate news conferences that made it clear they were no closer to an agreement than they were at the start of the day,” the Wall Street Journal reported. It’s no wonder. All you need to do is look at a photo of meeting to tell that the effort was doomed from the start.

In 27 years of designing and facilitating corporate meetings, I have rarely seen one with so much at stake that so obviously suffered from a lack of thoughtful design.

Here’s what they did wrong— mistakes that anyone organizing a meeting should avoid.

1. Too many people in the room

Having 40 attendees is fine if the goal is to brainstorm or broadly communicate information to important stakeholders.

But for crafting compromises, allocating resources or making decisions, a smaller group of six to 12 can accomplish a lot more.

Of course in corporate settings, as well as politics, certain people have to be included by virtue of their position. In such cases you can break the meeting into two sessions. Let the full 40 air the issues and brainstorm potential solutions in the morning and then convene a smaller group to make real progress in the afternoon. Forty people is too large to forge a compromise.

2. No neutral facilitator to run the meeting

Not every meeting needs facilitation, and third-party facilitators are virtually unknown in a political setting. But if compromise is the goal, you need someone in the front of the room who is neutral about the outcome: an “honest broker” to run the meeting.

Instead, U.S. President Barack Obama, perhaps the person with the greatest stake in the outcome, chose to lead the summit himself.

3. Letting outsiders in the room

A major reason for failure lies in the presence of the news media. Reaching compromises requires a confidential setting in which people can float “what-ifs” and speak freely without worrying about how they might sound. Outside observers in critical corporate meetings make genuine negotiation impossible.

4. No small group discussions

Compromise also requires participants be able to confer, formally and informally, in smaller sub-groups. In formal break-out sessions, mixed groups can make mutual progress on contentious issues. In informal huddles, such as the cloakrooms of the House and Senate, they can candidly explore what’s possible, or members of a particular faction can check with their people to see where the boundaries of their position really lie, or how they might be moved.

We didn’t see any mention of breakout sessions in news coverage, and few informal opportunities for discussion were built in the summit.

5. No collaborative tools

The photo shows an absence of “common collaborative space.” There are no flip charts, whiteboards or projection screens for capturing ideas and focusing collective attention. Attendees have no means of collecting concepts, or of visually building common solutions.

6. No ban on cell phones or Blackberries

In the foreground of the picture you can see a congressman texting. But don’t blame him. Either there were no clear ground rules established for the day—including a rule about shutting off phones and Blackberries—or the rules weren’t enforced. A lack of basic meeting discipline hinders genuine engagement with the issues.

7. Room itself is too small

The Garden Room of the Blair House, where the meeting was held, is charming: an elegant chandelier, a marble fireplace behind the president, a fresco painting of an outdoor scene on the wall. But for a meeting aimed at compromise, everything about it is wrong. For starters, it’s too small. Attendees are crammed at the table shoulder to shoulder with no space for stretching or relaxing. The chairs the participants are sitting in are small and uncomfortable. Physical discomfort for six or seven hours isn’t conducive to compromise.

8. Political allies are grouped together

Attendees are seated in party clusters—groups of Democrats alternating with groups of Republicans. By intermingling party members, meeting designers could have encouraged conversations that might have helped foster compromise.

9. Seating encourages confrontation

The square configuration of the table itself encourages confrontation and inhibits the floating of new alternatives. Having a neutral point of focus allows a more free-flowing conversation. If you remember the famous photos of U.S. President Richard Nixon meeting with China’s Chairman Mao Tse Tung, they were seated next to each other facing in the same direction—not across from each other. This type of seating allows for cooperation and conciliation. In the case of the summit, a U-shaped table, with a facilitator, a flip chart or some other neutral point of focus in the open end, would have been better.

There is no picture-perfect meeting design. By starting with the objective of the meeting and then designing all three elements around it —who’s in the room, the rules of engagement and the physical layout— organizers of the Health Care Summit wouldn’t necessarily have guaranteed success. But by ignoring those elements they certainly guaranteed failure.

