If the above picture describes why you hold meetings, then you'll probably need a lot of help at work because your perception of holding meetings is eschewed! Thanks to www.funnymail.co.za/wp-content/u...e-10.jpg for the picture.
After observing the meeting with Abinav and Frank, I'm embarrassed to say that I feel that my body language in the meeting was very unprofessional. I was regretfully leaning on my hand throughout most of the video, hopefully I'll be able to restrain myself from doing that in future meetings so as to put up a more professional front.
On to other matters, I feel that the meeting was quite successful in that all 3 of us were actively discussing how we would be tackling the problem. Abinav and Frank both injected their opinions and perspectives, so that the momentum of the discussion would be sustained.
We managed to settle each issue rather swiftly, but i feel that is due to the 'problem' not being a actual problem yet, so it was within our scope and we thus resolved each issue we faced rather fast.
Particularly, in my team, i knew that my programming skills were not exactly top notch, so I was unsure of how to go about solving the problem. Thankfully, when I brought up issues that we had to face for the programming, Abhinav and Frank were receptive and responsive as well, providing insight on how we were supposed to go about doing the code, helping me decide exactly how to do the programming aspect, unfortunately this was not done on camera, but happened after the meeting.
I feel the meeting was very objective and we cleared our objectives set in the agenda very fast, before moving on to other businesses. This I feel is attributed to my team's preparation before hand, as well as every one's discipline to work along the agenda's outline.
On the whole, I would say that the meeting was mostly positive and beneficial, we all knew what we had to do at the end of the day, with minimal fuss and we accomplished it faster than expected!
Hi Jeremy, I agree that a meeting can be successful if there is active participation. Active participation includes giving personal opinions and valid arguments to support these opinions. It also requires everyone to listen attentively to a new point so that the feedback is constructive and there is no need to explain the points again and again. I think this comes under effective communication and I guess that is why you feel the meeting is beneficial to you.
ReplyDeleteAgain, I feel that being well-prepared for the meeting is essential. Being well-prepared means knowing the main objectives and thinking of the possible problems and solutions that we may encounter. If we go into a meeting with everyone empty-handed, it will take a long time to finish as no one is quite near the objectives yet. Furthermore, there will be a tendency to dwell on some topic for too long and lengthen the intended schedule. This is undesirable when we work in the society.
Regarding the leaning part, I think our postures can give a lot of signals to others depending on who is receiving those signals. Some may see it as tiredness or boredom while others think it is just a normal way of life. I think we have to adapt to the general personality of our team. If the team leader, for example, lean on his or her hand, we can do so too without looking unprofessional. On the other hand, if the team leader behaves in an orderly and strict manner, we will then look unprofessional. I guess most teams behave like the latter scenario so you may have to change the habit of leaning on your hand.
Jian Hwee
Hello Jeremy,
ReplyDeleteI share your sentiments when you expressed embarrassment over some of the body language you had subconsciously displayed during the meeting. Personally, upon reviewing the video, I realized that I had unknowingly fumbled with objects such as my handphone and markers when someone is making a comment or when I am putting my points across. I had no idea that I was displaying such repetitive and habitual behavior hence I am glad to be able to review the meeting from a third person perspective as it has enabled me to discover something new about myself.
There is no doubt that all those preparations done before the actual meeting has enabled you to reap the fantastic results that you had experienced. Not only does it enable you all to assume a discussion on groundwork that has been done beforehand, but it enables you to hasten the process by preventing the occurrence of fielding unnecessary questions that could have been self-addressed. By ensuring that your team follows as closely as possible to the objectives set in your agenda, it has enabled your team to be task-oriented and focused.
Best Regards,
Khairul
Hi Jeremy!
ReplyDeleteIt is good to know that your first meeting went well :)
I think as a team leader you had done a great job. You managed to keep the discussion focused by following the meeting agenda closely which make your meeting very productive. You also managed to make your group members participate actively in the meeting which is very good since you can get different opinions from them on how to tackle the problem.
I agree with you that preparation is also an important aspect to make sure the meeting runs smoothly. Without prior knowledge of the problem, the meeting will not be productive since there will be time wasted on discussing and understanding the problem. By preparing before hand, we will be able to have a rough idea of the problem and how to tackle it. Therefore, during the meeting we can participate actively rather than just passively listening to others.
I am aware that body language is one of the most important things to pay attention to during communication. It somehow reflects our behaviour towards the conversation we are having. Just as you pointed out, leaning on your hand during a meeting is not appropriate. Others might think that you are not taking the meeting seriously. I also regret that I did not sit properly during my meeting. It made me seemed like I was not interested with the discussion. However, I believe that the most important thing is that we know our mistakes so that we can learn from it and improve ourselves.
-Christabel
Hi Jeremy,
ReplyDeleteAs a member of your CG1102 group, I agree that the nature of the project allowed us to finish earlier than expected. The project description allowed for very smooth delegation of work - for example, the required functionalities were clearly grouped in the lab sheet which helped us assign them classes with considerable ease.
I also feel that there was a reasonable amount for preparation for this meeting beforehand. For example, we were all familiar with the assignment and had clearly given some thought to how the task was to be carried out. This greatly facilitated the discussion since it allowed us to exchange ideas faster.
I think as the leader of our group you did a remarkable job of ensuring that everyone contributed opinions and ideas. You also did a good job in making decisions for the group. I think one thing we can improve upon is our body language. We seemed neither enthusiastic nor confident - it gives an external viewer and our group mates the idea that we are not sure of our ideas, when the truth is that we were.
Cheers,
Abhinav