Leading companies are learning the effectiveness of “mini-meetings”

We'll have some exciting news next week about a new initiative The Kindness Revolution will be announcing (hint: we have begun evaluating and grading customer experiences of companies all over the US...we may get to YOUR company!)
BTW, don't forget that next Tuesday is our monthy "Day of Kindness". With our Membership growing to a national scale, it is pretty cool to think that companies all over the US are uniting for one day to do something extremely nice for an employee, customer, vendor, or volunteer in their community.
Here's the column.....enjoy.
Schedule Your Last Long Meeting

How many times have you been notified by your superior of the next “meeting” and responded with rolling your eyes and thinking “here we go again”? My guess is “too often.”

Leading companies are learning the effectiveness of “mini-meetings”. Held in lieu of the traditional lengthier, coffee drenched marathons, these brief meetings, oftentimes held while standing up, are signifying the change in thought to more focused, brief forms of focus and effort as opposed to the meeting process in which time and focus are ill spent.

Probably the best example of these “mini meetings” is what The Ritz-Carlton calls their lineup. Held each day, 365 days per year, and led by their CEO, each Ritz-Carlton employee participates in a 5-10 minute meeting in which they discuss important news of the day (i.e. major groups, etc), a great “:story”, and a review of one of their core values. Each employee covers the same information each day.

In this manner, The Ritz-Carlton is able to achieve what Edwards Deming referred to as “constancy of purpose”; what we put our focus on is what we will achieve and become. There is no better model than The Ritz-Carlton regarding focus on an objective. Through this constant focus by each employee, they have achieved legendary customer service status.

I have observed numerous companies achieving similar success through this practice. Under various terms, including “huddles”, “stand-ups”, “briefings”, and others, companies are finding that short regular gatherings, held regularly, are much more effective than the traditional half-day meetings to cover a myriad of topics. During these “mini-meetings”, various departments can keep informed daily of what is going on in the different other segment of the company.

The impact on both employees and customers is amazing, as the result is that all of an organization gets quickly on the same page! Imagine the impact, for example, of sales knowing what is happening in accounting that might impact sales. Similarly, to know what they (sales) can do to help.

Try this in your company. Commit to daily discussions of what is important in your organization regardless of the size of your firm. Start at the top and touch every person in the firm. Can you imagine the impact if you found your competitor doing this?

Here is what you can expect…your employees will learn your desired culture, they’ll know what is important to you, they will learn to behave consistently with your desired culture, and you’ll own your customers.

Ed Horrell is the author of the best selling book The Kindness Revolution and is founder of the initiative of the same name. More information can be found at www.thekindnessrevolution.net.