—Bob Frisch is Managing Partner of the Strategic Offsites Group.Printed in The Wall Street Journal Europe, page 27

The Power of Positivity.
Smile. Have Better Meetings. And Live Longer.

Positive thinking is a mental attitude that expects good and favorable results. A positive mind anticipates happiness, joy, health and a successful outcome of every situation and action.

All of us affect, in one way or another, the people we meet or spend time with. Our thoughts and feelings, our body language, and what we say all have an impact on those around us. Negative thoughts, words and attitudes bring up negative and unhappy moods and actions. Positivity on the other hand, brings about a willingness to help and a general feeling of happiness.

In meetings, it has been proven that a negative attitude by even one member of the team can result in frustration and an inability to work together. But beginning with a positive attitude can set the tone and help the team to achieve remarkable results. And this positive attitude might even help your team live a longer life.

Researchers from Wayne State University examined the 1952 Baseball Register photos of 230 Major League Baseball players who started playing before 1950. It turns out that their picture tells an amazing story about the power of positive thinking. So keep smiling, and enjoy.

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It’s All in the (Baseball) Cards: The Wider the Smile, The Longer the Life

BY ANNE DRISCOLL | THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2010 11:24 AM ET

Note to players: as the new season gets underway, don’t stop smiling.

Pitcher Nolan Ryan holds the record for the longest Major League Baseball career, having played for 27 years. And it’s true that, aside from golf, baseball players have some of the longest careers of any professional sports. But it also turns out that baseball cards not only showcase batting averages and RBIs, they also effectively predict longevity. Really.

That is the word of scientists reported in Psychological Science this week. Apparently when researchers Ernest Abel and Michael Kruger from Wayne State University examined the 1952 Baseball Register photos of 230 Major League Baseball players who started playing before 1950, they found the span of their smile accurately predicted their life span. The players were rated as to “no smile” if they stared blankly at the camera, “partial smile” if the muscles around their mouths were only slightly raised and “full smile” if they had a wide grin, both cheeks raised, which is also known as a Duchenne smile.

The researchers found that the wide-grinning players were half as likely to die in any year compared to non-smilers. As of June, 2009, the players who were deadpan for the cameras lived an average of 72.9 years, those with slight smiles died at age 75 and those with the most beaming smiles lived the longest — 79.9 years. Of the 230 players, 46 players were still alive. The scientists also did a follow-up study to see whether attractiveness correlated with longevity and found that good looks did not add significantly to life span. In any case, far fewer individuals had full smiles — 23 — than partial (64) or no smiles (63).

“To the extent that smile intensity reflects an underlying emotional disposition, the results of this study are congruent with those of other studies demonstrating that emotions have a positive relationship with mental health, physical health and longevity,” the study said. So smile, you’ll live longer.

In Harvey Schachter’s blog in the Globe and Mail of February 15^th he offered tips on how to keep our New Year’s resolutions in sight as our best intentions  became distant memories of the past. He offered a good tip for trying to control the number of meetings we attend and for managing our ability to arrive at meetings on time. However we are still left with the elephant in the room that is what happens when people actually sit down to think things through together. It seems to me we are still stuck on the edges of getting flashy technology to organize our time, writer our notes on the wall and we miss the big point of needing better ways to actually think through problems and come to decisions more quickly and effectively in ways that engage all the talent in the room.

Having spent over 20 years in a variety of workplaces I have fist hand experience in the mind-numbing, soul destroying, productivity crushing meetings that are ill conceived and poorly run. 

The challenge from a New Years resolution point of view is to find something that is sustainable over the year, a simple method that people feel comfortable to use every day. Most resolutions start with high hopes and fall by the wayside with the heavy demands of life – including  too much time and energy spent in meetings. Does anybody else see the irony in this?

