Success Stories

Success #1) Project Review

Situation: Project Review Meeting for a large (e.g., $80 million) project.

Before: Past project review meetings were a painful exchange of accusations, denials, and insults.

The Success

In four hours we accomplished the following:

1) Identified six categories of effort in a project (such as design, procurement, etc.).

2) Collected 206 ideas for improving future projects

3) Sorted these ideas into each of the six categories.

4) Prioritized the ideas according to utility and ease of implementation.

5) Identified people who agreed to implement the highest priority improvements with a commitment date for their first step.

In addition, there were no arguments, no accusations, and no disagreements during the meeting. Everyone worked as a team.

At one point, my client remarked, "Hey, those two guys are talking to each other. I've never seen them talk to each other." As you might expect, such conversations are essential in running a successful project.

Result: Many changes were made to improve future projects.

Success #2) Board Meeting

Situation: Monthly board meetings for a new association

Before: Arguments, disruptions by one board member, no results

The Success

In three hours we accomplished:

1) Prepared a mission statement for the association.

2) Identified the board positions needed to run the association.

3) Identified the roles and responsibilities for each of the board positions.

4) Identified which board members would serve in each position.

5) Identified the next steps needed to make the association a more valuable resource for its members.

Result: Productive board meetings

Success #3) Annual Planning Meeting

Situation: Members of a new division wanted to create a framework for their future.

Before: The first board meeting produced few ideas.

The Success

In a full-day meeting we accomplished:

1) A vision map that described a successful future.

2) Completed a SWOT analysis.

3) Prioritized the ideas collected in the SWOT analysis.

4) Identified goals for the coming year based on the highest priority ideas in the SWOT analysis.

5) Prioritized the goals.

6) Developed plans with key milestone dates to implement the goals.

7) Identified people who would be responsible for implementing each of the goals.

Result: A comprehensive plan to make the division more successful.

Comment at the end of the meeting: "Most groups spend three days on what we just accomplished in one."

Next Step

Call me to talk about your next meeting.

Steve Kaye

Meeting Facilitator

714-528-1300