Lessons from Osama bin Laden, Part 2

On May 1, an elite military special operations unit stealthfully traveled from Afghanistan into Pakistan and landed in a compound where Al-Qaida terrorism chief Osama bin Laden was thought to be hiding.   Osama was there and was killed during the raid on his compound.  The political ramifications, conjecture, and facts will no doubt be discussed for years.  In my May 9 post, I shared Lessons, Part 1.

The special forces team was successful in large part because they built a replica of bin Laden's compound and practiced extensively for several months to maximize the chances of success. 

Most likely, national security is not at stake if you have less than stellar results from your next presentation or slip up on the delivery.  However, you can take the same steps to maximize your success. 

Take the time to determine the purpose for your presentation, plan your key points and sub-points, and how you will illustrate these with visuals and relevant stories. 

Once you've designed your presentation, practice it.  You should not have it so scripted that it sounds like you are reading, but you should be familiar with the content so that your audience can recognize your ownership of the content.  Rather than rehearsing in front of the mirror, practice in front of supportive friends and family.  You can also share parts of the presentation as part of conversations during the day.

Lessons from Osama bin Laden, Part 1

On May 1, an elite military special operations unit stealthfully traveled from Afghanistan into Pakistan and landed in a compound where Al-Qaida terrorism chief Osama bin Laden was thought to be hiding.   Osama was there and was killed during the raid on his compound.  The political ramifications, conjecture, and facts will no doubt be discussed for years.

The duration of time that the soldiers were in the compound (from when they landed to when they departed) was only forty minutes.  Forty minutes!  How long was your last staff meeting?

Many large organizations with a multi-use conference room schedule the room in one-hour blocks.  In my experience, I have found that most meetings tend to stretch out to the time allotted.  If you plan for a two hours for a meeting, there is a great likelihood it will last that long.

In the book Quiet Leadership author David Rock challenges readers to decrease the meeting time to one-fourth of the regular allotted time.  For example, an hour meeting would be conducted in 15 minutes.  How could this be possible?  I believe that the following tips will help you decrease meeting times.

1. Identify, in writing, the purpose for the meeting.
2. Create an agenda based on the purpose.
3. Assign responsibilities for each agenda item.
4. Create the expectation that any items or files to be discussed should be reviewed prior to the meeting.  This, of course, means that as the meeting organizer you should have the materials ready and available, either via e-mail or shared network space.
5. At the start of the meeting, remind participants to remain focused on the agenda items.
6. Create a "parking lot" for items not on the agenda.  A parking lot allows for items to be mentioned but saved for later.
7. Thank participants for remaining focused.