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Relax! How to regain balance at work

by Harvey Schachter

Six weeks into the new year, many people are already feeling overwhelmed. The relaxed feeling of the holiday season has become a distant memory, along with their pledges to improve work practices. To regain balance, here are some helpful tips:

Time is flexible

There is always time to do what you want - it’s just a matter of priorities, says consultant Mark Harrison in Dumb Little Man blog. If something is really important, you can find the time for it; if you can’t, you probably don’t want to do it, or find it too boring or difficult. “You can’t do everything, but you can do what matters,” he stresses.

The clock wins

Don’t try to race against the clock because the clock will always win, Mr. Harrison adds. Deadlines are fine and necessary in many instances, but don’t allow your life to be a series of constant deadlines. Focus on how well you do things, rather than how long it takes, and you will be more effective.

Say yes instead of no

If you take on too much work because you can’t say no, then say yes instead - but a carefully circumscribed yes, advises consultant Ann Gomez in her e-newsletter. Consider whether you can help someone by doing a piece of what is needed.

Don’t offer prime time

If you must say yes to a colleague’s request for a meeting, try to keep it out of prime time, Ms. Gomez also suggests. If you are available only before 8 a.m. or after 5 p.m., the individual might be more inclined to keep the conversation tight.

Plan transition time

Life will seem less hectic, and you’ll wind up coming later to fewer meetings, if you plan for the transition time - the time it takes to get where you are going or is required to shuffle between meetings, consultant Peter Bregman notes on Harvard Business School blogs.

End on the quarter-hour

If you schedule meetings to end 15 minutes after the hour - say, 10:15 a.m. instead of 10 a.m. - you’ll find you’ll get a little breathing room: People who look up your schedule in group calendars won’t set the next meeting they need with you back-to-back, but will leave a few minutes that you can use as a break, consultants Jason and Jodi Womack note. So the next meeting will be set for 10:30, instead of 10:15. “We’re not sure why this is, but it’s true,” they write in their e-newsletter. .

Prudential PLC Doing Horribly Convincing Investors On AIG Deal, Meetings “Suck” Say Manager

Will Prudential PLC actually manage to complete its proposed acquisition of AIG Asian arm?

According to The Independent (UK), CEO Tidjane Thiam has been holding meetings with investors that have been going horribly.

Instead, Mr Thiam infuriated a number of investors, many of whom own large stakes in Prudential, with a series of meetings characterised as “too short”, “unhelpful” and “sketchy”.

One senior fund manager, whose firm owns a stake in Prudential of more than 1 per cent, said: “He clearly didn’t want to be there. He was irritable and unhelpful.”

Another said: “The whole thing sucked. I knew as much about the deal when the meeting started as when in finished – rather quickly I might add. He was, in effect, saying ‘trust me’, but that’s simply not good enough on a deal like this.

“We need to know more. A lot of other fund managers feel the same way as I do about this deal.”

Read the full story here -> http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/prudential-incurs-investors-wrath-as-thiam-heads-north-1920938.html

IBM Thinks the World Needs to be a Smarter Place Too.

When you think of the word ‘Smart’, you don’t always think of a massive global corporation or their vision. You probably think of people like Einstein, the ‘Google Guys’, or even your mother. However, IBM is one company that has always attached, or aligned itself with the concept of ‘Smart’. We at SmarterMeetings.com respect the want and need to be ‘Smarter’ and so too does IBM. They’ve been running the Smarter Planet site, initiative, or whatever you want to call it for some time now and they have some great facts, figures and concepts surrounding productivity, collaboration and information access. They may be big, and they may no longer be in the business of making personal computers, but they are definitely a very smart organization.

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If today is an average workday, you could lose about an hour of time trying to get something done.

But you won’t be able to accomplish the task because you can’t find the right information, access the right tool or reach the right person due to inefficient processes. Employees spend 25% of their time just looking for information. Every week, 42% of people use the wrong information to make decisions, requiring rework. And with the economic downturn, there is an even greater urgency to improving the way businesses manage productivity.

