During the meeting:

• At the beginning of the meeting, there should be a quick review of the roles and the agenda. The team should agree to these because the roles and the agenda are used to keep the meeting on-track to time limits, defined topics, and keep team working in a cooperative and coordinated effort.
• Throughout the meeting, the facilitator, leader, or recorder will record items of discussion, decisions reached, and actions to be taken either outside of meetings or in the next meeting.
• At the end of t
  The Truth About Massage Therapist Career
  The life of a massage therapist may be a dream for some and a disaster others. There are a number of facets to massage therapy that many people do not want to have any part of, yet the career may interest a great deal of people as a branch of physical medicine. The truth behind being a massage therapist is that it is an often-thankless task that relieves a great deal of people of a large amount of pain.Many people don't feel comfortable touching strangers. The massage therapist must touch strangers as a part of his or her occupation, and plenty of people respond negatively to this p
  Everyone has to attend or lead meetings at some time, but not all meetings are created equal. How many people dread going to any meeting verses a particular meeting? How many people feel the attended meeting was a waste of time? Does anyone think the meetings are really producing the desired results? How can meetings be made more effective and productive?

  Since everyone has to go to meetings, should those meetings be something people value and look forward to attending? Working together in a meeting requires all the coordination and cooperation required of any team. So why shouldn’t the team feel like each meeting is a pep rally leading up to the work or game and of course ultimately achieving a win.

  There are a lot of different answers out there for the above questions and a multitude of recommended methodologies. However, if a closer look is taken of each, all the good ones have four suggested elements in common. Those common elements make up the R.A!R.A! Approach which stands for Roles, Agenda, Records, and Actions. Sure there is more than four factors to a great meeting and the full R.A!R.A! Approach covers a lot more, but the minimum of these four can turn a non-productive meeting into a productive meeting. Let’s take a high level view of the R.A!R.A! Approach and how it increases the effectiveness and productivity of a meeting.

  Before the meeting:

  • The first step in planning a meeting is to assign any roles necessary to the meeting going smoothly. Typically the meeting will need a leader or facilitator and a recorder (a.k.a. record-keeper) as the minimum roles. If the team is new to meetings a trained facilitator is useful in coaching the team towards good meeting practices. Other roles may be included as the team or leader sees fit.
  • The next step is for the leader or facilitator to define an agenda (game-plan) for the meeting. A rough draft of the agenda may have been established by the team in a prior meeting or by the leader for a new meeting. The defined agenda should include the topics to be covered, who will present them or discuss them, and a time limit per topic. When the reminder of the meeting is sent out, include the proposed agenda and if there was prior meetings include any outstanding actions.

  During the meeting:

  • At the beginning of the meeting, there should be a quick review of the roles and the agenda. The team should agree to these because the roles and the agenda are used to keep the meeting on-track to time limits, defined topics, and keep team working in a cooperative and coordinated effort.
  • Throughout the meeting, the facilitator, leader, or recorder will record items of discussion, decisions reached, and actions to be taken either outside of meetings or in the next meeting.
  • At the end of th
    Cable Ads 5 Bucks!
    Cable has grown from 13 houses connected together in 1948 to coverage of nearly 70% of all households in the U.S. With dozens, even hundreds of channels, Cable is now a major player for local advertising dollars, some for less than 5 bucks.On the Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 1960’s, most of the people shortened her name from "Mary" to "Mare". We, as a group, have a tendency to find the short cut, giving nick name to names that could stand on their own. Mary didn’t need to be any shorter, but it was cute to cut it down. Many Margarets are called Peggy, figure that one out.
    So why shouldn’t the team feel like each meeting is a pep rally leading up to the work or game and of course ultimately achieving a win.

    There are a lot of different answers out there for the above questions and a multitude of recommended methodologies. However, if a closer look is taken of each, all the good ones have four suggested elements in common. Those common elements make up the R.A!R.A! Approach which stands for Roles, Agenda, Records, and Actions. Sure there is more than four factors to a great meeting and the full R.A!R.A! Approach covers a lot more, but the minimum of these four can turn a non-productive meeting into a productive meeting. Let’s take a high level view of the R.A!R.A! Approach and how it increases the effectiveness and productivity of a meeting.

    Before the meeting:

    • The first step in planning a meeting is to assign any roles necessary to the meeting going smoothly. Typically the meeting will need a leader or facilitator and a recorder (a.k.a. record-keeper) as the minimum roles. If the team is new to meetings a trained facilitator is useful in coaching the team towards good meeting practices. Other roles may be included as the team or leader sees fit.
    • The next step is for the leader or facilitator to define an agenda (game-plan) for the meeting. A rough draft of the agenda may have been established by the team in a prior meeting or by the leader for a new meeting. The defined agenda should include the topics to be covered, who will present them or discuss them, and a time limit per topic. When the reminder of the meeting is sent out, include the proposed agenda and if there was prior meetings include any outstanding actions.