Yet, you probably work smarter today than you did a few years ago-or even last year. Technology has the potential to significantly increase productivity management as well as reduce costs. The rise in globalization has opened access to new talent, expertise and resources that have energized businesses…in fact, two thirds of workers are now located in growth markets. Social networking capabilities allow us to tap into partner and customer thinking. And people increasingly have “anytime, anywhere” access to their applications, information and resources.

Employees are ready, they know their jobs and have valuable ideas…it’s the processes that haven’t kept up. Organizations and businesses around the world are recognizing that they need to reinvent their infrastructures and processes to allow their people to collaborate with each other, their customers and their partners; to foster creativity and problem-solving and to enable the very act of enterprise. If we can create businesses as smart as our employees, we can make more informed decisions, leverage deeper relationships and develop more connected, agile and effective processes.

http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/productivity_management/ideas/index.html

Meetings Suck, But They Don’t Have To

Dysfunctional corporate behavior expert Steve Tobak knows that for companies to operate effectively, executives, managers, and key employees need to know how to run effective meetings. He offers three rules of meeting etiquette and five rules of engagement that every organization should follow to make their meetings suck a little less.

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What is it about meetings that brings out the worst in otherwise reasonable and intelligent people? Is it an opportunity to childishly engage and disrupt others? Or perhaps it’s a chance to demonstrate animalistic dominance. Who knows.

All I do know is, for companies to operate effectively, executives, managers, and key employees need to know how to run effective meetings. Meetings are how conflicts are resolved and plans are agreed upon. They are how critical strategic and operating processes are developed, managed, and to some extent, executed.

Conversely, ineffective meetings result in lost productivity and frustration. They can also be a sign of a dysfunctional workplace, which can result in operating failure.

In my experience technology managers and executives are so inept at conducting effective meetings you’d think it’s rocket science or a rare genetic trait. I have no idea why that is.

In any case, 15 years ago, a consultant taught me his version of the rules for effective meetings. I’ve adapted those rules to my own style and used them to help management teams work together effectively ever since. And let me tell you, they really work.

So here they are in two parts: The three rules of meeting etiquette and the five rules of engagement for effective meetings.

Three rules of meeting etiquette

Every meeting has a start time and an end time. That means it starts on time and endson time. If someone is chronically late to meetings, the others must bring peer pressure to bear on that individual. If most of a company’s executives exhibit this trait, then find another company. It’s a sign of immaturity and disrespect for others.

Every meeting is run by someone who is responsible for every aspect of the meeting including agenda, attendance, punctuality, and documentation. That person keeps everyone on topic and moves the meeting along using the methods described below.

Key decisions that are reached during the meeting regarding strategies, plans or objectives should be published by whoever ran the meeting within one day. That also goes for follow-up or action required and an owner for each item.

Five rules of engagement for effective meetings

Listening is good. Gratuitous speech is bad. Silence means consent. Don’t chime in just to hear your own voice.

Presenting new ideas or brainstorming is good. Knocking down another’s idea is bad. There’s a time for reaching consensus.

Attack the problem or issue, not the person you disagree with. “I don’t agree with you” is okay, but “I think you’re an idiot” isn’t.

Stay on topic, but don’t beat a dead horse. Save other subjects for other meetings. Use a “parking lot” for important issues that may need to be revisited at a later date.

Be open, honest, and forthcoming. Don’t hold back, bullshit, or sugar-coat issues. This is especially critical in meetings where key decisions are based on the information presented.

Don’t just follow these rules yourself; teach them to others. Present them at meetings you conduct. Make work life easier and less frustrating for all your fellow employees and help to make your company more successful. It’ll pay off big-time in the long run.

Happy meetings.

Meetings Suck, But They Don’t Have To [Train Wreck | CNET News.com]

Would you like fries with that agenda?

Keeping meeting participants happy is not typically an agenda item of most meeting organizers. Meetings that last several hours might need to consider the nutritional needs of participants. Of course budget considerations are usually the deciding factor for the food is on the table, but why not be a bit more strategic and offer refreshments that could lead to a more successful meeting outcomey honour, please and help keep your participants awake and participating during your next meeting.