    During the meeting:

    • At the beginning of the meeting, there should be a quick review of the roles and the agenda. The team should agree to these because the roles and the agenda are used to keep the meeting on-track to time limits, defined topics, and keep team working in a cooperative and coordinated effort.
    • Throughout the meeting, the facilitator, leader, or recorder will record items of discussion, decisions reached, and actions to be taken either outside of meetings or in the next meeting.
    • At the end of t
      How To Choose The Best Software For Maintaining Company Control
      Who Holds the Reign of Control?That question is a double-edged sword because without the right software you don't have "Hands On" to anything, much less control. As a matter of fact, if you are not running the right time and expense tracking software, not only do you not have control, but chances are you won't foresee a critical problem arising until it is already too late!In order to maintain control of all the critical aspects of your company, you need to have real time access to the time, project and cost management numbers. If production depends on a critical decision of h
      more, but the minimum of these four can turn a non-productive meeting into a productive meeting. Let’s take a high level view of the R.A!R.A! Approach and how it increases the effectiveness and productivity of a meeting.

      Before the meeting:

      • The first step in planning a meeting is to assign any roles necessary to the meeting going smoothly. Typically the meeting will need a leader or facilitator and a recorder (a.k.a. record-keeper) as the minimum roles. If the team is new to meetings a trained facilitator is useful in coaching the team towards good meeting practices. Other roles may be included as the team or leader sees fit.
      • The next step is for the leader or facilitator to define an agenda (game-plan) for the meeting. A rough draft of the agenda may have been established by the team in a prior meeting or by the leader for a new meeting. The defined agenda should include the topics to be covered, who will present them or discuss them, and a time limit per topic. When the reminder of the meeting is sent out, include the proposed agenda and if there was prior meetings include any outstanding actions.

      During the meeting:

      • At the beginning of the meeting, there should be a quick review of the roles and the agenda. The team should agree to these because the roles and the agenda are used to keep the meeting on-track to time limits, defined topics, and keep team working in a cooperative and coordinated effort.
      • Throughout the meeting, the facilitator, leader, or recorder will record items of discussion, decisions reached, and actions to be taken either outside of meetings or in the next meeting.
      • At the end of t
        Brand Management Hassles Relieved by Online Storage
        According to branding guru, Jerry Robinson, creativity, profitability and morale all rise when the large file in branding projects are available to everyone involved.Robinson has been a creative director for 20 years and has managed countless projects for countless companies (Revlon, Marriot, and Citicorp Global Payment Products, to name just a few). Operationally, one thing has consistently driven him crazy: effective management of the files used to create and support brand identity. These files include advertisements, radio and TV commercials, photographs, and design assets like lo
        od meeting practices. Other roles may be included as the team or leader sees fit.
      • The next step is for the leader or facilitator to define an agenda (game-plan) for the meeting. A rough draft of the agenda may have been established by the team in a prior meeting or by the leader for a new meeting. The defined agenda should include the topics to be covered, who will present them or discuss them, and a time limit per topic. When the reminder of the meeting is sent out, include the proposed agenda and if there was prior meetings include any outstanding actions.

      During the meeting:

      • At the beginning of the meeting, there should be a quick review of the roles and the agenda. The team should agree to these because the roles and the agenda are used to keep the meeting on-track to time limits, defined topics, and keep team working in a cooperative and coordinated effort.
      • Throughout the meeting, the facilitator, leader, or recorder will record items of discussion, decisions reached, and actions to be taken either outside of meetings or in the next meeting.
      • At the end of t
        What Do They Want Anyway?
        You want customers. I want customers. We all want customers. And traffic alone is not enough. We need “interested” customers. Customers ready to listen, ready to buy. So you may find yourself asking, what do they want anyway?.... and how can I get them to buy?Instead of concentrating on the “getting”, why not try to “educate” them and sales will follow --- not once, but many times. Why is that? Credibility!If you are writing Articles, or publishing an Ezine, then you are an Internet Marketer with some measure of success. Your goal might be to help them understand tha
        /li>

      During the meeting:

      • At the beginning of the meeting, there should be a quick review of the roles and the agenda. The team should agree to these because the roles and the agenda are used to keep the meeting on-track to time limits, defined topics, and keep team working in a cooperative and coordinated effort.
      • Throughout the meeting, the facilitator, leader, or recorder will record items of discussion, decisions reached, and actions to be taken either outside of meetings or in the next meeting.
      • At the end of the meeting, the team will review the list of actions and make sure each one is assigned to a person along with a due date. If there is a follow-up meeting planned, the team may draft a tentative agenda for the next meeting. The tentative agenda will be defined in more detail by the facilitator or leader before the next meeting.

      After the meeting:

      • When the meeting is completed, the recorder will type and distribute formalized minutes of the meeting as a record of what occurred. Records are important for reviewing past discussions and verifying decisions that were made and why. The records should also include the original meeting agenda at the top, and the actions assignments and next meeting tentative agenda at the bottom.
      • Having the actions in the record serves as a reminder to the team members of what they need to do next. If individuals have actions they need to accomplish, they will know when they are to be done by.

      The next time a meeting is planned, begin introducing the four elements of the R.A!R.A! Approach: Roles, Agenda, Records, and Actions. With the acceptance of each element as a norm in any team meeting, the team will not only notice a difference in productivity, they will know they are becoming more effective and will begin enjoying the meetings more. The more enjoyable and effective the meeting, the more people are willing to attend and follow-through by completing their assigned actions.

      Copyright 2006 Shirley Lee. All Rights Reserved.

      Most of the information in this article has been adapted from the “Wizard of When - a Series on Planning” (a.k.a book titled "R.A!R.A! A Meeting Wizard's Approach") which contains training on the R.A!R.A! Approach. The series is copyrighted © 2003 by Shirley Lee, All Rights Reserved.