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Eat, Drink, And Be Wary

Best Food Choices For Busines Meetings:
Keep Your Guests Alert, Happy, and Focused

“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.” — George Bernard Shaw

Food is love. It is a powerful way to show that you care. But even love can go wrong. Whether you are setting up the meeting, assigning it to someone else, or hiring a meeting planner, make sure the food choices reflect the depth of caring and attention to detail that your business guests deserve.

This is not just good manners; it’s good business. The right food at a business event can make the difference between focused, appreciative, alert participants and angry, bloated, and drowsy ones.

Many factors affect these results. They range from personal nutritional preferences to allergies and religious restrictions. Other factors include how messy a dish is and the time and dexterity required to consume it. Also, certain foods tend to induce sleep more readily than others.

Overall, the choice of food and the manner in which it is presented can say a great deal about your professionalism and attention to detail.

People are always forming and adapting their perceptions of you and your business. Make sure your food choices say the right things about you. The menu is the message!

Hamburgers, for example, send a different signal than lobster tails. So at your next business function, remember to have good EATS!

• Ease of consumption -Avoid messy and difficult-to-eat foods.
• Audience- Be sensitive to your guests and their special needs.
• Timing - When you serve can dictate what you serve.
• Selection- Make sure you offer your guests a variety of menu options.

With these principles in mind, let’s take a closer look at the nuts and bolts (or pretzels and bolts if you’re allergic) of thorough and thoughtful business catering:

No Muss, No Fuss

Many a slip between the cup and the lip
There is an art to freeing a lobster from its shell. It takes talent to pull away the tiny tidbits of meat that cling to a quail’s delicate bones. Pizza and long pastas can also test the dexterity of your guests. Make sure your diners don’t need to struggle or acquire new skills to consume their meals. The less effort your guests must put into eating, the more they can focus on the conversation or the business at hand.

Please Pass the Fixodent
Many people have medical conditions that affect their ability to eat certain foods. Dentures are just one example. Other examples include sensitive teeth and temporo-mandibular joint syndrome (TMJ), which can make hard chewing or opening wide excruciating. Dental work (bridges, braces, etc.) can also create problems with sticky foods like gum and taffy. In general, avoid foods that are hard to chew or especially sticky.

Fight Drops that Spot
When foods splash, splatter, and drip on shirts, blouses, and laps, diners get annoyed, embarrassed, and stained. Not only will this make them unhappy, it will also make them less presentable. No one wants the camera to zoom in on the keynote speaker only to reveal a big blotch of barbecue sauce on a white collar. Overdressed salads, soupy sauces, long pasta, BBQ, pizza, foods sitting in broth, and unwieldy giant lettuce leaves are common culprits.

Respect and Sensitivity

“What is food to one, is to others bitter poison.” — Titus Lucretius Carus

I’ll Just Die if I Eat That…
Allergies can kill. It’s important to provide complete and accurate information on ingredients and preparations. Nut allergies are particularly insidious because nuts can sneak into foods through oils, dessert crumbles, and salads. Candy makers actually label their no-nut candies as containing nuts if they are made on the same machines as their nutty brethren. Some airlines won’t even serve nuts for fear of a mid-air allergic attack.

Other common food allergies and sensitivities include fish, shellfish, strawberries, milk products, caffeine, chocolate, monosodium glutamate (MSG), and sulfites. In addition, certain drugs can make it dangerous to eat some foods. Spicy foods and alcohol can aggravate ulcers and other digestive problems. High-sugar foods can trouble diabetics and some people with high blood pressure need to avoid salt.

Let Them Eat Pork!
Several religions ban pork (including Judaism and Islam). Some require a strictly vegetarian diet. Others prohibit certain foods on certain days (such as meat on Fridays during Lent for Catholics or leavened bread during the Sabbath and Passover for Jews). While neither you nor even a professional meeting planner can anticipate all these concerns, it is important to know the most common ones and to be sensitive to the others.

Underdone and You’re Done
While raw eggs may appeal to Rocky Balboa, your business guests may not be willing to risk exposure to salmonella. Caesar salads, sushi, steak tartar, and any other uncooked (or undercooked) meat, fish, or poultry can cause illness. Some of these foods are also on the fringe of typical palates so you may not want to test their limits. Let your guests try new foods that are less risky or wait until they are not attending your important event.

Avoid Mid-Meeting ZZZZZs

Perchance to Dream…
The last thing you want is to have people fall asleep during someone’s talk, especially yours. You also do not want to accentuate the body’s natural lull in energy after lunch. One way to reduce this risk is to avoid certain foods and drinks that make people sleepy.

Tryptophan is nature’s sleeping pill. Turkey, milk, and milk products are high in tryptophan. Next, fatty foods take longer to digest. They sit in the stomach longer, churning around. This makes people uncomfortable, weighed-down, and fatigued.

Also, simple sugars give people a quick high but some come down hard. After an initial high, some people experience an extreme low in blood sugar in response to sweets, making them sleepy and dimming their concentration. Another more obvious culprit is alcohol. It “taketh away the performance.” Therefore, it’s not a good idea for the speaker or the audience to imbibe before a presentation.

Of course, if you’d rather no one pay attention when you get up to speak, a big turkey meal followed by ice cream is a good way to lull your audience into a steady slumber. For a real deep sleep, top it off with warm milk with a blast of Amaretto.

Fight Bad Breath and Baleful Bellies
Strong flavors can bring pizzazz to your meal… and big trouble. Spicy foods with powerful odors create discomfort for many people. They can upset stomachs, create bad breath, bloating, gas, and indigestion. Common culprits are curries, raw onions, garlic, jalapenos and other hot peppers.

Variety is the Spice of Life
Although it is impossible to cater to every individual’s personal taste, as the person in charge, you have a responsibility to provide enough choice and variety so no one is forced to go hungry. Your guests will appreciate your consideration and courtesy.

First, make sure you gather information about special dietary needs or concerns. This should be an easy and confidential process, not a public show of hands. Then, honor the requests…many people include these questions on forms but then never follow through.

Lose Weight Now; Ask Me How
If you don’t receive any special requests, this does not mean people don’t care what you serve. For example, how many people do you know who are dieting or just trying to eat healthier? Don’t force them to cheat or embarrass them by making them ask for a different menu in front of your other guests. Make certain that you offer alternatives. For example, provide fresh fruit at all meals and green salads at dinner and lunch. Most dieters will rejoice to find these options.

You can go a step further with low-fat or fat-free choices in entrees and desserts. Make certain that these preparations include little or no oils or butter, and that sauces and dressings are always on the side. Examples of low-fat options include grilled foods (like chicken breast and vegetables), swordfish, fresh vegetables, angel food cake, and fat-free frozen yogurt.

If you’re offering snacks at breaks, pretzels are much better for dieters than potato chips. You should also offer plenty of spring water and regular, diet, and caffeine-free beverage choices available.

In addition to avoiding high-fat foods, don’t succumb to the whimsy of your personal taste. There are some foods that people just don’t like (lima beans and Brussels sprouts, for example). And others they may not be willing to try for the first time with business colleagues (e.g. rattlesnake, alligator, and monkey’s brains). Even if the meal is tied to a theme, it is best to avoid exotic menu items or at least offer comfortable alternatives.

Informed Choices

As you start to plan the food for your next business function, here are two key questions to ask:

1. Who is the audience?

• Dietary requirements (vegetarian options, religious, and cultural considerations)
• Age
• Industry
• Expectations/perceptions about what you serve (e.g. lobster vs. sandwiches)

2. What is the context?

• Time of day
• Formal vs. informal
• Purpose of meeting
• Activity, participation, and alertness required